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| government policies or programs that seek to redress past injustices against specified groups by making special efforts to provide members of these groups with access to educational and employment opportunities |
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| the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, ratified in 1791; they ensure certain rights and liberties to the people |
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| a law that declares a person guilty of a crime without a trial |
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| Brown v. Board of Education |
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| the 1954 Supreme Court decision that struck down the 'separate but equal' doctrine as fundamentally unequal. This case eliminated state power to use race as a criterion for discrimination in law and provided the national government with the power to intervene by exercising strict regulatory policies against discriminatory actions |
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| areas of personal freedom constitutionally protected from government interference |
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| obligation imposed on government to take positive action to protect citizens from any illegal action of government agencies and of other private citizens |
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| clear and present danger test |
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| test to determine whether speech is protected or unprotected, based on its capacity to present a 'clear and present danger' to society |
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| literally, 'by fact'; practices that occur even when there is no legal enforcement, such as school segregation in much of the United States today |
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| literally, 'by law'; legally enforced practices, such as school segregation in the South before the 1960s |
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| the Fifth Amendment right providing that a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime |
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| the right of every citizen against arbitrary action by national or state governments |
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| the right of government to take private property for public use |
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| provision of the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteeing citizens 'the equal protection of the laws.' This clause has served as the basis for the civil rights of African Americans, women, and other groups |
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| the First Amendment clause that says that 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.' This law means that a 'wall of separation' exists between church and state |
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| the ability of courts to exclude evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment |
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| laws that declare an action to be illegal after it has been committed |
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| one of three Civil War amendments; it guaranteed voting rights for African American men |
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| speech that directly incites damaging conduct |
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| one of three Civil War amendments; it guaranteed equal protection and due process |
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| the First Amendment clause that protects a citizen's right to believe and practice whatever religion one chooses |
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| jury that determines whether sufficient evidence is available to justify a trial; grand juries do not rule on the accused's guilt or innocence |
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| a court order demanding that an individual in custody be brought into court and shown the cause for detention |
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| a written statement made in 'reckless disregard of the truth' that is considered damaging to a victim because it is 'malicious, scandalous, and defamatory' |
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| the requirement, articulated by the Supreme Court in Miranda v. Arizona (1966), that persons under arrest must be informed prior to police interrogation of their rights to remain silent and to have the benefit of legal counsel |
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| an effort by a governmental agency to block the publication of material it deems libelous or harmful in some other way; censorship. In the United States, the courts forbid prior restraint except under the most extraordinary circumstances |
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| the right to be left alone, which has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to entail individual access to birth control and abortion |
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| the process by which different protections in the Bill of Rights were incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment, thus guaranteeing citizens protection from state as well as national governments |
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| doctrine that public accommodations could be segregated by race but still be considered equal |
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| an oral statement made in 'reckless disregard of the truth' that is considered damaging to the victim because it is 'malicious, scandalous, and defamatory' |
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| speech accompanied by conduct such as sit-ins, picketing, and demonstrations. Protection of this form of speech under the First Amendment is conditional, and restrictions imposed by state or local authorities are acceptable if properly balanced by considerations of public order |
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| a test used by the Supreme Court in racial discrimination cases and other cases involving civil liberties and civil rights that places the burden of proof on the government rather than on the challengers to show that the law in question is constitutional |
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| one of three Civil War amendments; it abolished slavery |
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