AP GOVERNMENT
COOKBOOK
Unit VI:
Civil Rights and Liberties.
SYLLABUS - Unit VI Description
VI: Civil Rights and Liberties
An understanding of United States politics includes the study of the development of
individual rights and liberties and their impact on citizens . Basic to this study is an analysis
of the workings of the United States Supreme Court and familiarity with its most significant
decisions . Students should examine judicial interpretations of various civil rights and
liberties such as freedom of speech, assembly, and expression; the rights of the accused;
and the rights of minority groups and women . For example, students should understand the
legal, social, and political evolution following the Supreme Court’s decisions regarding racial
segregation . Students should also aware of how the Fourteenth Amendment and the
doctrine of selective incorporation have been used to extend protection of rights and
liberties . Finally, it is important that students be able to assess the strengths and
weaknesses of Supreme Court decisions as tools of social change
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Civil Rights Overview
Simple Definition: Rights and Privileges explicitly or implicitly
guaranteed in the Constitution
Relevant Constitutional Amendments
AMENDMENT
RIGHTS
1
RAPPS: Religion, Assembly, Press, Petition and Speech
2
Guns
Protection from Illegal Searches
4
5
Protection from self incrimination
Protection from eminent domain w/o compensation
Protection from double Jeopardy
Right to Due Process of Law
Guarantee of Habeas Corpus
6
Speedy Public Trial
Right to a Lawyer
7
Jury of your peers
8
Protection from Cruel and Unusual Punishment
9
Individual rights not limited to those mentioned in Bill of Rights
10
Powers not mentioned in the Constitution are reserved for States
and People
14
Implied Right to Privacy, Selective Incorporation, Natural Born
Citizenship
First Amendment: Religion and Assembly
RELIGION CASES:
Engle v. Vitale: Prayer in public schools violates the establishment clause
Lemon v. Kurtzman: Concerned aid to religious schools. Created “Lemon Test”
to determine if funding was in violation of establishment clause
The LEMON TEST:
1) Funding to Religious schools must have a specific secular purpose
2) The primary effect must not help or hinder religious education
3) No excessive government entanglements with religion
Oregon v. Smith: The use of hallucinogenic drugs in religious ceremonies is not
protected by the First Amendment
ASSEMBLY CASE:
Edward v. South Carolina: Non-violent protests are protected under the First
Amendment
First Amendment: Speech and Press
SPEECH CASES:
Schenck v. US: Freedom of Speech limited if it poses a “clear and present
danger”
Texas v. Johnson: Freedom of Speech extended to symbolic acts (Flag Burning)
Buckley v. Valeo: Freedom of Speech extended to corporations
Bradenburg v. Ohio: Protected Speech encouraging illegal activities if the illegal
activities are not “imminent”
Miller v. California & Roth v. US: Obscene speech or materials not protected by
First Amendment
Tinker v. Des Moines School Dist: Freedom of Speech extended to black arm
bands
Bethel School Dist v. Frazier: Freedom of Speech limited in schools.
PRESS CASES:
New York Times v. Sullivan: Protected press from libel cases unless malice can be
proven
Hazlewood School Dist v. Kuhlmeier: Freedom of Press limited in schools
Gitlow v. New York: Press is a “fundamental right” to be incorporated.
Near v. Minnesota: Limited prior restraint on the press
Second, Fourth & Fifth Amendments: Guns, Illegal Search
and Self Incrimination
2nd Amendment cases:
McDonald v. Chicago: Chicago’s handgun ban overturned. Selectively
incorporated the Second Amendment.
Lewis v. US: Right to bear arms can be limited in cases of convicted felons.
DC v. Heller: Right to bear arms protected for civilians when engaging in lawful
activities or home protection
4th Amendment Cases:
Mapp v. Ohio: Began exclusionary rule. Illegally obtained evidence is excluded
from courts of law
TLO v. New Jersey: Fourth Amendment rights do not apply to students on school
grounds
5th Amendment Cases:
Lawrence v. Texas: Overturned a Texas law that banned homosexual intercourse
based on the due process clause of the fifth amendment.
Chambers v. Florida: Forced confessions violated the self-incrimination clause
Miranda v. Arizona: “Miranda Rights” Once arrested, a person must be
informed of the Constitutional Rights to prevent self-incrimination
Sixth and Eighth Amendments: Juries & Lawyers & Cruel and
Unusual Punishment
6th Amendment cases:
Powell v. Alabama: If a defendant cannot afford a lawyer, one must be provided
by the state
Gideon v. Wainwright: Provided the basis for the selective incorporation of the
6th Amendment right to counsel.
8th Amendment Cases:
Weems v. US: “Principle of Proportionality” Punishment must fit the crime
Ingraham v. Wright: Corporal Punishment in Schools DID NOT violate 8th Amend.
Trop v. Dulles: “Evolving standard of decency” What is considered cruel and
unusual changes as times change.
Furman v. Georgia: Limited the use of the death penalty; defendant’s character
must be taken into account
Atkins v. Virginia: Death Penalty cannot be used on mentally retarded\
Sixth and Eighth Amendments: Juries & Lawyers & Cruel and
Unusual Punishment
6th Amendment cases:
Powell v. Alabama: If a defendant cannot afford a lawyer, one must be provided
by the state
Gideon v. Wainwright: Provided the basis for the selective incorporation of the
6th Amendment right to counsel.
8th Amendment Cases:
Weems v. US: “Principle of Proportionality” Punishment must fit the crime
Ingraham v. Wright: Corporal Punishment in Schools DID NOT violate 8th Amend.
Trop v. Dulles: “Evolving standard of decency” What is considered cruel and
unusual changes as times change.
Furman v. Georgia: Limited the use of the death penalty; defendant’s character
must be taken into account
Atkins v. Virginia: Death Penalty cannot be used on mentally retarded\
CIVIL RIGHTS AMENDMENTS: 13th, 14th, 15th
Amendments 13-15 were ratified immediately after
the Civil War. Their adoption was made a condition
of Southern States’ readmission to the Union.
13th Amendment:
14th Amendment:
15th Amendment:
Banned involuntary
servitude except as
punishment for a
crime
1. Natural Born
Citizenship
Suffrage could not be
denied based on race
or previous condition
of servitude
Loophole: Chain
Gangs
2. Due Process for
States
3. Equal Protection
Loophole: Literacy
Test / Poll Tax
The FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT is widely considered the most
important Amendment for individual rights:
Dissecting the 14th Amendment
Citizenship Clause: If a person was born in the
United States, they were a citizen.
This clause was designed to overturn the Dred
Scott Decision
Due Process Clause: States could not deprive
citizens of their rights without due process of law
Served as the basis for Selective Incorporation.
Equal Protection Clause: Every citizen is
guaranteed equal protection under the law.
Served as the court’s basis for the Brown v. Board
of Education ruling
Selective Incorporation: The inclusion of the Bill of Rights into
State Constitutions. The first eight amendments are “mechanically
incorporated”/ “fully incorporated”. Other amendments, like the
civil rights amendments, are selectively incorporated.
The 14th Amendment and the Right to Privacy
The Right to Privacy is IMPLIED by the 14th Amendment
Through SELECTIVE INCORPORATION, protection from illegal searches and
self incrimination have been applied to the states.
Thus: Citizens have an implied RIGHT TO PRIVACY from their respective
state governments.
Right to Privacy Supreme Court Cases
Griswold v. Connecticut
Overturned a law banning birth control. Gave citizens a right to “marital
privacy”
Roe v. Wade:
Women have a fundamental right to have an abortion under the implied
right to privacy