All flashcards
Flashcard 1: What is the main focus of the Privileges or Immunities Clause?
Answer: To protect citizens' fundamental rights against state infringement. Less utilized clause focusing on citizenship privileges nationwide.
Flashcard 2: What was the outcome of Citizens United v. FEC?
Answer: Corporations can spend unlimited funds on political campaigns. Controversial decision equating corporate spending with speech.
Flashcard 3: What is the main purpose of the Bill of Rights?
Answer: To protect individual liberties from government infringement. The first ten amendments safeguard personal freedoms from tyranny.
Flashcard 4: Which amendment guarantees freedom of speech?
Answer: The First Amendment. Also protects religion, press, assembly, and petition rights.
Flashcard 5: What does the Tenth Amendment state about powers?
Answer: Powers not delegated to the U.S. are reserved to the states or people. Establishes federalism by limiting federal authority.
Flashcard 6: Which amendment provides the right to bear arms?
Answer: The Second Amendment. Often debated regarding individual vs. militia interpretation.
Flashcard 7: What is the significance of the Fourteenth Amendment?
Answer: It guarantees equal protection and due process under the law. Key Reconstruction amendment preventing state discrimination.
Flashcard 8: What is the primary focus of the Fourth Amendment?
Answer: It protects against unreasonable searches and seizures. Requires warrants based on probable cause for searches.
Flashcard 9: Which amendment grants the right to a speedy and public trial?
Answer: The Sixth Amendment. Also guarantees right to counsel and impartial jury.
Flashcard 10: What does the Fifth Amendment protect against?
Answer: Self-incrimination and double jeopardy. Also protects due process and private property rights.
Flashcard 11: Which case established judicial review in the U.S.?
Answer: Marbury v. Madison. Established courts' power to declare laws unconstitutional.
Flashcard 12: Identify the case that upheld the internment of Japanese Americans.
Answer: Korematsu v. United States. Wartime decision later criticized for civil rights violations.
Flashcard 13: Which case established the 'separate but equal' doctrine?
Answer: Plessy v. Ferguson. Later overturned by Brown v. Board of Education.
Flashcard 14: What is the significance of Brown v. Board of Education?
Answer: It declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Landmark 1954 decision overturning Plessy v. Ferguson.
Flashcard 15: Identify the case that established the right to privacy in contraception.
Answer: Griswold v. Connecticut. First recognized an implied constitutional right to privacy.
Flashcard 16: What was the ruling in Roe v. Wade?
Answer: It recognized a woman's right to choose an abortion. Based on privacy rights, later modified by Casey decision.
Flashcard 17: Which case involved the right to counsel during interrogation?
Answer: Miranda v. Arizona. Established requirement for Miranda warnings before questioning.
Flashcard 18: What does the Establishment Clause prohibit?
Answer: Government establishment of religion. Maintains separation between government and religious institutions.
Flashcard 19: Which clause is associated with 'separation of church and state'?
Answer: The Establishment Clause. Prevents government endorsement or establishment of religion.
Flashcard 20: Identify the test for determining the violation of the Establishment Clause.
Answer: The Lemon Test. Three-part test examining purpose, effect, and entanglement.
Flashcard 21: Which amendment protects the right to peaceably assemble?
Answer: The First Amendment. Also includes speech, religion, press, and petition rights.
Flashcard 22: What does the Free Exercise Clause guarantee?
Answer: The right to practice one's religion freely. Balanced against government interests in compelling cases.
Flashcard 23: Which Supreme Court case addressed student free speech rights?
Answer: Tinker v. Des Moines. Students retain constitutional rights in school settings.
Flashcard 24: Which case extended the Second Amendment to the states?
Answer: McDonald v. Chicago. Applied Second Amendment to state and local governments.
Flashcard 25: Identify the case that dealt with symbolic speech in schools.
Answer: Tinker v. Des Moines. Protected student armbands as symbolic political expression.
Flashcard 26: Which Supreme Court case ensured the right to legal counsel for felonies?
Answer: Gideon v. Wainwright. Guaranteed appointed counsel for indigent criminal defendants.
Flashcard 27: What landmark case legalized same-sex marriage nationwide?
Answer: Obergefell v. Hodges. Based marriage equality on due process and equal protection.
Flashcard 28: Which amendment prohibits quartering of soldiers in private homes?
Answer: The Third Amendment. Historical protection against military abuse of civilians.
Flashcard 29: What principle is established by the Supremacy Clause?
Answer: Federal law takes precedence over state law. Prevents conflicting state laws from overriding federal authority.
Flashcard 30: Identify the clause that allows Congress to pass necessary laws.
Answer: The Necessary and Proper Clause. Also called the Elastic Clause for expanding federal power.