Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Vocab Study Guide
"Clear and present danger"- Doctrine set forth by the Supreme Court in Shenck v. United States that
states the First Amendment does not protect speech if it imposes a clear and present danger to society (i.e.
falsely shouting fire in a crowded theater).
"Miranda rights/warnings"- As a result of Miranda v. Arizona, the High Court mandates that all
accused criminals be informed of their Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights prior to being interrogated.
These rights include the protection against self-incrimination ("right to remain silent") and the right to
counsel.
"Undue burden"- Supreme Court standard that limits the kinds of laws states can pass, specifically
abortion. States can only regulate or restrict abortion if such regulations do not impose an undue burden
upon the woman.
Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)- Held that sanctioned organized Bible reading in public
schools in the United States to be unconstitutional.
Affirmative action- Policy requiring federal agencies, universities, and most employers to take positive
steps to remedy the effects of past discrimination.
Age Discrimination Act (1967)- An act that prohibits age discrimination in employment.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) (1990)- An act that prohibits discrimination based on disability.
Atkins v. Virginia (2002)- Held that the Virginia law allowing the execution of mentally handicapped
individuals violated the 8thand 14th amendments and is cruel and unusual punishment.
Bethel School District v. Fraser (1986)- Ruled that the First Amendment does not prohibit schools from
prohibiting vulgar speech since it is inconsistent with the “fundamental values of public school
education.”
Brown v. Board II (1955)- Held that the problems identified in Brown vs. Board 1 required varied local
solutions, but school authorities were to implement the principles based on the first Brown decision with
"all deliberate speed."
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)- Ruled that “separate educational facilities are inherently
unequal” and reversed the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision relative to public schools.
Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)- Resulted in a provision of the Bipartisan
Campaign Reform Act prohibiting unions, corporations, and not-for-profit organizations from
broadcasting electioneering communications with 60 days of a general election or 30 days of a primary
elections violates the First Amendment.
Civil liberties- freedoms that guard against infringement or abuse by a governmental power.
Civil Rights Act (1964)- Outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women
including racial segregation.
Civil Rights Act (1968)- Prohibits discrimination in housing; sales, rentals, and financing.
Civil Rights Act (1991)- Gave the right for parties to obtain jury trials and recover compensatory and
punitive damages in lawsuits involving discrimination.
Civil rights- Rights that shield people from various kinds of discrimination based on race, sex, ethnicity,
religion, or other minority status, whether by committed by a government or by citizens.
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Vocab Study Guide
de facto segregation- Segregation that happens although it is not required by the law.
de jure segregation- Segregation that is imposed by the law.
Due process- Fair treatment through the judicial system.
Employment Division v. Smith (1990)- Held that the Free Exercise Clause permits the States to prohibit
sacramental peyote (cactus with psychoactive alkaloids) use and thus to deny unemployment benefits to
persons discharged for such use.
Engel v. Vitale (1962)- Held that government-directed prayer in public schools violates the Establishment
Clause of the First Amendment, even if the prayer is denominationally neutral and students may remain
silent or be excused from the classroom during its recitation.
Equal Pay Act (1963)- Abolished wage disparity based on sex.
Equal Rights Amendment- Gave women and men equal rights under the law proposed in 1923 and is
still not part of the Constitution.
Establishment Clause- First half of the First Amendment's freedom of religion clause that prohibits
Congress from passing any law "respecting the establishment of religion."
exclusionary rule- Rule that prohibits the use of illegally obtained evience at trial.
Fifteenth Amendment (1870)- Granted African American men the right to vote. This was no fully
recognized for almost a century.
Fourteenth Amendment (1868)- Granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United
States and forbids states from denying any person “life, liberty, or property, without the due process of
law,” or to “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Free Exercise Clause- Second half of the First Amendment's freedom of religion clause that prohibits
Congress from passing any law "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion.
Furman v. Georgia (1972)- Held that the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment and violates the
8th and 14thamendments.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)- Held that citizens had a right to be represented by a court-appointed
attorney (overruled its decision of Betts vs. Brady).
Gitlow v. New York (1925)- Ruled that the First Amendment applies to the states and a state may forbid
both speech and publication if they have a tendency to result in action dangerous to public security, even
if they do not create clear and present danger.
Grandfather clause- 19th century exemption to literacy tests and other voting barriers stating that if
one's grandfather could legally vote, so too could (s)he. This was designed to allow poor and illiterate
whites to vote while preventing blacks from doing so.
Gregg v. Georgia (1976)- Held that the death penalty does not automatically violate the 8th and
14th amendments. If it is mandatory and there is no provision for mercy based on the characteristics of the
offender then it is unconstitutional.
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)- Ruled that the Constitution implicitly guarantees citizens’ right to
privacy.
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Vocab Study Guide
Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)- Held that the Univeristy of Michigan Law School admissions program that
gave special consideration being a certain racial minority did not violate the 14th amendment.
Hazelwood School v. Kuhlmeier (1988)- Held that speech that can be reasonably viewed to dangerous for
schools can be regulated by the school without violating the students’ First Amendment rights.
Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States (1964)- Held that Congress did not unconstitutionally
exceed its power under the Commerce Clause by enacting the Title II of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which
prohibited racial discrimination in public accommodations.
Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988)- Ruled that libel was not protected with the protection of free
speech.
Incorporation doctrine/selective incorporation- The process by which the Supreme Court has applied
portions of the Bill of Rights to the states.
Inevitable discovery rule- Exception to the exclusionary rule that allows the use of illegally obtained
evidence at trial if the court determines the evidence would eventually have been found by legal means.
Jim Crow Laws- State and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965 that mandated
de jure segregation in al public facilities that were supposedly “separate but equal.”
Katzenbach v. McClung (1964)- Held that Section 201 a, b, and c of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which
forbids discrimination by restaurants offering to serve interstate travelers or serving food that has moved
in interstate commerce is a constitutional exercise of the commerce power of Congress.
Lawrence v. Texas (2003)- Held that a Texas law classifying consensual adult homosexual intercourse as
illegal sodomy violated the right to privacy and liberty of adults to engage in private intimate conduct
under the 14th amendments.
Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)- Held that for a law to be consider constitutional under the Establishment
Clause of the First Amendment, the law must have a legitimate secular purpose, must not have the
primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion, and must not result in an excessive entanglement
of government and religion.
libel- A published false statement that is damaging to a person’s reputation.
Loving v. Virginia (1967)- Held that Virginia’s anti-miscegenation statue, the Racial Integrity Act of
1924 was unconstitutional and ended all race-based legal restriction on marriage in the U.S.
Mapp v. Ohio (1961)- Ruled that all evidence obtained illegally is inadmissible in a state court.
Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)- Held that the First Amendment does not require States to
excuse public school students from saluting the American flag and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance on
religious grounds.
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)- Held that interrogating individuals without notifying them of their right to
counsel and their protection against self0incrimination violates the fifth amendment. The Court outlined
the specific aspects of police warning to suspects.
Morse v. Frederick (2007)- Ruled that the First Amendment does not prevent educators from suppressing
student speech at a school-supervised event.
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Vocab Study Guide
Near v. Minnesota (1931)- Ruled that laws that permanently prohibit the publication of newspapers with
“malicious, scandalous, and defamatory” content violate the First Amendment.
New York Times v. U.S. (1971)- Ruled that in order to exercise restraint, the Government must show
sufficient evidence that the publication would cause a “grave and irreparable” danger.
New York v. Sullivan (1964)- Ruled that the First Amendment protected a newspaper from being sued for
libel in state court for making false defamatory statements about the official conduct of a public official
because the statement were not made with knowing of the truth.
Objective good faith- Exception to the exclusionary rule that allows the use of illegally obtained
evidence at trial if the court determines that police believed they were acting within the limits of their
search warrant when they seized the evidence.
Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)- Held that the required spousal notification prior to obtaining an
abortion violated the 14thamendment. However, requirements for parental consent, informed consent, and
24-hour waiting period were not violations.
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)- Ruled that “separate but equal” facilities for different races are not a violation
of the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause and are thus constitutional. The decision made "Jim
Crow" legal in the United States until it began to be dismantled in the 1950s, starting with
the Brown decision.
Poll tax- A tax levied on every adult, without reference to their income or resources.
Powell v. Alabama (1932)- Held that denying the assistance of counsel from the time of their
arraignment until the beginning of their trial violated the 14th Amendment.
Preferred position doctrine- Doctrine that states that “freedom of press, freedom of speech, and freedom
or religion are in a preferred position.” Meaning these specific human rights have prerogative over other
laws.
Prior restraint- Censorship in which certain material may not be published or communicated.
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1976)- Held that while affirmative action systems are
constitutional, a quota system based on race is unconstitutional.
Reynolds v. United States (1879)- Ruled that bigamy as a religious practice is not protected by the First
Amendment's Free Exercise Clause. The First Amendment protects religious practices but not illegal
activities.
Roe v. Wade (1973)- Ruled that the woman's ability to decide to abort a pregnancy is protected by the
Constitutional right to privacy. Also held that the woman's right to an abortion cannot be restricted in the
first trimester, can be regulated in the second trimester, and can be restricted in the third trimester.
Schenck v. United States (1919)- Ruled during wartime, words tolerable in peacetime can be punished if
they represent a "clear and present danger" to society.
Self-incrimination- The act of implicating oneself in the commission of an act for which a person can be
prosecuted. The Fifth Amendment protects all accused from self-incrimination and thus they "have the
right to remain silent."
Shaw v. Reno (1993)- Supreme Court decision holding that oddly shaped (ethnic) minority-majority
districts would be held to a standard of "strict scrutiny" under the Equal Protection Clause.
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Vocab Study Guide
slander- Making a false spoken statement damaging to a person’s reputation.
Texas v. Johnson (1989)- Held that a statute that criminalizes the desecration of the American flag
violates the First Amendment.
Thirteenth Amendment (1865)- Abolished slavery.
Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)- Ruled that the wearing of armbands was “closely akin to ‘pure speech’”
and therefore, protected by the First Amendment.
Title IX, Higher Education Act (1972)- States that ”No person in the United States shall, on the basis of
sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under
any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
Twenty-fourth Amendment (1964)- Outlawed poll taxes.
Twenty-sixth Amendment (1971)- Lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.
Voting Rights Act (1965)- Federal law that increased government supervision of local elected practices,
stopped the use of literacy tests, and expanded government efforts to register voters.
Voting Rights Act (1982)- Clarified that any voting practice or procedure that has a discriminatory result
is illegal in section 2. This section is permanent.
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1987)- Held that the Due Process Clause does not require
states to enter into the business of abortions and did not create a right to governmental aid and the court
upheld the viability testing requirements. The Court emphasized that it was not revisiting the essential
portions of the holding in Roe vs. Wade.
Weeks v. United States (1914)- Held that the warrantless seizure of documents from a private home
violated the Fourth Amendment.
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)- Held that the Free Speech clause of the First
Amendment prohibits public schools from forcing students to salute the American flag and say the Pledge
of Allegiance.
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)- Held that that required attendance past the 8th grade interfered with the right
of Amish parents to direct the religious upbringing of their children.