Civil Liberties And Civil Rights

Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Study Guide
A. Chapter 4:
a. Terms:
i. Civil Liberties: The 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. ii. Bill of Rights: The first 10 amendments to the US Constitution, which define such basic liberties as freedom of religion, speech, and press and guarantee defendants' rights. iii. First Amendment: The constitutional amendment that establishes the four great liberties: freedom of the press, of speech, of religion, and of assembly. iv. Fourteenth Amendment: The constitutional amendment adopted after the Civil War that states, No State shall make or enforce and
Unreasonable Searches and Seizures: Obtaining evidence in haphazard or random manner, a practice prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. Probably cause and/or a search warrant are required for a legal and proper search for an seizure of incriminating evidence. xv. Search Warrant: A written authorization from a court specifying the area to be searched and what the police are searching for. xvi. Exclusionary Rule: The rule that evidence, no matter how incriminating, cannot be introduced into a trial if it was not constitutionally obtained. The rule prohibits use of evidence obtained through unreasonable search and seizure. xvii. Fifth Amendment: A constitutional amendment designed to protect the rights of persons accused of crimes, including protection against double jeopardy, self-incrimination, and punishment without due process of law. xviii. Self-Incrimination: The situation occurring when an individual accused of a crime is compelled to be a witness against himself or herself in court. The Fifth Amendment forbids self-incrimination. xix. Sixth Amendment: A constitutional 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
Symbolic Speech: Nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband. The Supreme Court has accorded some symbolic speech protection under the First Amendment.
3. Commercial Speech: Communication in the form of advertising. It can be restricted more than any other types of speech but has been receiving increased protection from the Supreme Court. iii. Basic restrictions on speech include: prior restraint, government preventing material from being published; obscenity, inappropriate speech; libel, false statements being published; slander. The government can limit symbolic speech if the act was to intimidate. iv. Brief Explanations:
1. Search and Seizure: must have probable cause to search personal affects; can only take what they went into search for
2. Privilege Against Self-Incrimination: this fifth amendment right protects a defendant from being forced to testify against him or herself; it protects against compelled testimonial evidence
3. Right to Due Process: if people believe their rights are being violated, they have the right to a fair and impartial hearing
4. Right to Counsel: individual right found in the sixth amendment of the constitution that requires criminal defendants to have access to legal