AP U.S. Government and Politics Ch. 4 Study Guide

Civil Liberties and Public Policy

Reading:

C Edwards, Chapter 4, “Civil Liberties and Public Policy”

C John Stuart Mill, “On Liberty” (excerpt)

C Donald Kettl, “System Under Stress” (2004)

C Joseph Russomanno, “Speaking Our Minds” (2002)

Guiding Questions:

C How are citizens' rights defined and protected under the Constitution?

C What is the process of selective incorporation, and why is it important to the rights you possess today?

Objectives:

Students will

C Explain how decisions of the Supreme Court have extended specific provisions of the Bill of Rights to

the states as part of the incorporation doctrine.

C Describe how the two constitutional statements about religion and government--the establishment

clause and the free exercise clause-- may sometimes conflict.

C Examine what the First Congress may have intended by the terms establishment and free exercise of

religion.

C Establish why the Supreme Court will usually not permit prior restraint on speech and press.

C Explain why it has been so difficult for the courts to clearly define which types of materials are

considered to be obscene.

C Differentiate between freedom of speech and related concepts like symbolic speech and freedom of

expression.

C Understand the conflict that can occur between free speech and public order.

C Determine how essential rights such as the right to a fair trial can conflict with other rights such as

the right to a free press.

C Identify the two facts of freedom of assembly and explain how they may conflict with other societal

values.

C Explain how specific provisions of the bill of Rights have been used to extend basic rights to

defendants in criminal trials.

C Understand how concepts such as a right to privacy can be inferred or implied from the Bill of Rights.

C Explain why civil liberties are seen as an individual's protection against the government, and how

they both limit and expand the scope of government.

Reading Responses: Answer the following questions and be ready to discuss them in class.

Mill (Due Monday, 4/20)

1. How does Mill justify the protection of individuality even when an individual’s actions are clearly

detrimental to that person’s own well-being?

2. What does Mill mean by the “despotism of custom”? How does it operate? What impact does it have?

3. Test our time against his characterization of “despotism of custom.” How do we rate?

Edwards (Due Friday, 4/24)

1. Revisiting the First Amendment & the Bill of Rights: When and why were the Bill of Rights added to the

Constitution?

2. Does the establishment clause of the First Amendment create an absolute wall between church and

state? Explain what government actions have been ruled permissible.

3. What accommodations has the court made when interpreting the free exercise clause? Provide a case

example to illustrate your response.

4. What areas of speech and publication are unconditionally protected by the First Amendment? What

areas of speech are unprotected by the First Amendment?

5. How has the Supreme Court arbitrated between the right of the people to express dissent and

government's right to limit controversy in the name of security?

6. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms was initially envisioned to as one dealing with state militias. How has

the Supreme Court interpreted this amendment?

7. The rights of the accused are addressed in the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments. Explain how

they also make it harder to punish criminals.

8. How was the right to privacy judicially created?

9. What has been the impact of the 14th Amendment on the Bill of Rights?

Vocabulary (Quiz Friday, 4/24): You should be able to define and use these terms appropriately and accurately

in context. You DO NOT need to write out definitions unless that is what will help you learn them.

civil liberties

Bill of Rights

First Amendment

Barron v. Baltimore

Fourteenth Amendment

Gitlow v. New York

due process clause

incorporation doctrine

establishment clause

free exercise clause

prior restraint

libel

slander

symbolic speech

commercial speech

probable cause

unreasonable searches and

seizures

search warrant

exclusionary rule

Fifth Amendment

self-incrimination

Sixth Amendment

plea bargaining

Eighth Amendment

cruel and unusual punishment

right to privacy

substantive due process

selective incorporation

Significant Supreme Court Decisions (to be done in class): Be able to connect each case with (1) the civil

liberty at issue, (2) the part of the Constitution applied, and (3) the decision of the Court, including reasoning.

Barron v. Baltimore

Gitlow v. New York

Lemon v. Kurtzman

Zelman v. Simmons-Harris

Engel v. Vitale

School District of Abington

Township, Pennsylvania v.

Schempp

Near v. Minnesota

Schenck v. United States

Roth v. United States

Miller v. California

New York Times v. Sullivan

Texas v. Johnson

Zurcher v. Stanford Daily

Miami Herald Publishing Co. v.

Tornillo

Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v.

Federal Communications

Commission

NAACP v. Alabama

Mapp v. Ohio

Miranda v. Arizona

Gideon v. Wainwright

Gregg v. Georgia

McCleskey v. Kemp

Roe v. Wade

Planned Parenthood v. Casey