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GOV Ch. 4 Vocabulary
Civil Liberties
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| civil liberties | Individual rights protected by the Constitution against the powers of the government. |
| writ of habeas corpus | An order that requires an official to bring a specified prisoner into court and explain to the judge why the person is being held in jail. |
| bill of attainder | A legislative act that inflicts punishment on particular persons or groups without granting them the right to a trial |
| ex post facto law | A criminal law that punishes individuals for committing an act that was legal when the act was committed. |
| due process clause | The constitutional guarantee, set out in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, that the government will not work illegally or arbitrarily deprive a person of life, liberty, or property. |
| due process of law | 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. |
| establishment clause | The section of the First Amendment that prohibits Congress from passing laws "respecting an establishment of religion." |
| free exercise clause | The provision of the First Amendment stating that the government cannot pass laws "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion. |
| Lemon test | A three-part test enunciated by the Supreme Court in the 1971 case of Lemon v. Kurtzman to determine whether government aid to parochial schools is constitutional. |
| school voucher | An educational certificate, provided by a government, that allows a student to use public funds to pay for a private or a public school chosen by the student or his or her parents. |
| symbolic speech | The expression of beliefs, opinions, or ideas through forms other than verbal speech or print; speech involving actions and other nonverbal expressions. |
| seditious speech | Speech that urges resistance to lawful authority or that advocates the overthrow of a government. |
| imminent lawless action test | The current Supreme Court doctrine for assessing the constitutionality of subversive speech. To be illegal, speech must be "directed to inciting... imminent lawless action." |
| commercial speech | Advertising statements that describe products. Receives less protection under the First Amendment than ordinary speech. |
| libel | A published report of a falsehood that tends to injure a person's reputation or character. |
| slander | The public utterance (speaking) of a statement that holds a person up for contempt, ridicule, or hatred. |
| obscenity | Indecency or offensiveness in speech, expression, behavior, or appearance. |
| probable cause | Cause for believing that there is a substantial likelihood that a person has committed or is about to commit a crime. |
| double jeopardy | The prosecution of a person twice for the same criminal offense; prohibited by the Fifth Amendment in all but a few circumstances. |
| self-incrimination | Providing damaging information or testimony against oneself in court. |
| exclusionary rule | A criminal procedural rule stating that illegally obtained evidence is not admissible in court. |
| Miranda warnings | A series of statements informing criminal suspects, on their arrest, of their constitutional rights, such as the right to remain silent and the right to counsel. |