Government terms set #5 – Flashcards

The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution. They list the freedoms— such as the freedoms of speech, press, and religion— that a citizen enjoys and that cannot be infringed on by the government.

Addresses citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws, and was proposed in response to issues related to former slaves following the American civil war. The Fourteenth Amendment also includes the due process clause/law and the equal protection clause.

The constitutional guarantee, set out in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, that the government will not illegally or arbitrarily deprive a person of life, liberty, or property.

The section of the First Amendment that prohibits Congress from passing laws "respecting an establishment of religion."

A 1973 landmark case. Used the Griswold case as a precedent. Held that the "right of privacy... is broad enough to encompass a women's decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy." The court also said that any state could impose certain regulations to safeguard the health of the mother after the first three months of pregnancy and, in the final stages of pregnancy, could act to protect potential life.

The First Amendment prohibits Congress from passing laws "respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." However, the First Amendment says nothing about whether the states can make such laws. The First Amendment to the Constitution mandates separation of church and state. Nonetheless, references to God are common in public life.

In sum, the Supreme Court has ruled that public schools, which are agencies of government, cannot sponsor religious activities. It was not, however, held that individuals cannot pray, when and as they choose, in schools or in any other place. Nor has it held that the schools are barred from teaching about religion, as opposed to engaging in religious practices.

The Supreme Court has held that state laws forbidding the teaching of Evolution in schools are unconstitutional.

In 2014, in Burnwell v. Hobby Lobby, the Supreme Court held that that closely held for-profit corporation could be exempted from the requirement to provide birth control coverage if its owners objected to parts of the law on religious grounds. The ruling was based on Congressional legislation rather than the free exercise clause.

As early as 1798, Congress took steps to curb seditious speech (speech that urges resistance to lawful authority or that advocates the overthrow of a government) when it passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Sedition Act made it a crime to utter "any false, scandalous, and malicious" criticism of the government. The acts were considered unconstitutional by many but were never tested in the courts. In 1801, President Thomas Jefferson pardoned those sentenced under the act, and it was not renewed after it expired in 1801.

Making or possessing pornographic videos or photographs of underage persons remains a serious crime, based on the argument that such deceptions are acts of child abuse. Ironically, this argument demonstrates the collapse of obscenity as a legal concept— child pornography is not banned because it is obscene. Writings or drawings, including animation, that depict underage sexuality are tolerated because no actual children are involved.

Cyberbullying cases raise troubling questions about whether verbal harassment may be protected by the First Amendment. Forty states now have laws against online harassment, however.

Since the Roe V. Wade decision, the Supreme Court has adopted a more conservative approach and has upheld restrictive state laws requiring counselling, waiting periods, notification of parents, and other actions prior to abortion. In fact, in 1997 and again in 2000, the Supreme Court upheld laws requiring "buffer zones" around abortion clinics to protect those entering the clinics from unwanted counselling or harassment by anti-abortion groups.

The framers of the Constitution believed that the press should be free to publish a wide range of opinions and information, and generally the free speech rights just discussed also apply to the press. The courts have places certain restrictions on freedom of the press, however. Over the years, the Supreme Court has developed various guidelines and doctrines to use in deciding whether freedom of speech and the press can be restrained.

-In June 2013, materials released to the press by Edward Snowden, a national security contractor, revealed that surveillance by the National Security Agency (NSA) has been more universal than most people had previously assumed. Since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the news media and congress have debated how the U.S. can strengthen national security while still protecting civil liberties, particularly the right to privacy. -Due Process of law is the requirement that the government. Use fair, reasonable, and standard procedures whenever it takes any legal action against an individual; required by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.