Terms
Civil Rights
What is protections by the government from discrimination
Americans with Disabilities Act
What is a landmark civil rights law prohibiting discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and public/private places
Brown v. Board of Education
Segregation is unconstitutional
What is guarantees five key freedoms: religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition
Protected by the Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), requiring reasonable accommodations.
What is Age/Disability Discrimination
Civil Liberties
What is protections from the government
Precedent
In AP US Government, a precedent is a legal decision or judicial ruling in a previous court case that acts as an authoritative rule, guide, or justification for deciding subsequent cases with similar facts or legal issues
Gitlow v New York
What is declared federal guarantees of free speech and free press also applied to states
9th Amendment
What is the listing of specific rights (enumeration) does not mean other rights "retained by the people" do not exist
Hostile environment
What is creating a setting in which harassment impairs a person’s ability to work; employers are liable if they were negligent
Slander
What is a defamatory oral statement
Selective incorporation
What is when only some of the Bill of Rights is applied to the states
Lemon v. Kurtzman 1971
What is government involvement in religious activities is constitutional if it meets the Lemon test
6th Amendment
What is guarantees essential rights to individuals in criminal prosecutions, ensuring a fair, speedy, and public trial by an impartial jury
Separate but Equal
What is Segregation
Libel
What is a written false statement defaming another
Judicial restraint
What is when judges limit their own power, deferring to elected legislative and executive branches rather than making policy
Miller v California
What is judged by “the average person, applying contemporary community standards” to appeal to the “purient interest” or to depict “in a patently offensive way, sexual misconduct specifically defined by applicable state law” and lacking “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value”
8th amendment
What is prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishments
sexual favors are required as a condition for holding a job or for promotion; employers are strictly liable
What is Quid Pro Quo
Exclusionary rule
What is the exclusionary rule prevents the government from using most evidence gathered in violation of the United States Constitution
Soliciter General
What is the third-ranking official in the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for representing the federal government's interests before the Supreme Court.
Mapp v. Ohio
Established the Exclusionary Rule: evidence gathered in violation of the Constitution cannot be used in a trial
7th Amendment
What is guarantees the right to a jury trial in federal civil cases where the value in controversy exceeds $20
A central theme in affirmative action cases like Bakke (1978), where special considerations for disadvantaged groups are challenged as discriminatory toward others
What is Reverse Discrimination