1. “Your rights as Americans”
Civil Liberties
“Your rights as Americans”

2. Founding Documents
Declaration of Independence - “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
Constitution – framers believed in natural rights

3. Writ of Habeas Corpus Art. 1, Sec. 9 “Produce the body”
Requires government officials to present a prisoner in court and to explain to the judge why the person is being held

4. Ex Post Facto Laws “after the fact”
Being charged for committing a crime, that wasn’t a crime when the person committed the action

5. Bills of Attainder
Legislative act that punishes an individual without judicial trial
Court should decide guilt, not Congress

6. Bill of Rights Free speech, press, assembly, petition, religion
Right to bear arms
Prohibits quartering soldiers
Restricts illegal search and seizures
Provides grand juries, restricts eminent domain (gov can’t take private property unless compensation), prohibits forced self-incrimination, double jeopardy (can’t be charged for the same crime twice)

7. Bill of Rights 6. Outlines criminal court procedure 7. Trial by jury
8. Prevent excessive bail and cruel and unusual punishment
9. Amendments 1-8 do not necessarily include all possible rights of the people
10. Reserves for the states any powers not delegated to Fed. Gov by Constitution

8. 14th Amendment
“privileges and immunities” – Constitution protects all citizens
Due process – prohibits abuse of life, liberty, or property of any citizen, state rights were subordinate to Fed rights
Equal protection clause – Constitution applies to all citizens equally

9. Judicial Review Marbury v. Madison
The power of the Supreme Court to judge the constitutionality of a law

10. Legislative Action Sometimes laws can guarantee rights
Ex. Civil Rights Act of 1964

11. Religion
“Establishment” clause – prohibits the gov’t from establishing an official church
“Free exercise” clause – allows people to worship as they please
Some religious practices may conflict with other rights, and then be denied or punished

12. Ted Nugent’s speech at NRA convention

13. Free Speech
DOES NOT mean that you can “say anything you want”… but pretty close
Restrictions
Threat to national security
Libel – false written statement attacking someone’s character, with intent to harm
Obscenity – not protected, hard to define – Ex. Pornographic material
Symbolic speech – action to convey a message

14. Freedom of Expression Free Speech and Public Order
Limited if it presents a “clear and present danger”
Permissible to advocate the violent overthrow of government in abstract, but not to incite anyone to imminent lawless action
Limited if on private property, like a shopping center

15. Freedom of Expression Libel and Slander
Libel: The publication of false or malicious statements that damage someone’s reputation.
Slander: The same thing, only spoken instead of printed.
Different standards for private individuals and public (politicians, celebrities) individuals
Difficult to prove

16. Freedom of Expression Symbolic Speech
Definition: Nonverbal communication, such as burning a flag or wearing an armband.
Generally protected along with verbal speech.

17. Freedom of Expression Commercial Speech
Definition: Communication in the form of advertising.
Generally the most restricted and regulated form of speech (FTC).
Regulation of the Public Airwaves
Broadcast stations must follow FCC rules.
Cable / satellite has blurred the lines.

18. Freedom of Expression Obscenity
No clear definition on what constitutes obscenity.
Miller v. California stated that materials were obscene if the work:
appeals “to a prurient interest in sex”
showed “patently offensive” sexual conduct
lacks “serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value”
Local areas make their own decisions on obscenity

19. Freedom of Expression Free Press and Fair Trials
The public has a right to know what happens.
The press’ own information may not be protected.
Shield laws

20. Freedom of Expression Prior Restraint
Definition: A government preventing material from being published. Censorship.
May be permissible during wartime.
May be punished after something is published.

21. Freedom of Expression Freedom of Assembly Right to Assemble
Generally permissible, but must meet reasonable local standards.
Balance between freedom to assemble and order in society.
Right to Associate
Freedom to join groups / associations without government interference.

22. Right to Privacy Not in the Constitution
Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
Roe v. Wade (1971)
Yahoo and Google – search and s?

23. Due Process 5th and 14th Amendment
Forbids national AND state gov to “deny any person life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”
Procedural – fair trial
Substantive – fundamental fairness

24. Search and Seizure 4th Amendment
Freedom from “unreasonable search and seizure”
Prevent police abuse
Ex. Mapp v. Ohio

25. Self-incrimination 5th Amendment
No one “shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.”
Miranda v. Arizona 1966

26. Right v. Right Most cases are not simple
They often pit two rights against each other
Ex. – freedom of press v. national security

27. Civil Rights
“Equal Protection”

28. Introduction Civil Rights Racial Discrimination Gender Discrimination
Definition: Policies designed to protect people against arbitrary or discriminatory treatment by government officials or individuals.
Racial Discrimination
Gender Discrimination
Discrimination based on age, disability, sexual orientation and other factors

29. 14th Amendment (1868)
Forbids any state to “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”
Sex, race, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual preference

30. Civil Rights History Remember the Titans

31. Civil Rights History The Era of Slavery
Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
The Civil War
The Thirteenth Amendment
The Era of Reconstruction and Resegregation
Jim Crow laws
Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

32. Civil Rights History African Americans
Jim Crow Laws – segregated community
de jure (by law) and de facto (by reality)
Plessy v. Ferguson – separate but equal
Persuade the Court to declare laws unconstitutional if they were separate and unequal in obvious ways
Persuade the Court to declare laws unconstitutional if they were separate but unequal in subtle ways
Persuade the Court to rule that racially segregated schools were inherently unequal

33. Civil Rights History con’t
NAACP – 20th century push for rights
Brown v. Board of Education – “separate but equal” unconstitutional
Civil Rights Act of 1964, 24th Amendment (poll tax), Voting Rights Act 1965

34. Civil Rights History

35. Civil Rights History

36. Civil Rights History The Era of Civil Rights
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
Court ordered integration and busing of students
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Made racial discrimination illegal in many areas
Created EEOC
Strengthened voting right legislation

37. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy

38. Civil Rights Act of 1964 Voting Public accommodations Schools
Barred discrimination
Schools
Gov can force desegregation though litigation
Sent in the National Guard to force schools to desegregate
Provided financial aid for schools that integrated
Withheld financial aid from schools that refused to desegregate
Employment
Federal Funds

39. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Getting and Using the Right To Vote
Suffrage: The legal right to vote.
Fifteenth Amendment: Extended suffrage to African Americans
Poll Taxes: Small taxes levied on the right to vote.
White Primary: Only whites were allowed to vote in the party primaries.

40. Race, the Constitution, and Public Policy
Getting and Using the Right To Vote
Smith v. Allwright (1944): ended white primaries.
Twenty-fourth Amendment: Eliminated poll taxes for federal elections.
Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966): no poll taxes at all.
Voting Rights Act of 1965: Helped end formal and informal barriers to voting.

41. Women and Equal Rights
Seneca Falls Convention – 1848 – beginning of women’s suffrage movement
Muller v. Oregon (1908) – 10 hour work day limit for women
19th Amendment – 1920 – Women vote
1970s – “reasonableness standard” – all legal circumstance must be treated equal
Ex. Cannot set different age limits for driving, but can set laws on rape that punish man only

42. Women and Equal Rights Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) 1972
“Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the US or any State on account of sex.” – did not pass because…
Rostker v. Goldberg (1981) – Court upheld the requirement men to register but not women for draft, ended ERA push
Roe v. Wade (1973) – women’s freedom to choose abortion

43. Women and Equal Rights Civil Rights Act (1964)
Title VII – prohibits gender discrimination in employment, extended to sexual harassment
Comparable worth – “equal pay for equal work”
Title IX – provide equal funding for all programs that receive federal funding

44. Discrimination in America
20/20 video
Stossel age discrimination