PSC 101: Exam 3
73 Cards in this Set
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Civil Liberties
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Protections for rights that cannot be take away by the government
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civil war amendment
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13-15 amend to cons which abolished slavery and guaranteed citizenship to former slaves AND GAVE AFRICAN AMERICAN men the right to vote
Due Process clause
Denies the government the right, without due process, to deprive people of life, liberty, and property
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selective incorporation
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The process by which certain of the rights (forexample, freedom of speech) contained in the Bill of Rights become applicablethrough the Fourteenth Amendment to actions by the state governments.
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CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER TEST
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Holds that the government cannot interfere with speech unless the speech presents a clear and present danger that it will lead to evil or illegal acts.
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Direct Incitement Test
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Brandenberg v. Ohio
This test protects threatening speech under 1st amendment
Unless speech aims to and will likely cause imminent "lawless action"
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Symbolic speech
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Expression of beliefs and ideas by conduct or symbols rather than words.
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hate speech
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words that attack groups such as racial, ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities
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Prior restraint
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the governments requirement that material be approved by government before it can be published.
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Gag order
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A restrictive court order directing attorneys, witnesses, or other trial participants not to discuss the case with the media.
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Fighting Words
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Unprotected words that by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of peace.
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Slander
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words falsely spoken that damage the reputation of another.
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libel
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published falsehood defaming a persons character
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Commercial Speech
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public expression with the aim of making profit
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Miller Test
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The current test for determining when sexually explicit material is obscene and unprotected by the First Amendment
Adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court in Miller v. California, 1973
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Establishment clause
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provision of Amendment 1 that prohibits Congress from establishing an official state religion. This is the basis for separation of church and state.
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Free Exercise Clause
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guarantees to each person the right to believe whatever he or she chooses to believe in matters of religion
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lemon test
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Sect preference?
• Secular purpose
• Effect neither advances or inhibits religion
• No excessive entanglement with religion
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due-process rights
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guarantees by the 5th, 6th, and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution establishing legal procedures that recognize the protection of an individual's life, liberty, and property.
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exclusionary rule
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the principle that illegally acquired evidence cannot be used in a criminal trial
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double jepordy
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being tried twice for the same crime, which is prevented by the 5th amendment
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privacy rights
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liberties protected by several amendments in the bill of rights that shield certain personal aspects of citizens lives from governmental interference, such as the 4th amendments protection against unreasonable searches and seizures
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Judiciary Act (1789)
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Organized the federal legal system, establishing the Supreme Court, federal districts, the circuit courts, and the office of the Attorney General
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disctrict courts
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lower-level trial courts of the federal judicial system that handle most U.S federal cases
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appellate jurisdiction
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the power vested in a court to review and/or revise the decision of a lower court
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judicial review
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the process by which courts decide whether the laws passed by Congress or state legislatures are constitutional
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Writs of mandamus
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A judicial instruction to a government officer
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constitutional interpretation
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rulings on the intended meanings of phrases in the Constitution
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Statutory Interpretation
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When courts must interpret what a law precisely means to maintain specificity
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Plaintiff
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The person who brings a lawsuit against another
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Defendant
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The party against whom the lawsuit has been brought
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plea bargain
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agreement between a prosecutor & a defendent that the defendant will plead guilty to a lesser offense to avoid having to stand trial for a more serious offense.
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Standard of Proof
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the amount of evidence needed to determine the outcome of a case. The standard is higher in a criminal case than in a civil one.
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burden of proof
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the responsibility of having to prove guilt. it rests with the plaintiff in criminal cases but could be with either party in a civil trial
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class-action lawsuit
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A case brought into court by a person on behalf of all other persons in the country under similar circumstances.
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Adversarial System
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A two-sided court structure in which lawyers on both sides of a case attempt to prove their argument over their opponents’ version of the case.
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Common Law
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a legal system of court-made law where the rules are derived from previously decided cases, called precedents
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Precedent
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When courts apply the law of a previous case to current cases with similar facts
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standing
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legitimate justification for bringing a civil case to court
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jurisdiction
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The sphere of a court's legal authority to hear and decide cases
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circuit courts of appeals
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courts with appellate jurisdiction that hear appeals from the decisions of lower courts
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senatorial courtesy
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nomination of court judges in which the president consults with his party's senators from the relevant state in choosing the nominee
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docket
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calendar of cases to be tried
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Original Jurisdiction
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The authority to hear a controversy when it is first brought to court
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Cases of Appeal
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cases brought before the Supreme Court because Congress has determined that they require the Court’s attention.
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Writ of Certification
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An uncommon way in which a case is brought before the Supreme Court, whereby an appeals court asks the Court for instructions on a point of law never before decided.
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Writ of Certiorari
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When 4 Supreme Court justices agree that a case should be heard, they issue this order which roughly translates into "send up the records"
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Collusion
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Secret agreement or cooperation
Synonyms: conspiracy, plot, connivance, cahoots
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mootness
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the irrelevance of a case by the time it is received by federal court, causing the court to decline to hear the case
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ripness
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whether a case is worthy of being heard.
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Cert Pool
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A system initiated in the Supreme Court in the 1970s in which law clerks screen cases that come to the Supreme Court and the recommended to the justices which cases should be heard.
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solicitor general
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The official responsible for representing the U.S. government before the Supreme Court. They are a ranking member of the U.S. Department of Justice.
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litigation
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a lawsuit or legal proceeding; as a form of political participation, an attempt to seek relief in a court of law
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legal briefs
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written legal argument presented to the court by one or both parties in a lawsuit
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Amicus curiae
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someone, not a party to a case, who volunteers to offer information to assist a court in deciding a matter before it. (friend of the court)
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Oral Arguments
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spoken presentations made in person by the lawyers of each party to judge or appellate court outlining the legal reasons why their side should prevail
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strict construction
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following the constitution exactly how it says.
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Original intent
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Judges should interpret the constitution in terms if the original intentions of the founders
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attitudinalist approach
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Understanding the supreme court based on political ideologies of the justices
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Judicial restraint
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A judicial philosophy in which judges tend to defer to decision of the elected branches of government.
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judicial activism
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judges should use their power broadly to further justice
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Civil Rights
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The rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality
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missouri compramise
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agreement b/t anti/pro slavery groups (1820)
limit the expansion of slavery while also maintaining a balance between slave states and free states
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disenfranchised
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deprived of a right
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Grandfather Clause
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A device used by Southern states to disenfranchise African Americans, It restricted voting to those whose grandfathers had voted before 1867
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Separate-but-Equal Doctrine
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The 1896 doctrine holding that separate-but-equal facilities do not violate the equal protection clause
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protectionism
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groups (women/black people) should be denied certain rights for their own safety or well-being
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de jure
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literally, "by law"; legally enforced practices, such as school segregation in the South before the 1960s
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de facto
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actually existing or in effect, although not legally required or sanctioned; in reality, actually
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Disparate Impact Standard
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the idea that discrimination exists if a practice has a negative effect of specific group, whether or not this effect was intentional.
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reasonable basis test
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use of evidence for unequal treatment (16-21 pay more for insurance....over 21 get in less accidents)
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intermediate scrutiny test
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test that is applied to classifications based on protected classes other than gender
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strict scrutiny test
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the guidelines that courts use to determine the legality of suspect classification-based discrimination on the basis of this test, discrimination is legal if it is a necessary means by which the government can achieve a compelling public interest
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Substantive Due Process Doctrine
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one interpretation of the due process clause of the 14th Amendment; in this view of the Supreme Court has the power to overturn laws that infringe on individual liberties.
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PSC 101: Exam 1