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14th Amendment
Ratified in 1868, the amendment altered the nature of the Union by placing significant restraints on state governments
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1st Amendment
The part of the Bill of Rights containing protections for political and religious expression
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Clear and present danger test
Guideline devised by the Supreme Court in Schenck vs. United States to determine when speech could be suppressed under the first amendment
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Incitement test
The Court’s current test for First Amendment restrictions that asks whether a speech act attempts to or is likely to incite lawless action
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Prior restraint
Official censorship before something is said or published or censorship that halts publication already under way is usually judged unconstitutional today under the First Amendment
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Obscenity
As applied by the Supreme Court, certain pornographic portrayals of sexual acts not protected by the First Amendment (first appeared in Miller v. California)
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Libel
Defamation of a person’s character or reputation, not protected by the First Amendment (New York Times Co. vs. Sullivan—makes it difficult for public figures and officials to bring successful libel suits against their critics
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Symbolic speech
A speech act that centers on action or performance to communicate a point rather than on words
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Free exercise clause
Provision of the First Amendment guaranteeing religious freedom
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Establishment clause
Provision of the First Amendment barring government support of religion
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Lemon test
A standard announced in Lemon vs. Kurtzman to determine when a statute violates the establishment clause—The law in question must have a secular purpose and a neutral effect and must avoid an excessive entanglement between church and state
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Legal guilt
The concept that a defendant’s factual guilt be established in accordance with the laws and the Constitution before criminal penalties can be applied
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Presumption of innocence
A concept in criminal procedure that places the burden of proof on the government in establishing guilt
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Ex post facto laws
Laws that make an act a crime after it was committed or increase the punishment for a crime already committed—prohibited by the Constitution
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Bill of attainder
A law that punishes an individual and bypasses the procedural safeguards of the legal process—prohibited by the Constitution
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Fourth Amendment
Part of the Bill of Rights that prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures of persons and their property
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Warrant
Official authorization for government action
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Probable cause
A standard used in determining when police can conduct arrests and searches
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Miranda rights
Requirements announced in Miranda vs. Arizona to protect a suspect during a police interrogation
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Plea bargain
A deal with the prosecutor to obtain a lighter sentence
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Sixth Amendment
Provision of the Bill of Rights assuring, among other things, the right to counsel
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Capital case
A criminal proceeding in which the defendant is on trial for his or her life
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Misdemeanor
Less serious criminal offense, usually punishable by not more than one year in jail
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Felony
A serious criminal offense, usually punishable by more than once year in prison
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Eighth Amendment
The part of the Bill of Rights that prohibits “cruel and unusual punishments” and often at issue in death penalty cases
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Cruel and unusual punishment
Prohibited by the Eighth Amendment—at issue in capital cases
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Ninth Amendment
Part of the Bill of Rights that cautions that the people possess rights not specified
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Roe vs. Wade
Supreme Court decision establishing a constitutional right to abortion
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Equality of opportunity
A standard that calls for government to remove barriers of discrimination, such as segregation laws or racially exclusive hiring practices that have existed in the past
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Equality of condition
A standard, beyond equality of opportunity, which requires policies, such as redistribution of income and other resources, that seeks to reduce or eliminate the effects of past discrimination
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Equality of result
A standard, beyond equality of condition, which requires policies such as affirmative action or comparable worth, that places some people on an equal footing with others
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Thirteenth Amendment
The first of the Civil War amendments to the Constitution, adopted in 1865, banned slavery throughout the United States
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Equal protection clause
Part of the Fourteenth Amendment that is the source of many civil rights, and declares that no state shall deny to any person “the equal protection of the laws”
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Separate-but-equal doctrine
A standard announced by the Supreme Court in Plessy vs. Furgeson in 1896 that allowed racially separate facilities on trains (and by implication in public services such as education), as long as the separate facilities were equal (overturned by Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka in 1954)
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NAACP
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People: an organization founded to improve the social, economic, and political condition of African Americans
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Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka
Landmark Supreme Court decision that overturned the separate-but-equal standard of Plessy vs. Ferguson and began an end to racial segregation in public schools
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Civil Rights Act of 1964
Comprehensive legislation to end racial segregation in access to public accommodations and in employment in the public and private sectors
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De facto segregation
Programs or facilities that are racially segregated by private choice or private discrimination, not because of law or public policy
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De jure segregation
Programs or facilities that are racially segregated because of law or public policy
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Affirmative action
Positive steps taken by public or private institutions to overcome the remaining effects of racial or sexual bias (Affirmative Action programs attempt to achieve equality of result)
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Voting Rights Act of 1965
Major legislation designed to overcome racial barriers to voting, primarily in the southern states, which was extended in 1982 for 25 years
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Comparable worth
An employment policy, designed to overcome the economic inequities of sexual discrimination, mandating that persons holding jobs of equal responsibility and skill be paid the same
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