Download Chapter 15 notes – First Amendment Freedoms

Chapter 15 Study Guide – First Amendment Freedoms
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Define civil liberties –
o What are some examples of civil liberties?
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Which amendments to the Constitution protect these liberties?
Define civil rights –
o What is an example of a civil right?
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What Constitutional provisions protect civil rights?
Define legal privileges –
o What is an example of a legal privilege?
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Rights in the Original Constitution
o Before the addition in 1791 of the Bill of Rights
o Even though most framers didn’t think a bill of rights was necessary, they did
spell out some important rights in the Constitution:
 Define writ of habeas corpus –
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Why has the use of the writ of habeas corpus by federal courts
been criticized?
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But, the Supreme Court has still reinforced the importance of the
writ:
o Why is the Supreme Court case Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
(2006) significant? How does this case relate to the writ of
habeas corpus?
Protection against ex post facto laws and bills of attainder:
 Define ex post facto law –
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Define bill of attainder –
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o What is an example of an actual bill of attainder?
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The Bill of Rights and the States
o Define due process clause –
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Why is the 14th Amendment so significant in terms of states?
o Why is the Supreme Court case Gitlow v. New York (1925) significant in terms of
the due process clause?
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Define selective incorporation –
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Which provisions of the Bill of Rights have not been applied to the
states through selective incorporation?
Freedom of Religion
o First words of 1st Amendment are “Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
 What are the two religion clauses in the 1st Amendment?
o The Establishment Clause
 Define establishment clause –
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What three evils was the establishment clause designed to prevent?
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However, the clause doesn’t prevent governments from accommodating
religious needs, the extent to which governments may do this is the subject
of much debate in SC and the country:
 Why was the Supreme Court case Everson v. Board of Education
of Ewing Township (1947) significant?
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Why was the Supreme Court case Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
significant?
o What are the three parts of the Lemon Test devised by the
Supreme Court in this case?
 1.
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2.
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3.
Which Supreme Court justice championed the endorsement test?
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What is the endorsement test?
There are also the preferentialist test and the strict separation tests
Supreme Court decision – Stone v. Graham (1980) – S.C. held that a
Kentucky statute requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in
public school rooms was unconstitutional
 S.C. revisited this issue in two sharply divided 2005 decisions:
 Van Orden v. Perry – Chief Justice Rehnquist held that erecting a
six foot monument on which the Ten Commandments were
chiseled did not violate 1st Amend
 McCreary v. American Civil Liberties Union of Kentucky – S.C.
ruled that two Kentucky counties violated 1st Amend by
prominently displaying the Ten Commandments in the courthouses
o In both cases, Justice Steven Breyer cast pivotal vote in
bare majorities
 What was his opinion about the difference between
the Texas monument and the Kentucky displays?
o Vouchers and State Aid for Religious Schools
 Define vouchers –

Why are vouchers often controversial?
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Why was the Supreme Court case Zelman v. Simmons-Harris
(2002) significant?
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o The Free Exercise Clause
 Define free exercise clause –
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Why was the Supreme Court case Employment Division v. Smith (1990)
significant?
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In reaction to this decision, Congress enacted the Religious
Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (RFRA), which aimed to
override the Smith decision and to restore the earlier test
prohibiting government from limiting exercise of religious unless
government demonstrates compelling interest that’s advanced by
least restrictive means
o What did the Supreme Court do about the RFRA?
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2000- Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act
(RLUIPA) specified that state and local governments that receive
federal funding for services may not impose a substantial burden
on the free exercise of religion of an individual in a prison or jail
o S.C. unanimously upheld this law in Cutter v. Wilkinson
(2005) saying it is a permissible government
accommodation of religious practices
Free Speech and Free People
o Explain how speech stands somewhere between belief and action?
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What kinds of speech are not entitled to Constitutional protection?
o Judging: Drawing the Line
 Historical Constitutional Tests
 These were used in the first part of the 20th century, they’re no
longer applied but they provide background for current judicial
approach to government regulation of speech and protection of free
speech
 Define bad tendency test –
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Define clear and present danger test –
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o In what Supreme Court case was this test formulated?
o What is an example of speech that would be subject to the
clear and present danger test?
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Define preferred position doctrine –
Nonprotected and Protected Speech
o Today, the Supreme Court holds that all speech is protected unless it falls into one
of four narrow categories:
o Define nonprotected speech –
o Libel
 Define libel –
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Define sedition –
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Define seditious libel –
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Why was the Supreme Court case New York Times v. Sullivan
(1964) significant?
What must public figures do in order to collect damages for comments
made about them?
o Obscenity and Pornography
 Define obscenity –
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Why was the Supreme Court case Miller v. California (1973)
significant?
o Fighting Words
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Define fighting words –
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Define commercial speech –
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Why was the Supreme Court case 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode
Island (1996) significant?
o Protected Speech
 All speech other than the four above types of nonprotected speech are
protected and the Supreme Court uses the following doctrines to measure
the limits of government power to regulate speech:
 Define prior restraint –
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Define void for vagueness doctrine –
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Define least drastic means doctrine –
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Define content and viewpoint neutrality doctrine –
Freedom of the Press
o Why is there debate over whether or not reporters have the right to keep
information from grand juries and legislative investigating committees?
o Describe the debate over whether the press has the “right to know”:
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What did the 1966 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) do?
Other Media and Communications
o The Mail
 Mail may not be detained by the post office because it is deemed to be
propaganda
 Govt. censorship of mail is unconstitutional
o Handbills, Sound Trucks, and Billboards are all constitutionally protected forms
of speech
o What must the government prove in order to censor a movie?
o Broadcast and Cable Communications
 Broadcasting receives the least 1st Amendment protection of all the mass
media
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What government agency is in charge of regulating broadcasting?
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Why was the Supreme Court case United States v. Playboy Entertainment
Group (2000) significant?
o Telecommunications and the Internet
 Why has Congress struggled with issues raised by the Internet?
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Why was the Supreme Court case Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union
(1997) significant?
o Freedom of Assembly
 Pubic Forums and Time, Place, and Manner Regulations
 What sorts of restrictions can governments place on protests and
parades?
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Define public forums –
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Define limited public forums –
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Define nonpublic forums –
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Define civil disobedience –
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