Civil Liberties:
Protecting Individual
Rights
Chapter 20
Section 1
Due Process of Law
Due Process
The government cannot deprive
anyone of “life, liberty or
property, without due process.”
 The government must act fairly,
using fair laws, with fair
procedures.

Substantive Due Process
Sometimes governments pass
laws which are not constitutional
 Skinner v. OK, 1942 – OK
required all felons with 3
convictions to be castrated
 It was overturned as
unconstitutional and the law was
thrown out

Substantive Due Process
Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 1925
– the law required all students to
attend public school, destroying
private and parochial schools
 The court threw out the law.
 Students may attend any school
for their education.

Procedural Due Process
Sometimes governments pass
good laws but are poorly
implemented
 Rochin v. CA, 1952 – Rochin
swallowed drugs and had his
stomach pumped to get it
 Police may not invade a person
to get evidence

Procedural Due Process
Miranda v. AZ, 1966 – Miranda
confessed to rape without
knowledge that he could get an
attorney.
 The portion of the law that was
not followed was eliminated and
Miranda received a new trial.

Police Power
The police are the ‘middle men’
between governmental laws and
the public.
 They are responsible to promote
the public health, safety, morals
and general welfare
 Conflicts arise frequently

Testing for Drunkenness
What are the correct procedures
to determine sobriety?
 Breathalyzer
 Walk a line
 Touch your nose
 Blood test
 All have been or are being used

Testing for Drunkenness
Courts usually side with the
police in order to protect the
public from drunk drivers.
 Schmerber v. CA, 1966 – found it
ok to draw blood to check for
alcohol content

Other Laws
States can limit the sale of
alcoholic beverages and tobacco,
make laws to combat pollution
and require vaccinations
 States can forbid concealed
weapons, require seat belt use,
and punish drunk drivers

Other Laws
States can regulate gambling and
out law the sale of pornography
and prostitution.
 States can require compulsory
education, provide medical care
and limit the profits of untility
companies.

Rights of Privacy
The Constitution grants us the
“right to be let alone”
 Griswold v. CN, 1965 – found a
state law prohibiting birth
control counseling and all
devises to be unlawful
 The Courts cannot police
bedrooms

Roe v. Wade, 1973
Texas made abortion a crime
 The USSC found the law
unconstitutional
 Woman may receive an abortion
in the first trimester (3 mo)
 The state can make restrictions
for woman to receive an abortion
in the second trimester (6 mo)

Roe v. Wade, 1973

States can choose to prohibit
abortions during the last
trimester, also called partial
birth abortions, except when
saving the life of the mother
Complex Abortion Rulings
Some states have passed laws to
restrict abortions
 Most have enacted laws
requiring women have
counseling before an abortion
and wait 24 hours
 Women under 18 must have
parental permission

Complex Abortion Rulings
Harsher requirements that try to
restrict the decision of Roe v.
Wade are overturned by the
USSC
 CA just rejected a parental
notification law for 17 year old
girls

Complex Abortion Rulings

The USSC overturned a PA law
requiring a woman to notify her
husband of an abortion
Civil Liberties:
Protecting Individual
Rights
Chapter 20
Section 2
Freedom and Security of the
Person
Slavery
Until the 13th Amendment, in
1865, states could decide for
themselves whether to condone
involuntary servitude, slavery
 The military draft is not
involuntary servitude

th
13
Amendment
When America outlawed
slavery, it did not ban
discrimination, feeling it did not
have the authority to delegate
race-based discrimination
 Discrimination and segregation
were the norm until 1968

Jones v. Mayer, 1968
Jones sued Mayer because he
refused to sell him a house in a
white-only neighborhood.
 The Court backed Jones, using
the 13th Amendment – “shall
have the same right, in every
State…”

Runyon v. McCray, 1976
An all white private school
refused to admit 2 black children
 The court sided with the
children because the school
advertised to the public,
therefore, must be equally
accessible regardless of race

Right to Keep and Bear Arms
The 2nd Amendment was written
to protect citizen-soldiers
 Many claim that it protects
anyone who wants to own a gun
 States can make their own
regulations regarding gun
ownership

Quartering of Soldiers
The 3rd Amendment was written
as protection
 Prior to the Revolution, Britain
kept soldiers in private homes
 To date, there has never been a
court case regarding this
amendment

Search and Seizure
The 4th Amendment was written
to prevent the use of writs of
assistance, blanket search
warrants
 Questions about this
amendment have been decided
by the USSC numerous times

Search and Seizure
Police must, in most cases, have
a search warrant after proving to
a judge that they have probably
cause to suspect a crime.
 There are occasions when police
do not need a search warrant

No Search Warrant if:
Evidence of a crime may move
 The police witness the crime
 Evidence is in plain view
 A crime is in progress

Exclusionary Rule
Evidence not collected properly
cannot be used in court
 Attorneys will frequently
attempt to show that seizure of
evidence was obtained illegally
so it will be excluded from trial

Mapp v. Ohio, 1961
Police entered and searched
Dollree Mapp’s home looking for
gambling paraphernalia.
 They only found pornography
 The case of overturned because
the evidence was obtained
without a warrant.

Suppose there’s a mistake
The Court has generally allowed
evidence if there are errors in
the warrant.
 If the warrant says “auto pants”
instead of “auto parts”
 If the evidence would have been
discovered without a warrant

Suppose there’s a mistake
Good faith conclusions by police,
thinking the warrant was good
when it was not valid
 When police make an “honest
mistake”

Drug Testing
Employees may be subject to
mandatory drug testing
 Students may also be made to
submit to drug testing if they
participate in extracurricular
activities and it is random

Wire Tapping
Courts normally protect an
individual’s right to privacy
 To use information learned from
bugging and individual, a search
warrant must be used.

Civil Liberties
Chapter 20
Section 3
Vocabulary
Writ of habeas corpus – a court
order making the government
allow the accused a hearing and
an explanation for their
detainment
 Bill of Attainder – laws that
affect only 1 individual or group

Vocabulary
Ex post facto – laws passed after
the fact
 Grand jury – a formal group
selected to look at evidence to see
if charges warrant being filed
 Double Jeopardy – no one can be
tried for the same crime twice

Vocabulary


Bench trial – only a judge hears a
case
“It is better that ten people go
free than that one innocent
person be punished”
Rights of the Accused
People accused of a crime are
afforded certain rights
 Judges have suspended the writ
of habeas corpus during times of
war, such as after Pearl Harbor
 It was found to be
unconstitutional
 Lincoln also did it - legally

Rights of the Accused
Federal, state, or local
governments may not enforce ex
post facto laws
 EX – if a person does something
today that is legal, if a law
forbidding it passes tomorrow,
the person cannot be prosecuted
for doing the act

Rights of the Accused
People are chosen to be on a
grand jury for 1 year.
 They meet, usually once a month,
to look at evidence to be sure that
the evidence found is enough to
warrant a criminal trial
 All sessions are secret and only
the prosecutors are present

Rights of the Accused
People cannot stand trial twice
for the same crime.
 They can stand trial for the same
type of crime
 They can stand trial in federal
and state courts for the same
crime
 They can face civil and criminal
courts for the same crime

Rights of the Accused
Accused people have the right to s
speedy trial – 100 days from the
time of arraignment to trial
 Tom Delay was arrested in
October and is expecting to go to
trial in December by his request

Rights of the Accused

OJ Simpson asked
for a speedy trial
hoping the
prosecution would
not be ready to try
him – they were not
Rights of the Accused
The 6th Amendment guarantees
a public trial
 Judges can limit the number of
spectators and decide if the
case is televised
 This is important in rape and
child molestation cases

Rights of the Accused
The 6th Amendment guarantees
that the accused be tried in
front of an “impartial” jury
 This clause allows attorney to
question potential jury
members to test for bias
 The accused can ask for a
bench trial

Rights of the Accused
The 6th Amendment guarantees
that the accused be
represented by an attorney
 Gideon v. Wainwright – FL
would not appoint a free
attorney for a non-capital case.
 It was overturned by the USSC
and Gideon received a new
trial

Rights of the Accused
Escobedo v IL – Escobedo was
denied the right to see his
attorney after asking
numerous times
 His case was thrown out and
he was released from prison

Rights of the Accused
The 5th Amendment guarantees
the right of the accused not to
incriminate himself
 The prosecution must prove
the case against the accused
 The accused does not have to
testify in court or answer
questions

Rights of the Accused
Miranda Warnings are
routinely given to all accused
 TX v. Cobb – Cobb confessed to
murder without his attorney.
His conviction was upheld
because he did not ask for help
from his attorney before he
confessed

Civil Liberties
Chapter 20
Section 4
Vocabulary
Bail – money put up with a
promise to return to court
 Preventive detention – people
denied bail because they are a
flight risk
 Capital Punishment – death
penalty
 Treason – crimes against the US

After an Arrest
Once people are arrested, they
have a hearing
 The judge determines, with the
help of the prosecuting and
defense attorneys, if bail will be
allowed.

After an Arrest
Bail is established to allow the
accused freedom until they are
convicted and because the
accused may find it easier to
prepare for trial on the outside
 Bail may not be excessive – 8th
Amendment

After an Arrest
The 8th Amendment forbids
cruel and unusual punishment
 Electrocution, hanging and
firing squad have each been
determined as constitutional
forms of punishment

After an Arrest

It has been found
constitutional for the courts to
assign sever punishments for a
person found guilty of their 3rd
felony conviction.
After an Arrest

Lockyer v. Andrade, 2003 –
tested CA 3 strikes rule and
found that Leonard Andrade
could not be charged for 3
simultaneous thefts from
Kmart as 3 crimes.
After an Arrest

People have been convicted
under the 3 strikes law for
Stealing a pizza
 Marijuana possession
 Shoplifting
 Assault

Capital Punishment
The death sentence has been
reserved for some violent
criminals
 There have been numerous
cases challenged usually
dealing with the methods used
to implement death

Capital Punishment
The death penalty has been put
aside for various reasons, and
for varying lengths of time
 CA commuted all death penalty
cases in the early 1970s

Capital Punishment

Convicted
murderers
were resentenced to
life in prison
Capital Punishment
The death penalty may not be
used on the mentally retarded
or mentally ill
 The death penalty has been
called racist and elitist since
most of the executed have been
poor and black

Capital Punishment

In 2000, Gov. Ryan, IL,
commuted all death sentences
because of the number of
“guilty” people found innocent
after DNA testing
Capital Punishment
States impose the death penalty
for murder, rape, kidnapping
etc
 The federal government can
impose the death penalty for
treason

Capital Punishment
John Brown was hung after his
raid on Harpers
Ferry
 So were Julius
and Ethel
Rosenberg for
selling atomic
secrets to the Russians
