Term
| New York Times Co. V. Sullivan |
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Definition
(1964)
*Previously the 1st and 14th Adm. protected a news paper from being sued for libel in state court for making false defamatory statements about the conduct of public officials.
*Established the actual malice standard before press reports could be considered to be defamation and libel.
*New York Times printed stories reporting segregation still occurring in the south.
*ACTUAL MALICE: knowledge or reckless lack of investigation, not to malicious intent.
*Since the statements were NOT made with knowing or reckless disregard for the truth. SC reversed and remanded. |
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Term
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Definition
(1919)
*decision concerning the question of whether the defedant possessed a 1st Adm. right to free speech agains the draft during WW1.
*Case served as the founding of the "Clear and Present Danger" test.
*Charles Schenck, a socialist, handed out flyers to recently drafted men. Stated the 13th adm. about involuntary servitude.
*Charged with conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act of 1917 = attempting to cause insubordination in the military and to obstruct recruitment.
*Justice Holmes sets out the "clear and present danger" standard
*Affirmed because Schenck's criticism of the draft created a clear and present danger to the enlistment and recruiting practices of the armed forces. |
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Term
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Definition
(1925)
*Court rules that the 14th adm. had extended the reach of certain provisions of the 1st adm. --> provisions protecting freedom of speech and press.
*14th adm. prevents states from stopping free speech. Gitlow was properly convicted because he was advocating VIOLENT overthrow of the government through Communist pamphlets
*Dissenting opinion (loser side) Justice Holmes disagreed, because Gitlow presented no present danger because only a small minority of people shared the same views. |
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Term
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Definition
(1951)
*Whether section 2 or 3 of the Smith Act violated the 1st adm. and if the same two sections violated the 1st and 5th adm because of indefiniteness.
*Dennis conspired to overthrow the US government by force through the Communist party.
*Convicted because required unlawful intent.
*Affirmed, his conviction was not in violation of the 1st adm.
*Dissenting opinion: hope during non war times, when the present pressure, passions, and fears subside, that a later court will restore the 1st adm. liberties to the high preferred place where they belong in a free society. |
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Term
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Definition
(1989)
*Johnson burned a flag in protest of Reagan's re-nomination at the Republican National Convention outside Dallas City Hall, no one was hurt or in danger, yet there were witnesses that were seriously offended.
*He was convicted under TX law for desecrating a flag.
*Associated with Revolutionary Communist Party
*Sentenced to a 1 yr in jail and $2000 fine.
*TX Court of Criminal Appeals reversed saying the conviction was inconsistent with the 1st adm.
*TX claimed that its interest in preventing BREACHES of the PEACE justifies Johnson's conviction. However, no disturbance of the peace actually occurred or threatened to occur because the flag burning. |
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Definition
*Also claimed TX was asserting an interest in preserving the flag as a symbol of nationhood and national unity. The court disagreed and stated it didn't justify his conviction.
*Majority opinion = Brennan Jr. Is the desecration of an American flag a form of speech that is protected by the 1st adm? -->Yes because the court had set precedence that speech is not just spoken or written. And his form of communication was protected under the 1st and 14th adm.
*SC affirmed the the decision of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals |
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Term
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Definition
(1973)
*was an important United States Supreme Court case involving what constitutes unprotected obscenity for First Amendment purposes. The decision reiterated that obscenity was not protected by the First Amendment and established the Miller test for determining what constituted obscene material.
* court set forth general principles that have help guide subsequent decision involving obscenity
*Obscene materials are defined as those that the average person, applying contemporary community standards, find, taken as a whole, appeal to the prurient interest; that depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law; and that, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. |
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Definition
| argues that the Founders wanted the words of the First Amendment to be taken literally, in other words the phrase Congress shall make "no law" means government cannot take any action that interferes with eh free expression of views, no matter how offensive, hurtful or harmful it may be. |
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Definition
*created a year after Schenck in Pierce V. United States (1920).
*requires that speech might tend to bring about an evil at some time in the future |
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Definition
(1920)
*Socialist handed out anti-war pamphlets
*case eased the "clear and present danger" test for restricting freedom of speech.
*Instead requiring speech to raise the probability of an immediate evil before it could be restricted |
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Term
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Definition
popularized by Justice Felix Frankfurter
called for weighing competing values on a case by case basis to determine when restrictions on freedom of expression are warranted in order to protect society of the rights of other individuals or groups. |
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Term
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Definition
the freedoms enjoyed by individuals in democracy
boils done to a promise to deliver on the core democratic values of political freedom
i.e.: freedom speech, religion, bear arms, etc. |
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Term
| "clear and present danger test" |
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Definition
created by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. in Schenck V. US (1919)
does the act bring about danger that congress has the right prevent?
approach to determine if an action should be protected under the 1st adm. that considers if the action poses a "clear and present danger" |
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Term
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Definition
| rule derived from the 1st and 14th adm. that states that evidence obtained from an unreasonable search or seizure cannot be used in federal trials |
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Term
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Definition
the notion of what specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights are applied to the state governments through the due process clause of the 14th adm.
states must uphold the 1st adm. because the 14th adm.
Barron V. Baltimore (1833) |
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Definition
illegally acquired evidence can be used in court if it would have been eventually discovered through legal means, evidence gathered in 'good faith'
open and broad interpretation
was granted in Nix V. Williams (1984) |
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Term
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Definition
| print or other media making false and defaming statements about someone |
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Term
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Definition
| orally (spoken) words that are false and defaming statements about someone |
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Term
| preferred freedom doctrine |
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Definition
| an approach of freedom of expression, 1st adm. rights are considered so fundamental to achieving a free society that courts have a greater obligation to protect these freedoms than other rights. |
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Term
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Definition
| individuals right to be free of government interference without due cause or due process |
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Term
| separation of church and state |
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Definition
neither federal nor state government could pass any law supporting one religion or all religions, or any law preferring on religion over another
The Religion Clause |
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Term
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Definition
the ability to get into and make use of public facilities
became a focal point for the development of a true civil right campaign for the disabled |
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Term
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Definition
| government action designed to help minorities compete on an equal basis and overcome the effects of past discrimination |
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Definition
deliberately disobeying laws viewed as morally repugnant
Rosa Parks, sitting in the white section of the bus. |
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Term
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Definition
| rights of all citizens to legal, social, and economic equality |
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Definition
| unequal or unfair treatment of a person or class of people |
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Definition
| discrimination that exists in fact, in real life or in practice |
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discrimination that is set forth in law
separate but equal |
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Definition
deliberate destruction of a population
many refer to the treatment of native americans a deliberate genocide |
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Term
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Definition
clause that exempted people whose ancestors were entitled to vote in 1866 from the literacy test
prevented african americans from voting because most were uneducated and the test was ridiculously hard |
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Definition
| term used to describe laws designed to prevent African Americans from voting |
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Term
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Definition
a nonviolent technique of protest that entails resisting government laws or practices that are believed to be unjust.
Technique used successfully by Gandhi to obtain independence from Britain. New Coalition emerged during the civil rights era, popularized my Martin Luther King Jr. |
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Definition
| fees required for casting a ballot |
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Definition
seperation of people based on their race
In the south segregation was based on tradition, but gradually spread to every form of public and private life |
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Definition
| preference for or discrimination against a particular race of people |
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Definition
punishing whites on the basis of their race
the claim that some non minorities that affirmative action policies discriminate against them based on race |
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Definition
a practice in southern states to comply with the 14th adm. "equal protection" clause by passing laws requiring separate but equal accomidations for blacks and white in public facilities.
SC rules laws unconstitutional in 1954 Brown V. Board of Education |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| congress should pass no law abiding freedom of speech, press, right of assembly, petitioning government grievance |
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Term
| Alien and Sedition Act of 1798 |
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Definition
| Under John Adams directed towards Jeffersonians, law was never challenged. |
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Term
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Definition
| Directed towards socialists, passed after WWI, made it a crime for a person to convey information with the intent to interfere with the operation or success of the armed forces of the US or to promote the success of enemies. |
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Term
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Definition
| Directed at the communist party. Illegal to knowingly or willingly advocate, teach, advise, etc. of the overthrowing of the US govt. or to become a member of any such association |
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Term
| Barron V. Baltimore (1833) |
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Definition
Gov. diverted flow of stream, ruined crops and land, sued state.
SC Justice Marshall ruled the 5th did not apply to states (just compensation of eminent domain) |
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Term
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Definition
Privileges OR Immunity Clause : No state shall make or enforce laws that deprive US citizens of privileges or immunites.
Nor deprive of life, liberty, or property without due process NOR deny protection of the law |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
Justice Hugo Black, "No means no."
Ironic because he was a member of the KKK |
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Definition
Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion
Framers: not too clear on intent |
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Term
| accommodationist or no preference |
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Definition
so long as the government does not single out a church there is no wrong or harm, aid given fairly without favoritism
Framers: wanted to leave religion to the states (yet no historical evidence) |
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Term
| Everson V. Board of Education |
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Definition
(1947)
NJ provided funs to parents for transportation costs to send children to a private school.
SC ruled legal because the policy does not single out those attending religious schools, the funs were available to everyone.
1st case where language of separation of church and state was used. |
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Term
| Pierce V. Society of Sisters |
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Definition
(1925)
Oregon law requiring all children to attend public schools. Ages 8-16 Society of Sisters operated schools that taught morals of the Roman Catholic Church. The act let to students withdrawing from the private school, costing them part of their income.
Court ruled in favor of sisters because enforcing the Compulsory Education Act would cause irreparable harm to the primary school operated by religious organizations. |
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Term
| McCullom V. Board of Education |
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Definition
Post Everson/ Pre Lemon
*religious instruction by pastors during a set time during the day, ruled illegal
*must separate church and state
later challenged and ruled legal if did it off campus during set time. |
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Term
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Definition
(1952)
religious instruction constitutional if held off campus |
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Term
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Definition
*NY Board of Regents composed prayer to be recited at the start of the day. Parent said it violated the 1st. Prayer was in King James Language, it was STATE IMPOSED.
*Ruled illegal because it could not be state sponsored (integrates church and state) |
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Term
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Definition
(1963)
*MOST IMPORTANT TO KELLSTEDT
*Pennsylvania and Maryland started out with a reading from the bible or reciting a prayer.
*Ruled unconstitutional because it was directed towards Christians.
*Justice Clark supported religious education saying ones education is not complete until educated with religious comparison. |
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Term
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Definition
Tri-part test, not very clear, if law advances religious clauses....., still used today
1) laws cannot excessively entangle government and religion
2) must be secular purpose in legislation, eyes of the beholder
3) primary effect of law must neither advance nor inhibit religion |
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Term
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Definition
(1971)
*SC ruled that Penn, Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which allowed the state superintendent to reimburse nonpublic schools (most Catholic) for teacher's salaries, textbooks, and instructional material to VIOLATE the Establishment clause of the 1st amendment.
*"The court found that the parochial school system was "an integral part of the religious mission of the Catholic Church," and held that the Act fostered "excessive entanglement" between government and religion, thus violating the Establishment Clause." |
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Term
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Definition
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Cases:
Oregon V. Smith = Big Case
Reynolds V. US
Cantwell V. CT
Sherbert V. Verner = Sherbert Test
Wisconsin V. Yoder
Goldman V. Wineburger |
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Term
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Definition
AIDE TO RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS: lots of efforts by politician to pass new laws in order to aide private schools, because the politician want re-election.
RELIGION AND PUBLIC EDUCATION: no state sponsored school or funding, if school district allows no groups / clubs, then they do not have to offer bible study. If they do allow clubs then they must offer / allow them to form = PRINCIPLE OF EQUAL ACCESS |
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Term
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Definition
(1879)
*1st federal case to go before the SC
*polygamy was ruled a crime by congress (1862), was directed towards Mormons (not legal), was a federal case because Org. at the time was a territory
*'exception should be made for the mormons'
*Question before the court: Whether the law was religiously motivated or not.
*Mormons lost = polygamy was an 'odious' practice (idiotic)
*DOCTRINE = BELIEF ACTION DOCTRINE = you better watch what you practice because the law can restrict religious practices |
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Term
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Definition
*Jehovah's witness, going door to door in CT, by law anyone going door to door was requires to have a license. Attempted to get one, but denied because they were an unlikable group. They continued to do so with out a license.
*Ruled JW had right to the license |
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Term
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Definition
(1963)
*7th Day Adventist's worship on Saturday lady fired because she did not show up on saturday and was denied unemployment.
*Created SHERBERT TEST
*SC held that the Free Exercise Clause of the 1st required that govt. demonstrate a compelling govt interest before denying unemployment compensation to someone who was fired because he job conflicted with her religion.
*she won and recieved unemployment |
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Term
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Definition
Has govt burdened the religious acts of an individual?
Is there compelling state interest that justifies this burden?
Does the govt have affirmative means to realize state interest with out burdening the individual? |
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Term
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Definition
(1971)
Wisc. required children to attend state approved schools. Teachers had no certification.
SC applied Sherbert test: yes, yes, and yes
SC ruled that the students take a state test to see preformance, bad = go to approved school, good= continue going to Amish school. |
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Term
| Oregon (Employment Division) V. Smith |
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Definition
(1990)
Native American smoked peyote, a hallucinogen, during religious ceremonies (no proof that used it for other manners)
Numerous states allowed except Org
SC decided against the SHERBERT test and threw it out and reused the BELIEF ACTION DOCTRINE
They decided that the state could fire persons for violating a state law prohibiting the use of peyote.
Although states have the power to accommodate otherwise illegal acts done in pursuit of religious beliefs, they are not required to do so. |
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Term
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Definition
(1986)
Goldman wore a yamaka in the military, that authorized headgear could be worn outside but not inside
*the 1st adm does not prohibit the regulation from being applied to the petitioner even though its effect is to restrict the wear of head gear required by religious beliefs. Adm does not require the military to accommodate such practices in the face of its view that they would detract from the uniformity sought by dress regulations. |
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Term
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Definition
Congress was mad at SC, so passed laws saying Smith decision illegal.
1997 TX case SC said it would continues to use the test developed in Smith - prison food violated inmates conscience.
Draft in Vietnam war, but allow determents. |
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Term
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Definition
procedural : rights we have
substantive : substance |
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Term
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Definition
protects us from unreasonable search and seizure
Exclusionary Rule = 4th cannot be used at federal trials. |
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Term
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Definition
(1941)
The warrantless seizure of documents from a private home violated the Fourth Amendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures, and evidence obtained in this manner is excluded from use in federal criminal prosecutions. Western District of Missouri reversed and remanded. |
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Term
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Definition
(1961)
landmark case in the area of U.S. criminal procedure, in which the United States Supreme Court decided that evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment protection against "unreasonable searches and seizures" may not be used in criminal prosecutions in state courts, as well as federal courts.
*need a warrant for electronic ease dropping, however wishy washy decision |
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Term
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Definition
(1953)
Rochin was accused of selling drugs, police entered open door, but pused through bedroom door. Rochin swallowed two pills after being asked what they were. Taken to hospital and made through up. It was Morphine
Not guilty |
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Term
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Definition
(1985)was a case appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States in 1984, involving the search of a high school student for contraband after she was caught smoking. She was charged as a juvenile for the drugs and paraphernalia found in the search. She fought the search, claiming it violated her Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable searches. The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, held that the search was reasonable under the Fourth Amendment.
With reasonable suspicion can authorities such as principle search your belongings? Yes TLO Lost |
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Term
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Definition
searches where police do not have search warrants in advance (ie pulled over, asked to open trunk, stuff found)
Is reasonable case of suspicion = Legal
Very tricky |
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Term
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Definition
Protection of....
Indictment by Grand Jury
Private property
Self-Incrimination = Miranda V Arizona
Double Jeopardy
Due Process of Law |
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Term
| Indictment by a Grand Jury |
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Definition
federal courts, it is provided, serious crimes it is provided
in state courts it is not guaranteed |
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Term
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Definition
Speedy and Public Trial
Impartial Jury
Confront and Call Witnesses
Be Informed of charges
Right to Counsel
Right to Trial By Jury |
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Term
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Definition
(1972)
Right to Counsel
* Mentally handicaped, charged with burglary for breaking into a pool hall in Panama City, Florida and taking money from the vending machines. He appeared in court too poor to afford counsel, whereupon the following conversation took place
*State of Florida, the only time the Court can appoint Counsel to represent a Defendant is when that person is charged with a capital offense, guilty verdict, sentencing him to serve five years in the state penitentiary. From his prison cell, and making ample use of the prison library, Gideon appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court based on the fact that he had been denied counsel and therefore his Fourteenth Amendment rights had been violated without due process of law.
In the case, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that state courts are required by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution to provide lawyers in criminal cases for defendants unable to afford their own attorneys. |
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Term
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Definition
(1972)
Ruled that if a jail sentence was involved, even in state court you have the right to cancel. |
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Term
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Definition
(1968)
was a significant United States Supreme Court decision which incorporated the Sixth Amendment right to a jury trial and applied it to the states.
A crime carrying a two-year sentence is sufficiently serious to require the right to a jury trial under the Sixth Amendment, as applied to the states by the Fourteenth. Supreme Court of Louisiana reversed and remanded. |
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Term
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Definition
Cruel and Unusual Punishment
Excessive Bails
Excessive Fines |
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Term
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Definition
(1976)
Upheld Furman V. Georgia
The imposition of the death penalty does not, automatically, violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment. If the jury is furnished with standards to direct and limit the sentencing discretion, and the jury's decision is subjected to meaningful appellate review, the death sentence may be constitutional. If, however, the death penalty is mandatory, such that there is no provision for mercy based on the characteristics of the offender, then it is unconstitutional. |
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Term
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Definition
(1972)
appeared the supreme court was going to outlaw the death penalty, no automatic provisions in state of Georgia
new law was created that you must have statutes outlining the death penalty in the state |
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Term
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Definition
(1986)
In 1890, the State of Louisiana passed a law that required separate accommodations for blacks and whites on railroads, including separate railway cars. Concerned, several black and white citizens in New Orleans formed an association dedicated to the repeal of that law. They persuaded Homer Plessy, who was one-eighth black (an octoroon in the now-antiquated parlance), to test it.
The "separate but equal" provision of public accommodations by state governments is constitutional under the Equal Protection Clause.
was a landmark United States Supreme Court decision in the jurisprudence of the United States, upholding segregation and the constitutionality of the "separate but equal" doctrine. |
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Term
| Brown V. Board of Education |
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Definition
(1954)
*In 1951, a class action suit was filed against the Board of Education of the City of Topeka, Kansas in the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas. The plaintiffs were thirteen Topeka parents on behalf of their twenty children, The suit called for the school district to reverse its policy of racial segregation.
*is a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court overturning its earlier ruling, declaring the establishment of separate public schools for black and white students inherently unequal. This victory paved the way for integration and the Civil Rights Movement. |
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Term
| Regents of the University of California V. Bakke |
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Definition
(1978)
*Bakke applied to the medical school in 1973 and 1974 and was denied both times.
*was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on affirmative action. It bars quota systems in college admissions but affirms the constitutionality of affirmative action programs giving an advantage to minorities.
*example of reverse discrimination
*decision was split
*affirmed, but race should not be the sole reason for admission |
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Term
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Definition
(1873)
Myra Bradwell applied for membership in the Illinois state bar in accordance with a state statute that permitted any adult of good character and with sufficient training to be admitted. Because she was a woman, however, the Illinois State Bar denied her admission, noting that the "strife" of the bar would surely destroy femininity. Bradwell appealed the decision to the United States Supreme Court, arguing that her right to practice law was protected by the Fourteenth Amendment.
*Affirmed. Ruled that the 14th, did not include the right to practice a profession
*"paramount destiny" of a woman to "fulfill the noble and benign offices of wife and mother. This is the law of the Creator." |
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Term
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Definition
(1973)
*Sharron Frontiero, a lieutenant in the United States Air Force, applied for housing and medical benefits for her husband, Joseph, whom she claimed as a "dependent." While servicemen could claim their wives as dependents and get benefits for them automatically, servicewomen had to prove that their husbands were dependent on them for more than half their support.
*More importantly, the plurality argued for a strict standard of judicial scrutiny for those laws and regulations that classified on the basis of sex, instead of mere rational basis review.
*by treating men and women differently, it violates the Due Process Clause, as they prove a female member to prove the dependency of her husband.
*Justice Powell almost made women a suspect class but didnt because he thought ERA would be approved by the state there for allowing the people to choose |
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Term
| Tinker V. Des Moines School District |
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Definition
(1969)
*students suspended from school because they wore black arm band in protest of the vietnam war, they were suspended
*claimed speech was quiet and non disruptive and was protected by the Free Speech Clause in the 1st
*It held that the First Amendment applied to public schools, and that administrators would have to demonstrate constitutionally valid reasons for any specific regulation of speech in the classroom.
*created the Tinker Test, and still used today to determine whether a schools disciplinary action violate the student's 1st amd. rights |
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Term
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Definition
(1965)
*expectations of privacy
*counciling about contraceptives, seen as disturbing
*CT law made it illegal for any person to use any drug or article to prevent conception
*CT ruled illegal, SC threw out law
*Bill of Rights protected a "right of privacy" contained in the penumbras of the first eight amendments to the Bill of Rights, as well as the Ninth Amendment
*found in the "penumbras" of other constitutional protections (implied, hidden) |
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Term
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Definition
(1973)
*landmark decision concerning privacy and abortion
*SC ruled that most las against abortion vilolated a persons consitutional right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the 14th.
*the court divided a pregnancy into trimesters, 1st: women choose 2nd: state may need to proved protection 3rd: unborn child now develops rights
*ruling extend right to privacy with abortion, but did not totally ignore the fetus's rights
*"[T]he State does have an important and legitimate interest in preserving and protecting the health of the pregnant woman ... and that it has still another important and legitimate interest in protecting the potentiality of human life." |
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Term
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Definition
(1976)
*first case in which a majority of the United States Supreme Court determined that statutory or administrative sex classifications had to be subjected to an intermediate standard of judicial review.
*To regulate in a sex-discriminatory fashion, the government must demonstrate that its use of sex-based criteria is substantially related to the achievement of important governmental objectives.
* decided whether the enactment of different drinking ages for men and women violates the 14th, Equal protection clause
*Court held that the gender classifications made by the Oklahoma statute were unconstitutional because the statistics relied on by the state were insufficient to show a substantial relationship between the statute and the benefits intended to stem from it. Furthermore, the Court found that analysis of the Equal Protection Clause in this case had not been changed by the subsequent passage of the Twenty-first Amendment. |
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Term
| New York Times Co. V. United States |
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Definition
(1971)
*per curiam decision (all voted same way). The ruling made it possible for the New York Times and Washington Post newspapers to publish the then-classified Pentagon Papers without risk of government censure.
*classified study entitled History of U.S. Decision-Making Process on the Vietnam Policy.
*Per Curiam opinion itself in this case was very brief because all the Court wanted to state was that it had concurred with the decisions of the two lower courts to reject the Government’s request for an injunction.
*Justice Hugo Black wrote an opinion that elaborated on his absolutist view of the First Amendmen |
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Term
| (City of) Akron V. Akron Center for Reproductive Health |
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Definition
(1983)
*Supreme Court affirmed its abortion rights jurisprudence. The case, decided June 15, 1983, struck down an Ohio abortion law
*law required a 24-hour wait following counseling, which includes the statement "the unborn child is a human life from the moment of conception", after 1st trimester abortion must be in hospital,
*SC said 2nd trimester hospitalization bit obstacle for women seeking abortion , not legal
*writen consent from guardian legal, but can go to court and state case without telling guaridan
*unreasonable for state to insist that only physicians can provide info and counseling
*24 hour wait period legal, to make sure woman is positive of her decision
* |
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Term
| Webster V. Reproductive Health Services |
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Definition
(1989)
*Missouri state law used "life of each human being begins at conception" placing a number of restrictions on abortions, illegal for public places and facilities to assist in abortion or providing counseling
*decsion looked at four sections of MI act 1) preamble 2)prohibit of public use 3)prohibit public funding 4) prior viability test on fetus before abortion
*ruled
*preamble, stated that "the life of each human being begins at conception" and "unborn children have protectable interests in life, health, and well-being". |
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Term
| Webster V. Reproductive Health Services (2) |
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Definition
The Supreme Court overturned the decision of the lower court, stating that:
1. The court did not need to consider the constitutionality of the law's preamble, as it is not used to justify any abortion regulation otherwise invalid under Roe v. Wade.
2. The prohibitions on the use of public employees, facilities, and funds did not violate any of the Court's abortion decisions, as no affirmative right to the use of state aid for nontherapeutic abortions existed. The state could allocate resources in favor of childbirth over abortion if it so chose.
3. Provisions requiring testing for viability after 20 weeks of pregnancy were constitutional, but those limiting abortions in the second trimester of pregnancy were unconstitutional. |
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Term
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Definition
*The question that the court had to decide was, is the sale and distribution of obscene materials by mail protected under the First Amendment's freedom of speech guarantee? The Court ruled that it was not. It indicated that "obscene material is not protected by the First Amendment", thereby reaffirming part of Roth.
*The government can outlaw material based on the following standard: "whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value." |
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Term
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Definition
*a landmark United States Supreme Court case that determined that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and require its recitation in public schools.
*The case was brought by the parents of students who complained the prayer to "Almighty God" contradicted their religious beliefs and was supported by groups opposed to the school prayer including Madalyn Murray O'Hair's American Atheists. The prayer in question was:
Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen.
*The court decided that government-directed prayer in public schools was an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause. |
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Definition
However, the Court acknowledged "the inherent dangers of undertaking to regulate any form of expression," and said that "State statutes designed to regulate obscene materials must be carefully limited." The Court, in an attempt to set such limits devised a set of three criteria which must be met in order for a work to be legitimately subject to state regulation:
* the average person, applying contemporary community standards (not national standards, as some prior tests required), must find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest;
* the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct or excretory functions[1] specifically defined by applicable state law; and
* the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. |
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