The Bill of Rights

Civil Liberties

• Freedoms to think and act without government interference or fear of unfair legal treatment

The 1st Amendment Protects…

• Freedom of religion• Freedom of speech• Freedom of the press• Freedom of assembly• Freedom to petition the government

Censorship

• The banning of printed materials or films due to alarming or offensive ideas

Petition

• A formal request

Slander

• spoken untruths that are harmful to someone’s reputation

Libel

• written untruths that are harmful to someone’s reputation

4th Amendment

• Protects Americans “against unreasonable searches and seizures”

• Requires any government agent wanting to search your property would need a search warrant

Search Warrant

• A court order allowing law enforcement officers to search a suspect’s home or business and take specific items as evidence

• Issued by a judge

5th Amendment

• Protects the rights of people accused – Protects people from being put on trial for a

serious federal crime without an indictment– Protects people from double jeopardy– Protects people from having to testify against

themselves (the right to remain silent)– Guarantees people due process– Limits the government’s power of eminent

domain

Indictment

• A formal charge by a group of citizens called a grand jury

• Is needed before a citizen can be put on trial for a serious federal crime

Grand Jury

• A group of citizens that review evidence against the accused

Double Jeopardy

• Putting someone on trial for a crime of which he or she was previously acquitted

Due Process

• Following established legal procedures

Eminent Domain

• The right of the government to take private property (usually land) for public use

6th Amendment

• Requires that a person who has been accused of a crime be told the exact nature of the charges against them

• The accused is entitled to have a lawyer• Guarantees a speedy trial• The accused must be given a trial by jury

(unless they choose a trial by judge)

8th Amendment

• Gives the accused the choice to wait for their trial in jail, or to pay bail to remain free while they wait

• Forbids excessive bail• Forbids “cruel and unusual punishment”– (Example: 20 years in prison for a parking ticket)

Bail

• A sum of money used as a security deposit to ensure that an accused person returns for his or her trial

2nd Amendment

• States rights to keep a well regulated militia • Protects an individuals right to keep and bear

arms

Militia

• Small, local army made up of volunteer soldiers

7th Amendment

• Gives citizens the right to have a jury trial in civil cases over $20 if they choose, though it is not required

Civil Case

• A lawsuit that involves a disagreement between people rather than a crime.

9th Amendment

• Citizens have other rights beyond those listed in the Constitution

• The right to privacy is not mentioned in the Constitution

10th Amendment

• any powers the Constitution does not directly give to the national government are reserved for the states and the people

• The United States government can only have the powers the people give to it

Bill of Rights

• First 10 amendments of the Constitution• Only protected the rights of white men

13th Amendment (1865)

• Officially outlawed slavery in the United States

Black Codes

• Laws passed by Southern states to limit the rights of African Americans

14th Amendment (1868)

• Defined a United States citizen as anyone “born or naturalized in the United States.”

• Guarantees all citizens “equal protection of the laws”

15th Amendment (1870)

• States that no state may take away a person’s voting rights on the basis of race, color or previous enslavement.

• Meant to guarantee suffrage to African Americans

• Only protected men

Suffrage

• The right to vote

19th Amendment (1920)

• Protected the right of women to vote in all national and state elections.

Washington D.C.

• Area between Virginia and Maryland where the Federal government operates – Not a state

• D.C. stands for the District of Columbia

Poll Taxes

• A sum of money required of voters before they are permitted to cast a ballot

• Poll taxes are now illegal

Discrimination

• Unfair treatment based on prejudice against a certain group

Jim Crow Laws

• Required African Americans and whites to be separated in most public places, such as schools

Segregation

• System of social separation of the races

Civil Rights

• The rights of full citizenship and equality under the law

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)

• Works through the courts to challenge laws and traditions that deny African Americans the rights given to them by the Constitution

Freedom Riders

• White and African American’s who traveled on buses to protest segregation

Affirmative Action

• Programs intended to make up for past discrimination by helping minority groups and women gain access to jobs and opportunities

• Encouraged the hiring and promoting minorities and women

Racial Profiling

• Singling out an individual as a suspect due to appearance of ethnicity