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Civil Rights And Civil Liberties Court Cases

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Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
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  • Match each statement with the correct term.
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This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. Moments of silent prayer at school are unconstitutional---moments of silence are not. [est. clause and schools]






2. Names attached to five cases brought under the Civil Rights Act of 1857. In 1883 - the Supreme Court decided that discrimination in a variety of public accommodations could not be prohibited by the act because such discrimination was private discrimi






3. Court ruled that laws banning animal sacrifice were unconstitutional because they targeted the Santeria religion specifically.






4. Held that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protected students from being forced to salute the American flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance in school. Overturned MinersvilleISD v Gobitis [Free exercise]






5. Paying legislative chaplains and opening a legislative body with a prayer does not violate the establishment clause. (Long standing tradition - they're adults) [exception to lemon v. kurtzman]






6. Defined the power of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over 'indecent' material as applied to broadcasting; some kid over heard Filthy Words routine on TV - so the dad sued. [obscenity]






7. States may provide school vouchers to parents that may use the money to attend religious school. [exception to lemon v. kurtzman]






8. Limitation on the scope of Tinker ruling. prohibiting certain styles of expression that are sexually vulgar.






9. Extended 1981 ruling to high schools for use of facilities by religious groups after hours [est. clause and schools]






10. The Supreme Court used this case to end capital punishment - at least in the short run.






11. Tightened restrictions on foreign-born Americans and limited speech [free speech]






12. This decision expanded the types of beliefs that can be used to get conscientious objector status. The depth and fervency of the beliefs - rather than their status as part of an established religious system - became fundamental to determining which v






13. In upholding several restrictive abortion regulations - the Court opened the door for state governments to enact new restrictions on abortion.






14. The Fifth Amendment requires that individuals arrested for a crime must be advised of their right to remain silent and to have counsel present.






15. Incorporated the free speech clause of the First Amendment - ruling that the states were not completely free to limit forms of political expression.






16. Man claimed that the court should not find him guilty of polygamy since it was his religious duty. The court disagreed. [Free exercise]






17. Mandatory prayer in schools is a violation of the establishment clause






18. A Colorado constitutional amendment precluding any legislative - executive - or judicial action at any state or local level designed to bar discrimination based on sexual preference was ruled not rational or reasonable.






19. Supreme Court decision holding that a state university could not admit less qualified individuals solely because of their race.






20. The Court ruled that the use of the swastika is a symbolic form of free speech entitled to First Amendment protections and determined that the swastika itself did not constitute 'fighting words.' [symbolic speech]






21. Case wherein the Court broke with tradition and issued a unanimous decision against the Little Rock School Board - ruling that the district's evasive schemes to avoid the Brown II decision were illegal.






22. Established the actual malice standard. In cases of libel or slander - public figures must prove that the author had 'knowledge of falsity and reckless disregard for the truth.'






23. In this case - the Court ruled that the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II was not unconstitutional.






24. The Supreme Court found that a woman's right to an abortion was protected by the right to privacy that could be implied from specific guarantees found in the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment.






25. Decision that limited the application of the Bill of Rights to the actions of Congress alone.






26. Held that the Justice Department does not have the authority to block physician assisted suicides.






27. Case wherein the Supreme Court adopted the exclusionary rule - which bars the use of illegally obtained evidence at trial.






28. The Court ruled that the recitation in public classrooms of a non-denominational prayer was unconstitutional and a violation of the establishment clause.






29. Concluded that a defendant did not have a First Amendment right to free speech against the draft during World War I. Charles Schenck was the Secretary of the Socialist party and was responsible for printing - distributing - and mailing 15000 leaflets






30. The Supreme Court said that the Second Amendment protects a pre-existing - private - individually-held right - to keep arms and to bear arms - without regard to a person's relationship to a militia.






31. Ruled that the First Amendment protected radical and revolutionary speech - unless it posed a 'clear and present danger'. (overt action required) [Free Speech]






32. You may believe whatever you wish - but you may not be able to exercise that belief.






33. Established exclusionary rule [4th amendment]; Fremont Weeks was suspected of using the mail system to distribute chances in a lottery - which was considered gambling and was illegal in Missouri. State agents entered his home - searched his room - an






34. A policy permitting student-led - student-initiated prayer at football games violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment [est. clause and schools]






35. (no burning draft card) [symbolic speech]


36. The Court ruled that a redistricting plan in Texas did not intentionally limit Latino representation.






37. The Court voted to uphold the constitutionality of the university of Michigan law school's affirmative action policy - which gave preference of minority students.






38. Identified an implied right to privacy in the U.S. Constitution using the 1st - 3rd - 4th - 5th - and 9th amendment. Hint: This case involved birth control and married couples... relate this somehow to the Griswold family vacation movies?






39. Law must be clearly secular - not prohibiting or inhibiting religion - and there should be no excessive entanglement






40. The Fourteenth Amendment did not impose specific limitations on criminal justice in the states - and that illegally obtained evidence did not necessarily have to be excluded from trials in all cases.






41. The objectives of the military allow it to restrict the religious rights of individuals in the interest of cohesiveness. The Court did not endeavor to assess the military's claims concerning the importance of regulating the appearance of its members.






42. Students may be searched by school administrators if they have reasonable belief---this is a lower standard than probable cause.






43. Due process in suspension or expulsion






44. The Court declared that a law banning peyote use was constitutional because it did not specifically target the Native American Church.






45. The Court concluded that St. Paul - Minnesota's Bias-Motivated Crime Ordinance violated the First Amendment because it regulated speech based on the content of the speech.






46. When a government operates a 'limited public forum -' it may not discriminate against speech that takes place within that forum on the basis of the viewpoint it expresses—in this case - against religious speech engaged in by an evangelical Christian






47. Concluded that the U.S. Congress lacked the constitutional authority to bar slavery in the territories; this decision narrowed the scope of national power while it enhanced that of the states. Also declared that slaves couldn't sue since they weren't






48. Religious organization can obtain federal grants to help solve societal problems [exception to lemon v. kurtzman]






49. The arm band in schools case; First Amendment applied to public schools - and that administrators would have to demonstrate constitutionally valid reasons for any specific regulation of speech in the classroom. [symbolic speech]






50. Set the Court's rationale of selective incorporation - a judicial doctrine whereby most but not all of the protections found in the Bill of Rights are made applicable to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment.