Chapter 4
Civil Liberties
Thursday’s Reading
 Pages 93 - 102
1.) FOUR liberties in 1st Amendment
Freedom of press, speech,
religion and assembly
2.) States abiding by Bill of Rights
 Don’t need to write all this…
 “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of
the United States” (14th Amendment)
 This amendment NATIONALIZES the Bill of Rights
3.) Religious Rights (2 types)
 Establishment Clause – Congress can’t make laws
establishing a religion
 Free exercise Clause – prohibits the abridgement
(restriction) of citizens’ freedom to worship OR not
worship as they please
4.) Lemon v. Kurtzman
 Dealing with aid (money) to church-related
schools
 Must do the following: “Lemon Test”
 a.) Have a secular purpose
 b.) Have a primary effect that neither advances nor
inhibits religion
 c.) Not foster an excessive government
“entanglement” with religion
5.) Complications to Free Exercise
 Religion sometimes forbid actions that society thinks
are necessary; OR religions may require actions that
society finds unacceptable.
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multiple marriages
use of illegal drugs
resist military service
Amish sending students to public schools
More examples??
Multiple Choice
 Please refer to your student notes
 Question 1
 Question 2
 Question 3
Friday’s Reading
 Pages 102 - 112
1.) Prior Restraint
 Definition: CENSORSHIP
 Gov’t preventing material from being published
 Case protecting newspapers from censorship
 Near v. Minnesota
 Newspaper created a list of public officials – calling
them gangsters, corrupt, etc.
2.) Change in free speech
 Peace and wartime!
 Clear and present danger rule (Schenck case) –
speech limited
 Smith Act 1940 – protecting nat’l security
outweighed 1st Amendment
 After 1960s protest – speech more “free”
when discussing war
3.) Obscenity!!!
 NOT protected according to Roth v. United
States
4.) Winner of libel cases??
 The person WRITING the negative words!!!
 Right to have the ability to criticize public
officials
 Don’t want to bring attention to themselves
5.) Symbolic Speech
 Burning a flag
 Wearing armbands to protest war
 Marching in a parade
 Actions not requiring speaking or writing
 Other ideas??
6.) Restrictions on Press
 S.C. has NEVER restricted access to trials
 1st Amendment entitles press to cover every
trial
7.) Commercial Speech
 Communication in the form of advertising
 Can be restricted more than any other speech
 WHY??
8.) Miami Herald and Red Lion Cases
 Federal Communications Commission regulates
content of radio and t.v. broadcasting
 Miami Herald – a state could NOT force a newspaper
to print replies from candidates it had criticized
 Red Lion – court upheld restrictions on radio and t.v.
 Restrictions tighter on those mediums b/c there are less
options available than print media
 Will probably never see these cases on exam – just be
aware of the FCC involvement
9.) Right to Assemble
 Time, place and manner restrictions
 Get a permit with local/city gov’t
 Permission granted IF “time and place” allows the police
to prevent major disruptions
 Virtually NO restrictions on the content of group’s
message
 Good or bad??
10.) Right to Associate
 PART of freedom of assembly
 Ability to associate with people who share a common
interest
 NAACP v. Alabama
 State wanted names of NAACP members
 Court found demand unconstitutional
Multiple Choice
 Question 1
 Question 2