Bill of Rights: the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, drafted in response to some of the Anti-Federalist concerns. These amendments define such
basic liberties as freedom of religion, speech, and press and offer protections
against arbitrary searches by the police and being held without talking to a lawyer.
plea bargaining: an actual bargain struck between the defendant’s lawyer and the
prosecutor to the effect that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser crime in exchange for the state’s promise not to prosecute the defendant for the more serious
one.
civil liberties: the legal constitutional protections against government. Although
our civil liberties are formally set down in the Bill of Rights, the courts, the police, and legislatures define their meaning.
prior restraint: a government’s preventing material from being published. This is a
common method of limiting the press in some nations, but it is unconstitutional in
the United States, according to the First Amendment and as confirmed in the 1931
Supreme Court case of Near v. Minnesota.
commercial speech: communication in the form of advertising. It can be restricted more than many other types of speech but has been receiving increased
protection from the Supreme Court.
probable cause: the situation occurring when the police have reason to believe that a
person should be arrested. In making the arrest, the police are allowed legally to
search for and seize incriminating evidence.
cruel and unusual punishment: court sentences prohibited by the Eighth
Amendment. Although the Supreme Court has ruled that mandatory death sentences for certain offenses are unconstitutional, it has not held that the death
penalty itself constitutes as cruel and unusual punishment.
right to privacy: according to Paul Bender, "the right to keep the details of [one's]
life confidential; the free and untrammeled use and enjoyment of one's intellect,
body, and private property… the right, in sum, to a private personal life free from
the intrusion of government or the dictates of society." The right to privacy is implicitly protected by the Bill of Rights.
Eighth Amendment: the constitutional amendment that forbids cruel and unusual punishment, although it does not define this phrase. Through the Fourteenth
Amendment, this Bill of Rights provision applies to the states.
establishment clause: part of the First Amendment stating that “Congress shall
make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
exclusionary rule: the rule that evidence, no matter how incriminating, cannot
be introduced into a trial if it was not constitutionally obtained. The rule prohibits use of evidence obtained through unreasonable search and seizure.
Fifth Amendment: the constitutional amendment designed to protect the rights
of persons accused of crimes, including protection against double jeopardy, selfincrimination, and punishment without due process of law.
First Amendment: the constitutional amendment that establishes the four great
liberties: freedom of the press, of speech, of religion, and of assembly.
Fourteenth Amendment: the constitutional amendment adopted after the Civil
War that states, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge
the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state
deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor
deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
free exercise clause: a First Amendment provision that prohibits government
from interfering with the practice of religion.
incorporation doctrine: the legal concept under which the Supreme Court has
nationalized the Bill of Rights by making most of its provisions applicable to the
states through the Fourteenth Amendment.
libel: the publication of false or malicious statements that damage someone’s
reputation.
search warrant: a written authorization from a court specifying the area to be
searched and what the police are searching for. The Fourth Amendment requires a
search warrant to prevent unreasonable searches and seizures.
self-incrimination: the situation occurring when an individual accused of a crime is
compelled to be a witness against himself or herself in court. The Fifth Amendment
forbids self-incrimination.
Sixth Amendment: the constitutional amendment designed to protect individuals
accused of crimes. It includes the right to counsel, the right to confront witnesses,
and the right to a speedy and public trial.
symbolic speech: nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an
armband. The Supreme Court has accorded some symbolic speech protection under
the First Amendment.
unreasonable searches and seizures: obtaining evidence in a haphazard or random
manner, a practice prohibited by the Fourth Amendment. Both probable cause and
a search warrant are required for a legal and proper search for and seizure of incriminating evidence.
Barron v. Baltimore (1833): the 1833 Supreme Court decision holding that the
Bill of Rights restrained only the national government, not the states and cities.
Almost a century later, the Court first ruled in Gitlow v. New York that ste governments must respect some First Amendment rights.
Engel v. Vitale (1962): the Supreme Court decision holding that state officials
violated the First Amendment when they wrote a prayer to be recited by New
York's schoolchildren.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963): the Supreme Court decision holding that anyone
accused of a felony where imprisonment may be imposed, however poor he or
she might be, has a right to a lawyer.
Gitlow v. New York (1925): the Supreme Court decision holding that freedoms
of press and speech are "fundamental personal rights and liberties protected by
the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment from impairment by the
states" as well as the federal government.
Gregg v. Georgia (1976): the Supreme Court decision that upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty, stating that "It is an extreme sanction, suitable to
the most extreme of crimes." The court did not, therefore, believe that the
death sentence constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971): the Supreme Court decision holding that aid to
church-related schools must have a secular legislative purpose, have a primary
effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion, not foster an excessive government "entanglement" with religion.
Mapp v. Ohio (1961): the Supreme Court decision ruling that the Fourth
Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and seizures must be
extended to the states as well as the federal government.
McCleskey v. Kemp (1987): the Supreme Court case that rebuffed the last major challenge to the death penalty by refusing to rule that the penalty violated
the equal protection of the law guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. Although social scientists testified that minority defendants and murderers whose
victims were white were disproportionately likely to receive death sentences,
the Court insisted that this fact did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment, because there was no evidence that juries intended to discriminate on the basis of
race.
Miami Herald Publishing Co. v. Tornillo (1974): A 1974 case in which the
Supreme Court held that a state could not force a newspaper to print replies
from candidates it had criticized, illustrating the limited power of government to
restrict the print media.
Miller v. California (1973): a Supreme Court decision that avoided defining
obscenity by holding that community standards be used to determine whether
material is obscene in terms of appealing to a “prurient interest.”
Miranda v. Arizona (1966): the Supreme Court decision that sets guidelines for
police questioning of accused persons to protect them against self-incrimination
and to protect their right to counsel.
NAACP v. Alabama (1958): the Supreme Court protected the right to assemble
peacefully in this 1958 case when it decided the NAACP did not have to reveal its
membership list and thus subject its members to harassment.
Near v. Minnesota (1931): the 1931 Supreme Court decision holding that the First
Amendment protects newspapers from prior restraint.
New York Times v. Sullivan (1964): decided in 1964, this case established the
guidelines for determining whether public officials and public figures could win damage suits for libel. To do so, said the Court, such individuals must prove that the defamatory statements made about them were made with “actual malice” and reckless
disregard for the truth.
Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992): a 1992 case in which the Supreme Court
loosened its standard for evaluating restrictions on abortion from one of “strict scrutiny” of any restraints on a “fundamental right” to one of “undue burden” that permits considerably more regulation. State may limit abortions reasonably. Supreme
Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission (1969): a
case in which the Supreme Court upheld restrictions on radio and television broadcasting, such as giving adequate coverage to public issues and covering opposing
views. These restrictions on the broadcast media are much tighter than those on
the print media, because there are only a limited number of broadcasting frequencies available.
Roe v. Wade (1973): the Supreme Court decision holding that a state ban on all
abortions was unconstitutional. The decision forbade state control over abortions
during the first trimester of pregnancy, permitted states to limit abortions to protect
the mother’s health in the second trimester, and permitted states to protect the fetus during the third trimester.
Roth v. United States (1957): a Supreme Court decision ruling that “obscenity is
not within the area of constitutionally protected speech or press.”
Schenck v. United States (1919): a 1919 decision upholding the conviction of a
socialist who had urged young men to resist the draft during World War I. Justice
Holmes declared that government can limit speech if the speech provokes a “clear
and present danger” of substantive evils.
School District ofAbington Township, Pennsylvania v. Schempp (1963): a 1963
Supreme Court decision holding that a Pennsylvania law requiring Bible reading in
schools violated the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
Texas v. Johnson (1989): a case in which the Supreme Court struck down a law
banning the burning of the American flag on the grounds that such action was symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment.
Zurcher v. Stanford Daily (1978): a Supreme Court decision holding that a proper
search warrant could be applied to a newspaper as well as to anyone else without
necessarily violating the First Amendment rights to freedom of the press.
Widmar v. Vincent: 1981 Supreme Court case that decided that public universities that let student groups use their facilities must allow student religious
groups on campus to use the facilities for religious worship.
Westside Community Schools v. Mergens: 1990 Supreme Court case upheld
the 1984 Equal Access Act, which makes it unlawful for any public high school
receiving federal funds to keep student groups using school facilities for religious worship if the school opens its facilities for other student meetings.
Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School: in 1993, the Supreme
Court required public schools that rent facilities to organizations to do the same
for religious groups.
Rosenberger v. University of Virginia: 1995 Supreme Court case which constitutionally required subsidization of a student religious magazine on the same
basis as other student publications.
Illinois ex rel McCollum v. Board of Education: (1948) School authorities may
not permit religious instructors to come into the public school buildings during
the school day to provide religious education.
Zorach v. Clauson: (1952) School authorities may release students from part of
the compulsory school day to receive religious instruction elsewhere.
Stone v. Graham: 1980, the Court prohibited the posting of the Ten Commandments on the walls of public classrooms.
Lee v. Weisman: 1992, the Court ruled that a school-sponsored prayer at a public-school graduation violated the constitutional separation of church and state.
Agostini v. Felton: 1997, the Court ruled that public school systems could send
teachers into parochial schools to teach remedial and supplemental classes to
needy children.
Kiryas Joel v. Grumet: 1994, Supreme Court rules that New York state had gone
too far in favoring religion when it created a public school district for the benefit
of a village of Hasidic Jews.
Wallace v. Jaffree: 1985, the Supreme Court rejected three Alabama laws
passed in 1978, 1981, and 1982 which authorized schools to hold one-minute
periods of silence for "meditation or voluntary prayer" because the state made it
clear that the purpose of the statute was to return prayer to the schools. The
Court indicated, however, that a less clumsy approach would pass its scrutiny.
Edwards v. Aguillard: 1987, the Supreme Court ruled that a law requiring
schools that taught Darwinian theory to teach creation science, such as Louisiana's Balanced Treatment Act, violated the establishment clause.
Epperson v. Arkansas: 1968 the Supreme Court held that states cannot prohibit
Darwin's theory of evolution from being taught in the public schools.
Lynch v. Donelly: 1984, the Court found that Pawtucket, Rhode Island, could set
up a Christmas nativity scene on public property along with Santa's house and
sleigh, Christmas trees, and other symbols of the Christmas season.
County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union: the Court extended
the principle to a Hanukkah menorah, placed next to a Christmas tree. The
Court concluded that these displays had a secular purpose and provided little or
no benefit to religion. At the same time, the Court invalidated an unadorned
display of the nativity scene in a courthouse because the county gave the impression of endorsing the display's religious message.
Employment Division v. Smith: 1990, the Court discarded its previous requirement for a "compelling interest" before a government could even indirectly limit
or prohibit religious practices by deciding that state laws interfering with religious practices but not specifically aimed at religion are constitutional. Aside
from the specific area of denying people unemployment compensation, as long
as a law does not single out and ban religious practices because they are en-
gaged in for religious reasons, or only because of the religious belief they display, a
general law may be applied to conduct even if it is religiously inspired.
Wisconsin v. Yoder: 1972, the Supreme Court held that religious freedom took precedence over compulsory education. This allowed Amish parents to take their children out of school after the eighth grade under the reasoning that the Amish community was well established and that its children would not burden the state.
Boerne v. Flores: 1997, the Supreme Court declared conferring on all persons the
right to perform their religious rituals unless the government can show that the law
or regulation in question is narrowly tailored and in pursuit of a "compelling interest"
an unconstitutional intrusion by Congress into the states' prerogatives for regulating
the health and welfare of citizens.
Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah: 1993, the Court overturned the Hialeah ordinances that prohibited the use of animal sacrifice in religious
ritual. The justices concluded that governments that permit other forms of killing
animals may not ban sacrifices or ritual killings. In this instance, the Court found no
compelling state interest that justified the abridgment of the freedom of religion.
R.A.V. v. St. Paul: 1992, the Supreme Court ruled that legislatures and universities
may not single out racial, religious or sexual insults or threats for prosecution as
"hate speech" or "bias crimes."
New York Times v. United States: 1971, the justices ruled that the "no prior restraint" rule prohibited prosecution before the papers were published, but the Court
might be sympathetic if the government brought prosecution for theft.
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier: 1988, the Supreme Court ruled that a
high-school newspaper was not a public forum and could be regulated in "any reasonable manner" by school officials.
US v. Snepp: 1980, the Supreme Court upheld the government's suit against two
former CIA agents who had signed agreements allowing the CIA to clear their future
writings about the agency.
Dennis v. United States: 1951, the Supreme Court upheld prison sentences for several Communist party leaders for conspiring to advocate the violent overthrow of the
government--even in the absence of evidence that they actually urged people to
commit specific acts of violence.
Yates v. United States, Brandenburg v. Ohio: 1957, 1969, the Court found that it
is permissible to advocate the violent overthrow of the government in abstract, but
not actually to incite anyone to imminent lawless action
Collins v. Smith: Oct 1978, the Supreme Court let the federal district court ruling of
no community can use its power to grant parade permits to stifle free expression
stand.
McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission: 1995, the Court supported the right to
protest, pass out leaflets, or gather signatures on petitions--as long as it is done in
public places. Campaign literature may even be distributed anonymously.
Hudgens v. National Labor Relations Board: 1976, held that federal free-speech
guarantees did not apply when a person was on private property.
Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins: 1980, the Court upheld a state's power to
include politicking in shopping centers within its own free-speech guarantee.
City of Ladue v. Gilleo: 1994, the Supreme Court ruled that cities cannot bar residents from posting signs on their own property.
Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart: 1972, the Court revoked the gag order issued by a Nebraska judge forbidding the press to report an details of a particularly
gory murder.
Richmond Newspapers v. Virginia: 1878, reversed a Virginia judge's order to close
a murder trial to the public and the press. The Court stated "The trial of a criminal
case must be open to the public."
Branzburg v. Hayes: 1972, the Court ruled that in the absence of shield laws,
the right of a fair trial preempts the reporter's right to protect sources.
Jenkins v. Georgia: 1974, the Supreme Court lifts a ban placed by the state of
Georgia on the acclaimed film Carnal Knowledge.
Erznoznik v. Jacksonville: 1975, the Supreme Court held that Jacksonville's
ordinance was unconstitutionally broad and may end up banning movies that
are not obscene at all. (i.e. showing a baby's bare buttocks, a nude war victim,
etc.)
Osborne v. Ohio: 1991, the Supreme Court upheld Ohio's law forbidding the
possession of child pornography.
Jacobson v. United States: 1992, the Court ruled that the government had
overstepped the line between setting the trap for the "unwary innocent" and the
"unwary criminal" and failed to establish that Jacobson was independently predisposed to commit the crime for which he was arrested.
Schad v. Mount Ephraim: 1981, the Court ruled against a small New Jersey
town that tried to get rid of a nude dancing parlor by using its zoning power to
ban all live entertainment. The Court held that the measure was too broad and
thus unlawful.
Barnes v. Glen Theater, Inc.: 1991, the Court upheld an Indiana law banning
nude dancing.
Reno v. ACLU: 1997, the Supreme Court overturned the Communications Decency Act, which banned obscene material and criminalizing the transmission of indecent speech or images to anyone under 18 years of age because it was overly
broad and vague and a violation of free speech. The law did not make an exception for material with serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific merit.
Hustler Magazine v. Falwell: 1988, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the
magazine, allowing them to go pretty far in parodying or lampooning a public
figure.
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District: 1969, suspension for
wearing black arm bands violates First Amendment rights, which protect symbolic speech
United States v. O'Brien: 1968, burning a draft card is not protected speech.
FCC v. Pacifica Foundation: the Supreme Court upheld the Commission's policy
of barring obscene words from radio or television when children might hear
them.
Frisby v. Schultz: 1988, the Supreme Court agreed that the right of residential
privacy was a legitimate local concern and upheld the ordinance.
Michigan v. Sitz: 1990, the Court upheld roadside checkpoints in which police
randomly examine drivers for signs of intoxication.
Nix v. Williams: 1984, the Court allowed the use of illegally obtained evidence
when this evidence led police to a discovery that they eventually would have
made without it.
United States v. Leon: 1984, the Court established the good-faith exception to
the rule; evidence could be used if the police who seized it mistakenly thought
they were operating under a constitutionality valid warrant.
Arizona v. Evans: 1995, the Court held that the exclusionary rule does not bar
evidence obtained illegally as the result of clerical errors.
United States v. Payner: 1980, the Court allowed evidence illegally obtained
from a banker to be used to convict one of his customers.
Ms. Montoya: the Court rules in favor of the U.S. Customs agents, stating that
they were well within their constitutional authority to search her.
Arizona v. Fulminante: 1991, the Court held that a coerced confession introduced in a trial does not automatically taint a conviction.
Powell v. Alabama: 1932, the Supreme Court ordered the states to provide an attorney for indigent defendants accused of a capital crime.
Witherspoon v. Illinois: 1968, the Court overturned a death sentence because opponents of the death penalty had been excluded from the jury at sentencing, a factor that stacked the cards, said the Court, in favor of the extreme penalty.
Furman v. Georgia: 1972, the Court first confronted whether the death penalty is
inherently cruel and unusual punishment. Four justices said that the death penalty
was not cruel and unusual punishment, yet the Court overturned Georgia's death
penalty law because its imposition was "freakish" and "random."
Woodson v. North Carolina: 1976, the Supreme Court ruled against mandatory
death penalties.
Harmelin v. Michigan: 1991, upheld Harmelin's conviction of a life sentence, explaining that severe punishments were quite commonplace and that severity alone is not
enough to qualify a punishment as "cruel and unusual." The also observed that
Michigan knew better than they the conditions on the streets of Detroit.
Griswold v. Connecticut: 1965, the Supreme Court upheld privacy and struck down
a Connecticut law forbidding the use of contraceptives.
Webster v. Reproductive Health Services: 1989, the Court upheld the Missouri
state law forbidding the use of state funds or state employees to perform abortions.
Rust v. Sullivan: the Court found that a Department of Health and Human Services
ruling specifying that family planning services receiving federal funds could not provide women any counseling regarding abortion was unconstitutional.
Madsen v. Women's Health Center: 1994, the Supreme Court consolidated the
right to abortion established in Roe v. Wade with protection of a woman's right to
enter an abortion clinic to exercise that right.
Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health: 1990, the Supreme Court
recognized a limited constitutional right for patients to refuse unwanted medical
treatment, a form of suicide.
Vacco v. Quill, Washington v. Glucksberg: 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that
there is no constitutional right to physician-assisted suicide and that states may
prohibit it if they wish. (They may also pass laws legalizing it.)