Constitutional Rights

Life, Liberty, & Property

• Protect personal freedoms• Founding Fathers installed civil liberties into

the Constitution– Feared tyranny– Designed to disable government from infringing

on the people• “Natural rights”

Bill of Rights• 1 – Freedom of religion, speech, press, petition, & assemble

– Establishment Clause – prohibits government from forming state religion• Prayer in schools okay, but cannot be led by the school/admin.• Ten Commandments not okay• Evolution okay• Religious speech on campus okay

– Free Exercise Clause – no restriction on religious beliefs & practices unless they counter with public welfare or policy

– Different types of speech can be limited – slander, fighting words, etc.– FCC regulates the media; libel; gag order– Need permits to assemble

• 2 – bear arms• 3 – against quartering soldiers• 4 – against unreasonable search & seizure• 5 – grand jury; self-incrimination; double jeopardy; & due process

– In essence, no punishment without trial• 6 – Fair criminal trial• 7 – Civil trials by jury• 8 – Cruel & unusual punishment

– Death penalty?– Signs on kids?

• 9 – Rights retained by the people• 10 – Reserved powers of the states

Additional Amendments• 13th Amendment – prohibited slavery• 14th Amendment – States could not deny:

• Citizenship rights• Due process rights• Equal Protection

– Inherent right to privacy [Roe v. Wade]– Equal Protection Clause – “equal protection of the laws”

• Brown v. Board [segregation]• Roe v. Wade [reproductive rights]• Bush v. Gore [election recounts]• Reed v. Reed [gender discrimination]• University of California v. Bakke [racial quotas in education]

• 15th Amendment – voting rights for all races & colors• 19th Amendment – Women gain right to vote• 24th Amendment – outlawed poll taxes, increasing ability of minorities to vote

Supreme Court Cases• Gitlow v. New York, 1925

– Guarantees freedom of speech• Brown v. Board of Education, 1954

– Separate but equal inherently unequal– Sparked movement to end segregation in schools & in society

• Mapp v. Ohio, 1961– Created exclusionary rule – no illegally seized evidence can be used at trial– Fair trial

• Gideon v. Wainwright, 1963– Public defender required for all felony cases– Fair trial

• Miranda v. Arizona, 1966– Must be “read your rights” by police– Protect against self-incrimination

Protection of Civil Rights- Exceptions

• Sedition Act, 1798 – no publication of false, scandalous, or malicious info about the government

• Espionage & Sedition Acts, 1917 – no false statements about military, no mail for subversive activities, no statements resisting war effort

• HUAC Trials of 1950s – accusations ruined reputations & lives of those proclaimed “communists”

• Suspension of Habeas Corpus, 1861 – meant to rein in Confederate sympathizers in Union states, allowing prisoners to be held without trial

• Japanese Internment, 1942-45 – imprisoned over 112,00 immigrants and Americans of Japanese heritage during WWII– Korematsu v. United States – Supreme Court ruled the action was justified

in time of war

Additional Policies• Civil Rights Act, 1964 – no racial discrimination in public places, employment;

no funding for discriminatory institutions; est. EEOC• Voting Rights Act, 1965 – no discriminatory voter tests; federal gents can

register voters & oversee elections• Equal Rights Amendment – proposed every year; initiated 1923; passed

Congress 1972 but never ratified [insufficient # states]• Equal Pay Act, 1963 – required equal pay for substantially equal work• Affirmative action, 1965 – compensatory treatment to traditionally

disadvantaged groups to overcome present effects of past discrimination– Equality of opportunity or outcome?

• Age Discrimination in Employment Act, 1967 – designed to protect workers over 40 from discrimination in pay, treatment, and hiring/firing decisions

• Americans With Disabilities Act, 1990 – no discrimination in employment, public service, transportation, and telecommunications