AP GOV unit 3 Flashcards

The first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, designed to protect individual freedoms from government overreach.

Includes the Equal Protection Clause, Due Process Clause, and Citizenship Clause, extending protections from the Bill of Rights to state governments

Protections from government interference (e.g., freedom of speech, religion).

Protections against discrimination (e.g., equal protection under the law

Process by which the Supreme Court applies Bill of Rights protections to state governments through the 14th Amendment’s Due Process Clause.

Lemon Test (Lemon v. Kurtzman, 1971)

A law must:

1. Have a secular purpose
2. Not advance/inhibit religion

Avoid excessive government entanglement with religion

Banned school-sponsored prayer as a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Religious practices cannot break general laws (e.g., polygamy banned in Reynolds v. U.S.)

Government cannot endorse or promote religion (e.g., school prayer, government funding of religious activities)

Students can pray privately but cannot be led in prayer by teachers or school officials.

Established the “clear and present danger” test; speech can be restricted if it incites danger.

Students have the right to symbolic speech in schools as long as it does not disrupt learning.

Corporations and unions can spend unlimited money on political campaigns under free speech protections.

Speech intended to incite violence is not protected.

Speech that directly causes harm (e.g., shouting "fire" in a crowded theater) is not protected.

Spoken false statements that damage someone’s reputation.

• Defines obscenity as material that:
1. Appeals to prurient interests
2. Depicts sexual conduct offensively

Lacks literary, artistic, political, or scientific value

Not protected speech under the First Amendment.

Speech that advocates the overthrow of the government (not always protected).

Advertising can be regulated if misleading or promoting illegal activity.

Schools can limit speech if it disrupts the educational process (e.g., Bethel v. Fraser).

Government cannot censor the press (Pentagon Papers case) unless national security is at risk.

False written statements that harm someone’s reputation.

Government censorship before publication is generally unconstitutional.

Protect journalists from revealing confidential sources.

Protests can be regulated for public safety but not content-based.

Incorporated the 2nd Amendment to the states.

Legalized abortion based on a right to privacy under the 14th Amendment.

Civil liberties can be restricted in emergencies (e.g., during wartime).

Requires the government to justify imprisonment.

Laws cannot punish actions retroactively.

Protects fundamental rights.

Ensures fair legal proceedings.

Protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.

School officials need "reasonable suspicion" (not probable cause) to search students.

Illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in court.

Police can search based on reasonable suspicion (Terry v. Ohio).

Warrantless searches allowed in emergencies

Strong evidence needed for a warrant.

• Protects against self-incrimination, double jeopardy, and guarantees due process.

Steps in prosecuting a crime

A person cannot be forced to testify against themselves.

Cannot be tried twice for the same crime.

Government can take private property for public use with compensation.

Established Miranda rights (right to remain silent, right to a lawyer).

Right to an attorney even if you cannot afford one, in all state criminal court cases.

Cannot be used on minors or mentally disabled persons.

Government prosecutes a person for a crime.

Private disputes (e.g., contracts, property).

Criminal cases: "Beyond a reasonable doubt"

Civil cases: "Preponderance of evidence"

Right to challenge a court’s decision.

Person bringing a lawsuit.

Person being sued or charged.

Government attorney in a criminal case.

Hung Jury: Cannot reach a verdict.

Mistrial: Trial is invalid due to error.

Subpoena: Order to testify or present evidence.

Summons: Order to appear in court.

Right to a jury in civil cases.

Established "separate but equal."

Overturned Plessy, ending school segregation.

Racial quotas in college admissions unconstitutional but race can be a factor.

Upheld Japanese internment during WWII.

Legalized same-sex marriage nationwide.

Enforced racial segregation.

Legal segregation.

• Segregation by practice.

Affirmative Action

• Civil Rights Act (1957, 1964, 1968): Outlawed discrimination.
• Equal Pay Act (1963): Required equal pay for equal work.
• Voting Rights Act (1965): Banned literacy tests.
• Title IX (1972): Gender equality in education.
• ADA (1990): Rights for disabled individuals.

Established standardized citizenship procedures in the U.S.

Required English proficiency for naturalization.

Created the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization, centralizing the process.

• Signed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during WWII.
• Allowed the military to designate “exclusion zones” for national security.
• Led to the forced relocation and internment of over 120,000 Japanese Americans.

Upheld by the Supreme Court in Korematsu v. United States (1944), though later criticized.

• Signed by President Andrew Jackson.
• Allowed the government to relocate Native American tribes west of the Mississippi River.
• Led to the Trail of Tears, where thousands of Native Americans died during forced migration.

Challenged in Worcester v. Georgia (1832), but Jackson ignored the ruling.

• Social movements: Organized efforts to achieve political, social, or legal change.

Equal Protection Clause (14th Amendment): Requires laws to apply equally to all citizens.

Role of States

• States enforce or resist federal policies (e.g., some states resisted desegregation after Brown v. Board).
• States have their own civil rights laws, such as anti-discrimination policies.

Role of Congress

• Passes laws responding to movements (e.g., Civil Rights Act of 1964, Voting Rights Act of 1965).
• Can amend the Constitution (e.g., 19th Amendment for women’s voting rights).

• Interpret laws and decide if they are constitutional (e.g., Brown v. Board overturned segregation).
• Protect minority rights against majority rule (e.g., Obergefell v. Hodges legalized same-sex marriage).

• Majority rule is a principle of democracy, but minority rights must be protected.
• Courts and government ensure that minorities are not oppressed by discriminatory laws.
• Examples:
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954): Protected minority students' rights to education.

Voting Rights Act (1965): Prevented racial discrimination in voting.

• Written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while imprisoned for protesting segregation.
• Defended nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience.

Argued that people have a moral obligation to resist unjust laws.

• Gave African American men the right to vote.

Loopholes like literacy tests and poll taxes were used to suppress Black voters.

• Gave women the right to vote.

Culmination of the women’s suffrage movement led by activists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Banned poll taxes, which were used to prevent poor and minority citizens from voting.

• Lowered the voting age to 18, largely in response to the Vietnam War (young people could be drafted but not vote).