Download Civil Liberties

Civil Liberties
0 Constitutional and other legal protections
against government actions
0 Bill of Rights- first 10 amendments to
Constitution
0 All state constitutions had Bills of Rights
0 States would not ratify the Constitution
without inclusion of a Bill of Rights to protect
from the national government
0 Table 4.1
CRASH COURSE
0CIVIL RIGHTS AND CIVIL
LIBERTIES
Bill of Rights and the States
0 Every state had its own Bill of Rights
0 “Congress shall make no law….” 1st Amendment- suggests it
applies only to national government
0 Barron v. Baltimore- Supreme Court decision that held that
the Bill of Rights applied only to national government
0 14th Amendment- p.109- “No State shall make or enforce any
law which shall abridge the priveleges and immunities of
citizens of the United States.”
0 Gitlow v. New York- 1925- Court ruled that freedoms of press
and speech were protected by the 1st Amendment
0 Due process clause- 14th Amendment- persons cannot be
denied of life, liberty, or property without due process of law
Incorporation
0 Incorporation doctrine- the Court has
nationalized most of the Bill of Rights and
made it applicable to the states under the 14th
Amendment
0 Happened gradually
0 Today, Bill of Rights applies to state and local
governments.
0 Not Incorporated- 3rd and 7th, prohibition
against excessive fines and bail
Freedom of Religion
0 Two parts of first amendment
0 Establishment clause- “Congress shall make no
law respecting an establishment of religion.”
0 Free exercise clause- government may not
interfere with practicing (or not practicing) of
religion
0 Sometimes, these clauses conflict
0 EX: Military bases provide religious services
Establishment Clause
0 Some nations have a national religion
0 Jefferson argued for a “wall of separation”
0 Lemon v. Kurtzman- 1971- Law that provide aid to church-
related schools must do the following:
0 Have a secular legislative purpose
0 Have a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion
0 Not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion
0 Funds may be used for buildings, textbooks, and instructional
equipment, but not for teacher salaries, field trips, etc.
0 Zelman v. Simmons-Harris- 2002- vouchers could be used to
pay tuition at religious schools
Religion in Public Schools
0 If schools permit student groups to use their facilities, they
must provide equal access to religious clubs.
0 Court has ruled that student religious publications must be
funded on same basis as other publications.
0 Court has ruled that posting of Ten Commandments in
classrooms is illegal.
0 Engel v. Vitale- 1963- Court ruled that recitation of prayer over
intercom violates establishment clause
0 Students may pray as much as they wish.
0 School-led prayers at graduation, football games, etc. is
unconstitutional.
0 Majority of the public supports prayer in schools.
Teaching Evolution
0 In 1987, Louisiana passed a law allowing teachers to
teach creation science along with evolution.
0 Court said you can’t do that.
0 States cannot prohibit the theory of evolution from
being taught in schools.
0 Intelligent design- belief that living things are too
complicated to have resulted from natural selection.
0 Teaching intelligent design has been ruled
unconstitutional.
Public Religious Displays
0 A monument that has a religious message may not be
against the establishment clause.
0 Texas has monument of 10 commandments alongside other
historical markers around its Capitol.
0 Cities have been allowed to display nativity scenes alongside
other secular displays (Santa’s sleigh, Christmas trees, etc.)
0 Court has stated that the Constitution does not
require complete separation of church and state but
that the government must accommodate all
religions and not favor one over another.
Free Exercise Clause
0 Constitution guarantees the right to practice religion or no
religion at all.
0 Courts have ruled that people have the right to BELIEVE what
they want but not necessarily PRACTICE it.
0 Polygamy, laws that prohibited business on Sunday
0 Many Amish remove their children from school after 8th grade.
Court has upheld that people can be conscientious objectors to
war on religious grounds.
0 Religious groups may appoint whomever as ministers, not
subject to discrimination laws.
0 Employment Division v. Smith- Court upheld that laws that
interfered with religion but not aimed at religion were
constitutional.
0 YOU ARE THE JUDGE- PAGE 116
ANOTHER CRASH COURSE
0FREEDOM OF RELIGION
Freedom of
Expression
0 DEMOCRACY DEPENDS ON FREE EXPRESSION!!
0 Not all speech is permissible.
0 Prior restraint- Government may not prevent
material from being published
0 Near v. Minnesota- 1931- Newspaper was shut down
by the state to prevent it from publishing. Court
ordered it reopened.
0 Expression of students in school may be limited
more than those of adults. EX: newspapers
0 Classified information may be censored in times of
war.
Free Speech and
Public Order
0 Conflict between free speech and maintaining order.
0 Schenck v. U.S.- Socialist convicted of distributing
leaflets urging men to resist the draft.
0 Government can limit speech if it provokes a “clear and
present danger.”
0 Smith Act- 1940- forbade advocating violent
overthrow of the government
0 Dennis v U.S.- 1954- Court upheld sentences for
Communists convicted under Smith Act
0 Courts have upheld the right to protests, pass out
leaflets, get signatures in public places.
Obscenity
0 Roth v. U.S.- 1957- Obscenity is not protected speech.
0 What is considered obscene varies from place to place.
0 Miller v. California- 1973- Materials are obscene if:
0 The work appealed to a “prurient interest in sex”
0 The work showed “patently offensive” sexual conduct
0 The work lacked “serious literary, artistic, political, or
scientific value”
0 Based on contemporary standards of local
communities.
0 Laws may vary by community.
0 You are the Judge: Page 120.
Libel and Slander
0 Libel- publication of false and malicious statements
that damage a person’s reputation.
0 Slander- spoken defamation
0 NY Times v. Sullivan- 1964- statements about public
figures are libelous only if made with malice and
reckless disregard for the truth.
0 Private individuals have a lower standard to meet.
0 Only have to show the that the statements were false and
author was negligent.
0 Parody has been protected as free speech.
0 Hustler Magazine v. Falwell
Symbolic
Speech
0 Tinker v. Des Moines-1965 Court held that
students had right to wear black armbands to
protest Vietnam War.
0 Freedom of speech does not just include spoken
words
0 Texas v. Johnson- 1989- a state law banning
burning the American flag was ruled
unconstitutional.
0 Symbolic speech includes nonverbal actions
that expresses an opinion.
Another Crash Course
0Freedom of Speech
Free Press and Fair Trials
0 Press wants to print what it wants but courts
must hold a fair trial.
0 The Court has never upheld a restriction on the
press in the interest of a fair trial.
0 Trials must be open to the public.
0 Courts may sequester a jury and isolate it from
the media.
0 Zurcher v. Stanford Daily- 1978- a search
warrant may be applied to a newspaper
without violating the First Amendment.
Commercial Speech
0 Includes advertising
0 May be restricted more that other types of
speech
0 Federal Trade Commission regulates content of
advertising.
0 Ensures that advertisers do not make false claims.
0 Federal Communications Commission-
regulates radio and TV broadcasting
0 Issues licenses
0 FCC v. Pacifica Foundation
Campaigning
0 Federal Election Campaign Act 1971- placed
limits on campaign contributions
0 Buckley v. Valeo- 1976- ruled that spending
money on elections is a form of free speech,
voided parts of law
0 McCain-Feingold Act- 2002- banned unrestricted
soft money
0 Citizens United v FEC-2010- Court ruled that
limits on campaign advertisements by
corporations and unions was unconstitutional
Another Crash Course
0Freedom of Press
Freedom of
Assembly
0 Allows people to form interest groups, political
parties, professional associations/unions, picketing
and protesting
0 Governments may place limits on time, place, and
manner of a protest.
0 Westboro Baptist Church protests military funerals
0 You Are The Judge Page 128
0 Courts have set limits on distance that abortion
protesters must be from clinics
Right to Associate
0Right to associate with people who
share a common interest
0NAACP v. Alabama- 1958- State
requested that NAACP turn over its
membership list. Court said nope,
they have the right to associate.
Right to Bear Arms
0 Court has rarely dealt with gun control.
0 District of Columbia v. Heller 2008- Court
ruled that 2nd Amendment protected an
individual’s right to possess a firearm for selfdefense.
0 DC had passed a law that restricted residents
from owning firearms, except police and military
0 States may pass laws concerning concealed
weapons, felons and mentally ill, and areas
such as government buildings and schools.
Defendants’
Rights
0Most of Bill of Rights concerns protecting
people accused crimes.
0Figure 4.1 Stages of Criminal Justice System
0Protection has gradually been extended to
state courts through the incorporation
doctrine.
Searches and Seizures
0 Probable cause- police must have reason to believe a person
committed a crime before making an arrest
0 Unreasonable searches and seizures- prohibited by 4th
Amendment
0 Courts may issue search warrants- must specify area to be
searched and materials being sought
0 Courts have approved aerial searches, roadblocks, searches
following routine stops
0 SEARCHES OF K-12 STUDENTS REQUIRE ONLY A
REASONABLE SUSPICION OF WRONGDOING, NOT PROBABLE
CAUSE.
0 Exclusionary rule- Illegally seized evidence is not admissible
in court (Mapp v. Ohio 1961)
Another Crash Course
0Search and
Seizure
Self-Incrimination
• 5th Amendment forbids
forced self-incrimination.
• Miranda v. Arizona- 1966Court set guidelines for
policed questioning of
suspects to protect against
self-incrimination and right to
counsel.
Right to Counsel
06th Amendment guarantees right to
counsel in Federal courts.
0Gideon v. Wainwright 1963- anyone
accused of a felony where imprisonment
may be imposed has the right to an
attorney
Trials
06th Amendment- right to a fair and
speedy public trial by an impartial jury
0Habeas Corpus- those detained have a
right to be informed of the charges against
them
0Most criminal cases end with a guilty plea
0Plea bargaining- lawyer and prosecutor
agree to plead guilty to a lesser crime
0 Saves the state money for a trial
War on Terror and Habeas
Corpus
0After 9/11, US withheld the names of
detainees
0Court held that detainees had the right to
be informed of why they were being held
0Boumediene v Bush- 2008- Court ruled
that detainees have the constitutional
right to challenge their detention in US
courts
Cruel and Unusual
Punishment
08th Amendment
0What’s “cruel and unusual”?
0 Overcrowded prisons, sentencing juveniles to
life in prison, death penalty?
0Furman v. Georgia
0Gregg v. Georgia
02008- Court upheld lethal injection
0Figure 4.2 Decline of Executions
Another Crash Course
0Due Process of
Law
Right to Privacy
0Not mentioned in Bill of Rights, implied
though.
0Griswold v. Connecticut 1965- CT had
passed a law forbidding use of
contraceptives. Court ruled that husband
and wife had the right to privacy in family
planning
Abortion
0 Roe v. Wade 1973- Texas had passed a law allowing
abortion only to save the life of the mother. Court ruled
that privacy implied by the due process clause of the
14th Amendment extends to a woman’s right to an
abortion.
0 No state control of abortion during first trimester
0 2nd trimester- states may regulate abortion
0 3rd trimester- states may ban abortions, except when mother’s
life is in danger
0 More than 50 million abortions since Roe
0 3 in 10 women will have had an abortion by age 45
Abortion
0 Webster v. Reproductive Health Services 1989- states may forbid
use of state funds in performing abortions
0 Planned Parenthood v Casey- 1992-
Abortions
Another Crash Course
0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyHWRXAAgm
Q&list=PL8dPuuaLjXtOfse2ncvffeelTrqvhrz8H&index
=28