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Constitutional Rights:
Protections and Limitations
Essential Questions: Does the government
adequately protect individual rights? Why or why not?
Is the government ever justified in limiting civil
liberties? Why or why not? How have amendments to
the Constitution and Supreme Court decisions
changed the relationship between the government,
rights, and citizens?
Our Constitutional rights have been interpreted differently overtime.
Remember, the Legislative branch created the Constitution and all of
the Constitutional Amendments, but it is up to the Judicial branch to
interpret what each of the amendments really mean. For example, do
we always have the right to free speech? What if we are lying, or what
if we are saying things that hurt others? Throughout the history of the
United States, the federal courts have tried to answer questions like
these. Their decisions in important cases have both protected and
limited our Constitutional rights.
Protecting our Constitutional Rights
Name of Case
Texas v.
Johnson
Description
During a protest, a man burned an
American flag. He was arrested for
doing so. He argued that he could burn
the flag because by doing so, he was only
voicing his opinion, while is legal under
the 1st amendment. The US Supreme
Court agreed.
Right
Protected?
Freedom of
speech
Amendment
1st
Protecting our Constitutional
Rights
Name of Case
Tinker v. Des
Moines
Description
Rights
Protected?
Three students wore black armbands
to school to protest the Vietnam war.
They were suspended. The students
won the case because they were
using symbolic speech, which should
not be limited if it does not cause a
riot/distraction.
Freedom of speech
(symbolic)
Amendment
1st
Protecting our Constitutional Rights
Name of Case
Engel v. Vitale
Description
A group of Jewish students were forced
to say a Christian prayer at the beginning
of the school day. They sued the school
system because the government can’t
force people to pray.
Rights
Protected?
Freedom of
Religion
Amendment
1st
Protecting our Constitutional Rights
Name of Case
Miranda v.
Arizona
Description
Rights Protected?
A man was arrested and was not
made aware that he was allowed to
plead the fifth to avoid selfincrimination, nor was he told that
he could have a lawyer. His
confession could not be submitted as
evidence in court because he had not
been informed of his rights.
Right to be informed
of charges against you;
right to attorney;
freedom from selfincrimination
Amendment
5th and 6th
Protecting our Constitutional Rights
Name of Case
Gideon v.
Wainwright
Description
Rights Protected?
A man was arrested, put on trial,
and found guilty. He was never
given the chance to have a court
appointed lawyer so he had to
defend himself. He appealed his
case, and the Supreme Court said he
should have been given a lawyer, so
the conviction was overturned.
Right to an attorney
Amendment
6th
Protecting our Constitutional Rights
Name of Case
Mapp v. Ohio
Description
Rights Protected?
Police forcibly entered a home where
they suspected that a criminal was
hiding. They tied up the homeowner
while they completed a search of the
home. The police found illegal
materials in the home and arrested
the homeowner. The Supreme Court
reviewed the case and said that
evidence obtained illegally (without a
warrant) cannot be used in court as
evidence.
Freedom from
Unreasonable Search
and Seizure
Amendment
4th
Protecting our Constitutional Rights
Name of Case
Description
Rights
Protected?
Amendment?
Furman v. Georgia
The state of GA was using the
death penalty disproportionately
against African Americans, so the
Supreme Court said that the
practice was unconstitutional
Freedom from
cruel and unusual
punishment
8th
Gregg v. Georgia
The Supreme Court said that GA
CAN use the death penalty as long
as they are fair.
Freedom from
cruel and unusual
punishment
8th
Limiting our Constitutional Rights
Name of Case
Hazelwood v.
Kuhlmeier
Description
A school’s newspaper was
being censored by their
principal, so they sued him
under their freedom of the
press. The Supreme Court said
that school newspapers can be
censored, so they do NOT have
freedom of the press.
Rights Limited?
Freedom of Press
Amendment
1st
Limiting our Constitutional Rights
Name of Case
Bethel v. Fraser
Description
A student gave an inappropriate
speech in front of his entire
school and was suspended. He
sued his school system because
he said they violated his
freedom of speech. The
Supreme Court said that
students do not have freedom of
speech in schools, so his
suspension was upheld.
Rights Limited?
Free speech
Amendment
1st
Limiting our Constitutional Rights
Name of
Case
New Jersey
v. TLO
Description
Two students were caught smoking at school
and searched. One student was found to not
only have cigarettes, but also drugs and
evidence that she was also selling those drugs
at school. She was arrested and found guilty.
She said she should not have been searched
because the school principal’s did not have a
warrant or probable cause (a good reason) to
search her. The Supreme Court disagreed –
they said that at school, you can be searched
with only “reasonable suspicion”, instead of
“probable cause”
Rights Limited?
Protection from
unreasonable
search and seizure
Amendment
4th