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A.P. Government - Ch. 4
key terms and court cases
40
Other
12th Grade
03/25/2010

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Term
Civil Liberties
Definition
Legal constitutional protections against government, although our civil liberties are formally set down in the Bill of Rights, the courts, police and legislatures define their meaning
Term
Bill of Rights
Definition
The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, which define such basic liberties as freedom of religion, speech, and press. It guarantees defendants' rights.
Term
First Amendment
Definition
Establishes the four great liberties: freedom of the press, speech, religion and of assembly
Term
Fourteenth Amendment
Definition
Adopted after the Civil War that states, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the U.S.; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property w/o due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”
Term
Incorporation Doctrine
Definition
The legal concept under which the Supreme Court has nationalized the Bill of Rights by making most of its provisions applicable to the states through the 14th amendment.
Term
Establishment Clause
Definition
Part of the First Amendment stating that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
Term
Free Exercise Clause
Definition
first amendment provision that prohibits gov. from interfering w/ the practice of religion.
Term
Prior Restraint
Definition
Gov. actions preventing material from being published. This is a common method of limiting the press in some nations, but it usually unconstitutional in the U.S., according to the 1st amendment and as confirmed in the 1931 S.C. Case of Near v. Minnesota.
Term
Libel
Definition
publication of false or malicious statements that damage someone's reputation.
Term
Symbolic Speech
Definition
Nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband. The S.C. Has accorded some symbolic protection from the S.C.
Term
Commercial Speech
Definition
Communication in the form of advertising. It can be restricted more than many other types of speech but has been receiving increased protection from the S.C.
Term
Probable Cause
Definition
The situation occurring when the police have reason to believe that a person should be arrested. In making the arrested, police are allocated legally to search for and seize incrimination evidence.
Term
Unreasonable Searches and Seizures
Definition
Obtaining evidence in a haphazard or random manner, a practices prohibited by the 4th amendment. Probable cause and or a search warrant are required for a legal and proper search and seizure of incrimination evidence
Term
Search Warrant
Definition
A written authorization from a court specifying the area to be searched and what the police are searching for
Term
Exclusionary Rule
Definition
The rule that evidence, no matter how incriminating cannot be introduced into a trial if it was not constitutionally obtained. The rule prohibits the use of evidence obtained through unreasonable search and seizure
Term
Fifth Amendment
Definition
Constitutional amendment designed to protect the rights of persons accused of crimes including protection against double jeopardy, self-incrimination, and punishment w/o due process of law.
Term
Self-Incrimination
Definition
The situation occurring when an individual accused of a crime is compelled to be a witness against himself in court. The Fifth amendment forbids self-incrimination.
Term
Sixth Amendment
Definition
Amendment designed to protect individuals accused of crimes. It includes the right to counsel, the right to confront witnesses, and the right to a speedy and public trial.
Term
Plea Bargaining
Definition
A bargain struck between the defendants lawyer and the prosecutor to the effect that the defendant will plea guilty to a lesser crime (or fewer crimes) in exchanged for the state's promise not to prosecute the defendant for a more serious (or additional) crime.
Term
Eighth Amendment
Definition
Amendment that forbids cruel and unusual punishment, although it does not define this phrase. Through 14th amendment, this B.O.R. Provision applies to the states.
Term
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Definition
Court sentences prohibited by the 8th amendment. Although the S.C. Has ruled that mandatory death sentences for certain offenses are unconstitutional it has not held that the death penalty itself constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
Term
Right of Privacy
Definition
The right to a private personal life free from the intrusion of government.
Term
Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
Definition
That the bill of rights restrained only the nation government, not the states and cities
Term
Gitlow v. New York (1925)
Definition
That the freedoms of press and speech are “fundamental personal rights and liberties protected by the due process clause of the 14th amendment from impairment by the states” as well as by the federal government.
Term
Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
Definition
Established that aid to church – related to schools must 1)Have a secular legislative purpose, 2) have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion and, 3) not foster excessive Government entanglement w/ religion.
Term
Engle v. Vital (1962)
Definition
That state officials violated the first amendment when they wrote a prayer to be recited by New York's school children
Term
Near v. Minnesota (1931)
Definition
Decision holding that the first amendment protects newspapers from prior restraint.
Term
Schenk v. United States (1919)
Definition
Upholding the conviction of a socialist who had urged young men to resist the draft during WWI. Justice Holmes declared that government can limit speech if it provokes a “clear and present danger” of substantive evils
Term
Zurcher v. Stanford Daily (1976)
Definition
A proper search warrant could be applied to a newspaper as well as to anyone else w/o necessarily violating the first amendment rights to freedom of the press.
Term
Miller v. California (1973)
Definition
Avoided defining obscenity by holding that community standards be used to determine whether material is obscene.
1) The work appeals “to a prudent interest in sex”
2) Work shows “patently offensive” sexual conduct
3) The work lacks “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value”
Term
New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
Definition
Established the guidelines for determining whether the public officials and figures could win damage suits for libel. To do so, individuals must prove that the defamatory statements were made with “actual malice” and reckless disregard for the truth.
Term
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
Definition
The Supreme Court struck down a law banning the burning of the American Flag on the grounds that such action was symbolic speech protected by the first amendment.
Term
Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission (1969)
Definition
The Supreme Court upheld restrictions on radio and television broadcasting. These restrictions on the broadcast media are much tighter than those on the print media because there are only a limited number of broadcasting frequencies available.
Term
NAACP v. Alabama (1958)
Definition
The Supreme Court protected the right to assemble peaceably when it decided the NAACP didn't have to reveal its membership list and thus subject it's members to harrasment.
Term
Mapp v. Ohio. (1961)
Definition
Ruled that fourth amendments protection against unreasonable search and seizures must be exteneded to the states as well as to the federal government.
Term
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
Definition
Sets guidelines for police questioning of accused persons to protect them against self-incrimination and to protect their right to counsel' “Right to remain silent, you have the right to an attorney.. etc”
Term
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
Definition
That anyone accused of a felony where imprisonment may be imposed, however poor, has a right to be a lawyer.
Term
Tinker v. Des Moines (1965)
Definition
Held that suspension of tinker siblings (for wearing black armbands to school in protest of vietnam war) violated their first amendment rights.
Term
Roe v. Wade (1973)
Definition
That a state ban on all abortions was unconstitutional. The decition forbade state cntrol over abortions during the first trimester, limit during the second trimester (unless of health), to protect the fetus during the third trimester
Term
Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)
Definition
The Supreme Court loosened its standard for evaluation restrictions on abortion from one of “strict scrutiny” of any restraints on a “fundamental right” to one of “undue burden” that permits considerable more regulation
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