Term
D.C. v. Heller
What and when? |
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Definition
| 2008 Supreme Court case which ruled the D.C. handgun law unconstitutional. Established that the 2nd amendment was an individual right, not merely a collective right for militias. |
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Term
McDonald v. City of Chicago
What and when? |
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Definition
| 2010 Supreme Court case which incorporated the 2nd amendment (made it binding on state governments) |
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Term
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Definition
| Personal guarantees and freedoms that the government cannot abridge, either by law, constitution, or judicial interpretation |
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Term
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Definition
| Provide freedom against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government or individuals. |
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Term
Who said:
"“It is clear that the Framers . . . counted the right to keep and bear arms among those fundamental rights necessary to our system of ordered liberty.”" |
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Definition
Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
Supreme Court Justice in McDonald v. City of Chicago. |
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Term
| Why was the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution? |
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Definition
| Anti-federalists did not trust the national government to protect their civil liberties without a written guarantee. |
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Term
| Which member of the Constitutional Convention proposed the addition of a bill of rights? (His resolution was unanimously defeated) |
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Definition
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Term
| What were the three arguments against a bill of rights in the Constitutional Convention? |
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Definition
1. Unnecessary for a government founded on the idea of unalienable rights, and also because most states had such protections in their constitutions.
2. Dangerous in that it promotes the idea that the national government can transcend its enumerated powers
3. Difficult to enforce in a non-arbitrary way. |
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Term
| Who were two members of the Constitutional Convention that supported a bill of rights (other than Mason)? |
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Definition
| James Madison and Thomas Jefferson; Jefferson supported it more strongly than Madison. |
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Term
| What is the Bill of Rights? |
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Definition
| The first 10 amendments to the Constitution, guaranteeing certain civil liberties. |
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Term
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Definition
| Judicial interpretation of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments’ due process clauses that protects citizens from arbitrary or unjust state or federal laws. (Burden is on the States to prove that their laws are a valid exercise of their power) |
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Term
Which Supreme Court ruling stated:
"For present purposes we may and do assume that freedom of speech and of the press — which are protected by the First Amendment from abridgement by Congress — are among the fundamental personal rights and “liberties” protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment from impairment by the states"? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the "due process clause"? |
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Definition
| The portion of the 14th amendment which reads: "No State shall . . . deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." |
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Term
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Definition
| An interpretation of the Constitution that holds that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires that state and local governments must also guarantee the rights stated in the Bill of Rights. |
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Term
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Definition
A judicial doctrine whereby most but not all of the protections found in the Bill of Rights are made applicable to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment.
Each provision must be separately incorporated by the Court. |
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Term
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Definition
| Those rights defined by the Court to be essential to order, liberty, and justice and therefore entitled to the highest standard of review. |
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Term
| Who said that there needed to be "a hedge or wall of separation between the garden of the church and the wilderness of the world."? |
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Definition
| Roger Williams of Rhode Island. Thomas Jefferson adopted this view as well. |
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Term
| Where does the Constitution state, "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or Public Trust under the United States."? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the establishment clause and where is it found? |
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Definition
| Amendment I: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" |
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Term
| What is the free exercise clause, and where is it found? |
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Definition
| Amendment I, "Congress shall make no law [...] prohibiting the free exercise thereof [of religion]" |
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Term
| What are legal restrictions on the freedom of religion? |
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Definition
| Snake handling, polygamy/polyandry, illegal drugs |
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Term
| What are the tenets of the Lemon test? |
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Definition
Practice or policy concerning religious establishment are constitutional if:
1) They serve a legitimate secular reason
2) neither advance nor inhibit religion
3) did not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion |
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Term
| What is "prior restraint"? |
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Definition
| Constitutional doctrine that prevents the government from prohibiting speech or publication before the fact. That is, preemptively outlawing types of speech that it doesn't like. |
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Term
| What were the Alien and Sedition Acts? |
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Definition
| These acts, passed during John Adam's presidency, outlawed "any false, scandalous writing against the government of the United States". This provisional act was allowed to expire during Jefferson's presidency and were thus never challenged in the Supreme Court |
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Term
| What is the "clear and present danger" test? Which Supreme Court case established it, and when? |
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Definition
Schenk v. U.S. (1919)
Speech may be outlawed if it creates "a clear and present danger that will bring about the substantive evils that Congress has a right to prevent." |
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Term
| Who coined the example (of unprotected speech) of yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater? |
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Definition
| Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes in Shenck v. U.S., 1919 |
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Term
| What is the direct incitement test? Which Supreme Court case created it, and when? |
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Definition
Brandenburg v. Ohio, 1969
Speech may be curtailed if "such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action" |
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Term
| What was the "Pentagon Papers" case? |
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Definition
New York Times Co. v. U.S., 1971
Ruled that government could block the publication of DoD documents illegally leaked to the press. |
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Term
| What is symbolic speech? Give an example. |
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Definition
Symbols, signs, and other methods of expression generally considered to be protected by the First Amendment.
Ex: flag burning |
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Term
| Who said, "The byword among many black activists and black intellectuals is no longer the political imperative to protect free speech; it is the moral imperative to suppress ‘hate speech.’"? |
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Definition
| African American studies scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., Kalven |
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Term
| What are libel and slander? |
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Definition
Libel: written defamation of character
Slander: spoken defamation of character
Truth is an absolute defense against both. I.e., it is not libel to say that someone steals from their clients if it is actually true that they do. |
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Term
| What are "fighting words"? |
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Definition
| Words that, “by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of peace.” Fighting words are not subject to the restrictions of the First Amendment. they include "profanity, obscenity, and threats". |
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Term
| What was the "Roth test"? |
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Definition
| To be considered obscene, the material in question had to be “utterly without redeeming social importance,” and articulated a new test for obscenity: “whether to the average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the material taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interests." |
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Term
| Who said, “Peaceful assembly for lawful discussion cannot be made a crime”? |
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Definition
| Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes in DeJonge v. Oregon 1937 |
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Term
| What are current legal restrictions on the 2nd Amendment? |
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Definition
Type of weapon
Location (ex. schools, courthouses)
Concealment (requires license)
Criminal history (felony = no gun)
Mental History
Drug abuse (including legal drugs)
Some misdemeanors
Delinquency history (taxes, child support, student loans)
Background checks |
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Term
| What are writs of habeus corpus? What guarantees them? |
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Definition
court orders in which a judge requires authorities to prove that a prisoner is being held lawfully and that allow the prisoner to be freed if the judge is not persuaded by the government’s case. Habeas corpus rights also imply that prisoners have a right to know what charges are being made against them.
Article I guarantees them. |
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Term
| What is an ex post facto law? What prohibits it? |
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Definition
Laws that make an act punishable as a crime even if the action was legal at the time it was committed.
Prohibited by Article I |
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Term
| What are bills of attainder? What prohibits them? |
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Definition
Laws declaring an act illegal without
a judicial trial.
Prohibited by Article I |
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Term
Who said, “the vehicle can
quickly be moved out of the locality or jurisdiction in which the warrant must be
sought.” |
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Definition
| Chief Justice William H. Taft |
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Term
| Who said, the “balance between the public interest and the individual’s right to personal security,” tilts in favor of a “standard less than probable cause in brief investigatory stops.” |
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Definition
| Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist |
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Term
| What are Miranda rights? Which court case established them? |
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Definition
Miranda v. Arizona:
You must be notified of your right to remain silent, that anything you say can be used against you, and that you are entitled to representation. |
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Term
| What is the exclusionary rule? |
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Definition
| Illegal obtained evidence may not be used in a trial. "Fruits of a poisoned tree" - Weeks v. U.S. |
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Term
| What is the right to privacy? |
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Definition
| The right to be left alone |
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Term
Who said of privacy, "the right to be left alone—the most comprehensive of
rights and the right most valued by civilized men."? |
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Definition
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Term
| List the four crucial cases regarding privacy. |
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Definition
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) - Birth Control
Roe v. Wade (1973) - Abortion
Lawrence v. Texas (2003) - Sodomy
Gonzalez v. Oregon (2006) - Physician-assisted suicide |
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Term
| Who said, "If the right of privacy means anything, it is the right of the individual, married or single, to be free from unwarranted governmental intrusion into matters so fundamentally affecting a person as the decision to bear or beget a child."? |
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Definition
| Justice William J. Brennan Jr. |
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