-
the fundamental individual rights of a free society, such as freedom of speech and the right to a jury trial, which in the United States are protected by the Bill of Rights.
Civil Liberties
-
the first ten amendments to the Constitution, which set forth basic protections for individual rights of free expression, a fair trial, and property.
Bill of Rights
-
the clause of the Constitution that has been used by the judiciary to apply Bill of Rights protection to the actions of state government.
Due Process Clause (of the Fourteenth Amendments)
-
the process by which certain of the rights (for example, freedom of speech) contained in the Bill of Rights become applicable through the Fourteenth Amendment to actions by the stae government.
Selective Incorporation
-
Americans' freedom to communicate their views, the foundation of which is the first amendment rights of freedom of conscience, speech, press, assembly, and petition.
Freedom of Expression
-
a test devised by the Supreme Court in 1919 to define the limits of free speech in the context of national security. According to the text, government cannot abridge political expression unless it presents a clear and present danger to the nation's security.
Clear-and-Present-Danger Test
-
a legal test that says government cannot lawfully suppress advocacy that promotes lawless action unless such advocacy is aimed at producing, and is likely to produce, imminent lawless action.
Imminent Lawless Action Test
-
action (for example, the waving or burning of a flag) for the purpose of expressing a political opinion.
Symbolic Speech
-
government prohibition of speech o publication before the fact, which is presumed by the courts to be unconstitutional unless the justification for it is overwhelming.
Prior Restraint
-
publication of false material that damages a person's reputation.
Libel
-
spoken falsehoods that damage a person's reputation.
Slander
-
the first amendment provision stating that government may not favor one religion over another or favor religion over no religion, and prohibiting congress from passing laws respecting the establishment of religion.
Establishment Clause
-
a three part test to determine whether a law relating to religion is valid under the religious establishment clause. To be valid, a law must have a secure purpose, serve neither to advance nor inhibit religion, and avoid excessive government entanglement with religion.
Lemon Test
-
a first amendment provision that prohibits the government from interfering with the practice of religion.
Free-Exercise Law
-
a right implied by the freedoms in the Bill of Rights that grants individuals a degree of personal privacy upon which government can not lawfully intrude. The right gives individuals a level of free choice in areas such as reproduction and intimate relations.
Right of Privacy
-
the constitutional requirement that government must follow proper legal procedures before a person can be legitimately punished for an alleged offense.
Procedural Due Process
-
the legal principle that government is prohibited from using in trials evidence that was obtained by unconstitutional means (for example, illegal search and seizure)
Excusionary Rule
|
|
