The Rest of IT!
Warren Court
• When Warren was the chief justice
• A very liberal court; judicial activist
• Known for its role in the Civil Rights movement and the rights
of defendants
• Brown v Board of Education
• Gideon v Wainwright
• Miranda v Arizona
http://youtu.be/mWZ0zNwcrQk
Judicial Activism v Judicial Restraint
Activism- usually seen on liberal courts, willing to make
judgments that “change” the law or policy, they often overturn
previous decisions
Restraint- make decision based on previous precedent and
the intent of the law, don’t feel that decisions should change law or
policy; usually seen on conservative courts
Policy
• Any action, law, rule made by the government
Budget Policy
• Office of Management and Budget prepares the budget each year
• Final numbers are approved by the Appropriations Committees
• Main focus is on discretionary programs whose budget can be cut
Some facts…
Largest source of Revenue:
Federal
Income
Tax$2.2 trillion
Largest Expenditure:
Types of Spending
Type
Definition
Example
Mandatory Spending
Money that must be
spent each year
loan payments,
entitlement programs:
Social Security,
Medicare, Medicaid
Discretionary Spending
All other programs that
may have their budget
cut
Education, defense,
agriculture, health care
Pork Projects
Money wanted by
members of Congress
and political parties to
please constituents
Funding to build a bridge
in Alaska
Mandates
• Rules by the federal
government to the states
Ways and Means
• The Committee that
deals with taxing
• Funded- American with
Disabilities Act
• Unfunded- No Child Left
Behind
http://youtu.be/jNBq9CZ8nb4
Domestic Policy
• Any rule/law/action done by within our country
• Domestic = at home
Type
Define
Examples
Distributive Policies
Subsidies given to help
out failing industries
Tax breaks or payments to
farmers, airline,
prescription drug
companies
Regulatory Policies
Aimed at controlling
behavior
Criminal laws, drug laws,
alcohol restrictions, clean
air act
Give assistance to needy
people
Welfare, food stamps,
section 8 housing,
free/reduced lunch,
disability, unemployment
Redistributive Policies
Which type of policy?
http://youtu.be/kxnJPyfyptk
Foreign Policy
WAR!
• Supposed to be an agreement between the President and
Congress
• Congress declares war, appropriates funds
• President sends troops/weapons
• Only 5 of the last 31 times has Congress actually declared war
http://youtu.be/W_fDwad7eVk
State Department
• Oversees Foreign relations
• Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, now John Kerry
http://youtu.be/XbiDoh31iUM
http://youtu.be/w918Eh3fij0
Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Rights
• Protections to guard
against discrimination
• Ex: Voting Rights Act
• Civil Rights Act
• End poll tax
Liberties
• Protections given to all
students to guard against
abuse of government’s
power
• No cruel and unusual
punishment
• Miranda warning
• Right to a lawyer
• Right to remain silent
Selective Incorporation
• The 14th Amendment said that state governments had to give
citizens all of their Bill of Rights rights BUT
• They applied it through a process called “selective
incorporation” where one by one the rights were applied to
the states through Supreme Court rulings
• These amendments still have not been incorporated (it means
that the states are allowed to restrict them!)
•
•
•
•
•
2nd
3rd
5th (grand jury)
7th
8th (no excessive bails and fines)
The Freedom of Religion
Establishment Clause
Free Exercise Clause
• The government will
never establish a
national religion and
make all citizens worship
it
• Aligned to separation of
church and state
• You are free to exercise
your religion of choice
(as long as it doesn’t
break laws)
• You are free to not
exercise a religion
Lemon Test
• Based on the Lemon v Kurtzman case
• A “test” used to determine whether a law violates the
establishment clause
Exclusionary Rule
• Got it from Mapp v Ohio
• Says that evidence seized through an illegal or improper
search is excluded from use in the trial
• Exception: if the search is done in good faith (the cops believed it
was a legit search) then the evidence might be allowed
Don’t eat the
fruit of the
Poisonous
tree!
Important Amendments and
Acts
13th
Ended slavery
14th
Said states had to apply the Bill of Rights to all citizens
15th
Can’t discriminate based on race in voting
24th
Ended the poll tax
Civil Rights Act
Voting Rights Act
19th
Family Leave Act
26th
5/14th
Banned discrimination in public places and federally
funded programs
To counteract southern discrimination with voting; said
the federal gov’t can step in to register voters
Women get right to vote
12 weeks of unpaid leave from work upon birth of baby
Gave 18 year olds the right to vote
Due process rights (everyone treated equally and fairly)