Civil+Liberties

Civil Liberties

Tyler's Groups Project:


 * __Key Terms to know:__**

__Due Process of Law-__ this dose not all the government to take people’s property, life, or liberty without process of law.

__Equal Protection of the law-__ states that the government has to treat everyone the same under the law.

__Selective Incorporation-__ this is where court cases have been carried out and decided that certain rights in the Bill of Rights needs to apply to the states.

__Freedom of Expression-__ this is the right of the people to speak, publish, and assemble.

__Freedom of Religion-__ this sais that the government may not select a national religion or keep another religion from existing, unless that religion is doing illegal acts that are already against the law.

__Prior Restraint-__ where the government censors publications of media, and newspapers.

__Clear-and-Present-Danger test-__ the law is not allowed to punish and individual or a group of people, unless there is clear chance of danger or of harm to the government or to citizens.

__Libel-__ is written lie, weather on purpose or not, that injures a person’s reputation, business or personal life.

__Symbolic Speech-__ this is a act that conveys a political message, and is legal as long as the person expressing doesn’t commit a crime that is already illegal.

__Clarity-__ this states that the law must be clear and neutral on what the laws mean. This is often used in permits.

The framers believed that the only powers the national government had were ones specifically stated in the constitution. They feared a strong national government, and because of this the states that were ratifying the constitution demanded a bill of rights as a way to protect themselves from the national government. This originally only applied to the national government, but eventually applied to the state governments as well. Civil rights protect groups such as women, gays, blacks, or other minorities against discrimination, while civil liberties protect our rights as human beings against abuse from the government. Sometimes the civil liberties within the bill of rights conflict with the constitution. An example of this from the book is a case in Cleveland, Ohio where a man named Sammuel H. Sheppard wanted the right to a fair trial after he was accused of murdering his wife, while the Bob Considine and Walter Winchell, along with other reporters wanted their right to freedom of press, bringing these two rights into conflict. One of the biggest causes of the restriction of civil liberties is during war when people have to give up certain rights for their own protection. An example of our liberties being limited is in the Sedition Act of 1798 in which it was made a crime to write, utter, or publish any malicious or scandalous writing that talks down about Congress or the president. This occurred again when the Espionage and Sedition Acts were passed in 1917-1918, that made it illegal to make any false statements that would interfere with the American military, or to send via mail letters urging treason, insurrection, or forcible resistance against the United States. The process was repeated again with the Smith Act of 1940 which made it illegal to advocate the overthrowing of the U.S. government, in 1950 the Internal Security Act made a requirement for all members of the Communist Party to register, and in 1954 the Communist Control Act made a declaration stating that the Communist Party was part of a conspiracy to overthrow the government. In some rare situations these acts are still used, but after the wars passed they were used very sparingly. Originally the United States was the creation of white European Protestants, and their values and habits became their view of America during its creation. Later on many other cultural conflicts arose when other groups of people migrated to the United States due to things such as the famine in Europe, or to escape religious prosecution. For a long time, the Bill of Rights only applied to the federal government, but after the civil war this began to change for the cause of protecting newly freed slaves from state governments. In 1868 the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified. It had two main clauses, the first, the Due Process Clause, stated that no state shall “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.” The second said that no state shall “deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” This clause was known as the Equal Protection Clause. This whole process led to the Supreme Court beginning selective incorporation, that is, the application of certain parts of the Bill of Rights to the states. All parts of the Bill of Rights were applied to the states except for the right to bear arms, the right to not have soldiers forcibly quartered in private homes, the right to be indicted by a grand jury before being tried for a serious crime, the right to a jury trial in civil cases, and the ban on excessive bail and fines. These were applied in different court cases, two important ones are Gitlow v. New York, and Palko v. Connecticut. In Gitlow, freedom of speech and freedom of the press were incorporated, and in Palko, the Supreme Court decided that certain rights should apply to the states that are essential, which began the process of selective incorporation, explained above.
 * __Culture and Civil Liberties__**

Back in the pre-civil war era the constitution was understood to only apply to the federal government, but was later changed to apply to the states through the 14th amendment. This was amendment was applied to the states to protect the freedom of expression which sais that Congress shall not make a law that will obstruct the freedom of the press, freedom of a individual’s right to speak, and people’s right to assemble. The 14th amendment was also made to protect freedom of religion, which sais that the government may not make any law prohibiting a region. Willam Blackstone agreed with the 14th amendment saying that press should be free of prior restraint, which sais the press is free to print what it wants without sensor ship. The Sedition act of 1798 latter improved this as well. But throughout history when ever we are at war or we are in danger of attack, or about to go to war, we give up some of our freedoms for protection. Such as during world war 2 schools were no longer allowed to teach German and people were not allowed to speak German either. We see now with the patriot act, where the government is allowed to tap our phones if they have a good reason to. The patriot act allows them to surpass getting a warrant to tap the phone, to being able to tap the phone as soon as they want or can. So as you can see, we give up some freedoms, such as freedom of speech, whenever we feel our county is in danger, and this is a balancing act between what is constitutional and what isn’t.
 * __Interpreting and Appling the first Amendment__**

Congress latter started to define the limits of expression saying that if people, a group of people, or a media source starts to encourage treason, insurrection or forcible resistance against the United States, then there speech it is punishable by law. There also has to be a “clear and present danger” to the United States’ government or the citizens of the United States for speech to be punished by law. A few case examples are, 1969 the Brandenburg trial, where if someone is calling for an illegal act but the attacks are not imminent then there speech is protected. But in 1977 the American Nazi march in Skoki was found illegal because it took place in a mostly Jewish neighborhood and was considered unsafe for the public. But not all speech is protected like libel and slander. Libel is a written statement that is not true about someone, while slander is something is said about someone that is not true. In order for a person to be accused of libel or slander the person must show “actual malice” and a “disregard for the truth or knowledge that the words were false”. One type of speech though is not fully protected and that is Obscenity. Obscenity has no enduring definition though so it is hard to define. The best definition given by a judge in 1973 said, “the average person, appealing contemporary community standards, to appeal to the prurient interest, or to depict in a potently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law, and lacking serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value”(Reperti notes). A example of this is tolerate pornography. Although this is tolerated by most states, the practice is regulated by strict constitutional tests All the different forms of protection cover all forms of communication. The court also ruled that the government may not show preference over certain types of communication. For example at one time someone wanted to regulate the internet, this was ruled unconstitutional by the courts because that would take away one of our basic rights, freedom of speech. Another type of speech that is not fully protected is Symbolic Speech. The way Symbolic speech works is say you disagree with something so you decide to go around and light cars on fire. Even though this is symbolic speech, the acts you are committing are already illegal so your acts can be punished. But say you just make buttons that go against what you disagree with, then your symbolic speech is protected. Although minors are not as protected as adults with symbolic speech.
 * __What is Speech?__**

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">

Sierra's Groups Concepts and Terms:

<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">__<span style="color: rgb(250, 119, 30);">Who is a <span style="color: rgb(236, 99, 14);">person <span style="color: rgb(236, 99, 14);">? __<span style="color: rgb(236, 99, 14);"> - all groups of people have the same rights no matter what their skin color or their ethnicity; however...
 * Young people have less rights because they are sometime subjected to authority and the rules already put in place.
 * [[image:http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:OZ9CFB3vFplx_M:http://www.bladen.cc.nc.us/lrc/newspaper.gif width="110" height="125" align="left" link="http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bladen.cc.nc.us/lrc/newspaper.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.bladen.cc.nc.us/lrc/relatedsites.htm&usg=__FoCB_r-t5diR9yc8UI6FByuIy3Y=&h=409&w=361&sz=10&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=OZ9CFB3vFplx_M:&tbnh=125&tbnw=110&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dnewspaper%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den"]] School newspapers are the main example of this situation. The writers are subjected to "the man."


 * Organizations
 * Usually have the same rights as individuals even if they promote unwelcomed ideas.[[image:http://libertyunbound.com/archive/2004_07/chambers-kkk.jpg width="214" height="225" align="right" link="http://www.libertyunbound.com/"]]
 * However commercial speech can be regulated.

<span style="color: rgb(230, 106, 10);">__Church and State__
 * Clauses...not Santa [[image:http://www.blackcommentator.com/257/257_images/257_cartoon_santa_busted_small_over.jpg width="218" height="180" align="right" link="http://www.blackcommentator.com/"]]
 * **Establisment Clause** (**Wall of Separation**) - State and religion are like oil and vinegar.
 * No government involvement in religious organizations even if it is not biased.
 * Government can be involved if it passes the three tests
 * Secular purpose
 * Effects neither help nor hinder religion
 * Involvement does not last long.
 * **Free Exercise Clause** - Government must allow free practice of religion
 * Also cannot burden religious institutions.
 * Ex. animal sacrifices cannot ban if no other law is against it.
 * Cannot use religious excuse for an otherwise illegal practice.

__<span style="color: rgb(255, 99, 0);">Crime and Due Process __
 * Determined by Bill of Rights
 * Different ways to protect against unreasonable searches - most democratic nations use different methods than U.S.
 * **Exclusionary Rule(**U.S. Method) - can't use evidence in courts that was gathered in a way that violates Constitution
 * Uses two ammendments - 4th & 5th
 * **4th Ammendment** - can't search someone's home without a search warrant
 * //Mapp v. Ohio//
 * began use of exclusionary rule
 * set precedent that evidence illegally gathered may not be used in trial
 * **5th Ammendment** - protection against self incrimination
 * //Miranda//
 * If you confess it doesn't count unless the police tell you your rights ahead of time
 * Exceptions
 * "Good-faith" exception - error that was not the pollice's fault.
 * States of national emergency(9/11)
 * Evidence would have been found anyways.
 * Search & Seizure
 * When can the police search you?
 * **Search Warrant** - ordered by judge if he believes the officer has a probable cause
 * **Probable Cause -** actual evidence not just intuition that someone commited a crime.
 * **Arrested** - occurs if officer has a warrant or committed a felony in the presence of an officer
 * Judge specificly states what can and cannot be searched.
 * What can the police search?
 * Anything and everything:
 * Individual
 * Anything the cop can see
 * Anything that the individual has on them (including a car)
 * Terrorism
 * **US Patriot Act**
 * Gave the government more wiggle room to fight terrorism.
 * Tap phones, with court's permission can tap voice mail and e-mails.
 * Can hold non-citizens for 7 days as security risk
 * There is not a limit on how many terrorist crimes people can be guilty for