AP Government Order - PowerPoint Presentation

AP GovernmentOrder & Civil Liberties: 1st Amendment

(1 & 2) Civil Liberties and Civil RightsCivil liberties – freedoms guaranteed to individuals “negative rights” as they are restraints on gov’t (can’t dos) Civil rights – powers or privileges guaranteed to individuals and protected from arbitrary removal at the hands of gov’t or individuals “positive rights” as they are things the gov’t must do

(3) Freedom of ReligionAt the time of the Constitutional Convention many Americans thought that gov’t could and should foster Protestantism Many more Americans felt this was an issue for state governments The 1 st Amendment guarantees freedom of religion in two clauses: Establishment clause The first clause of the first amendment which forbids gov’t establishment of an official religion Free-exercise clauseThe second clause in the first amendment which prevents the gov’t from interfering with the exercise of religion

(4) Separation of Church and StateLemon v. Kurtzman (1971) – struck down a state program that would have helped pay the salaries of teachers hired by parochial schools Set up a test (the Lemon test) to determine the constitutionality of gov’t programs under the establishment clauseMust have secular purpose Primary purpose can’t be to inhibit or advance religion Must not entangle gov’t excessively with religion

(4) Prayer in School Engel v. Vitale (1962) – struck down the reading of a non-denominational prayer in New York’s public schools In subsequent cases the Supreme Court struck down reading of the Lord’s Prayer at a public school, prayer at public school graduations, and pre-game prayer at high school football game, but after school religious activities are OK if optional clubs

(5) Publicly Funded Religious DisplaysLynch v. Donnelly (1984) – the Court ruled that the display of religious artifacts (in this case a nativity scene) on public property does not violate the establishment clause The argument was that the display . . . had a legitimate secular purpose – the celebration of a national holidaydid not have the primary effect of benefitting religion Led to no excessive entanglement of religion and gov’t

(6) Conscientious Objectors to War The Supreme Court has avoided absolute interpretations of the free-exercise clause Exempting conscientious o bjectors to war goes against the establishment clause by favoring some religions over others The Court has equated religious objection to war with any deeply held humanistic opposition to it

(7) Strict ScrutinyStrict scrutiny A standard used by the Supreme Court in deciding if a law or policy is constitutional A law may be upheld only if the gov’t can demonstrate The law is justified by a compelling gov’t interestThe law is narrowly tailored to achieve that interest The law is the least restrictive means of achieving that interest

(7) Freedom of Expression Free-expression clauses The press and speech clauses of the First Amendment Despite the absoluteness of the language of the First Amendment in guaranteeing freedom of press and speech, the Court has not ruled that way

(7) Freedom of Expression Prior restraint Censorship before publication, which is mostly forbidden by the Court Ways gov’t can regulate or punish the advocacy of ideas: it can prove an intent to promote lawless action and demonstrate a high probability that such action will occur Gov’t may impose reasonable restrictions on the means for communicating ideas

(8) Freedom of SpeechSchenck v. U.S. (1919) – upheld convictions of those who distributed leaflets that attempted to disrupt WWI military recruitment, and set the clear and present danger test Clear and present danger test – a means by which the Supreme Court has distinguished between speech as the advocacy of ideas (protected speech) and speech as incitement (not protected) Gitlow v. New York (1925) – similar to the Schenk case, but at the state level, it for the first time applied the 1st Amendment to states by using the due process clause of the 14th Amendment

(8) Freedom of Speech Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) – overturned the conviction of a KKK leader who threatened gov’t officials, because the threat was not seen as actually producing imminent lawless action Tinker v. Des Moines Independent County School District (1969) – overturned the suspensions of three students who wore black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War

(8) Freedom of PressNear v. Minnesota (1931) – struck down a law that used prior restraint to prevent the publishing of “malicious, scandalous, and defamatory” language (prior restraint places an unacceptable burden on a free press) New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) – the Court ruled that the 1st Amendment protects the publication of all statements (even false ones) about public officials if the statements were not made with actual malice Reno v. ACLU (1997) – affirmed broad rights of free speech on the internet , arguing it was more analogous to print media than television (and thus even indecent material was protected)Facebook case to be decided Comedian George Carlin after h is arrest for his nationally t elevised comedy routine “The 7 words you cannot say on TV”

(9) Order v. Free Speech Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942) – upheld the conviction of a man who called a city marshal bad things like “damned fascist” as he used “fighting words” Fighting words – those that inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate disturbance of the peace Cohen v. California (1971) – “F___ the Draft” t-shirt OK as it wasn’t directed at any individual and was unlikely to provoke any physical action Public figures – people who assume roles of prominence in society or thrust themselves to the forefront of public controversyWhen evangelist Jerry Falwell was the target of vicious and degrading cartoons in a magazine in 1988 the Court ruled that criticism of a public figure is protected censor

(10) Freedom of Speech in SchoolSupreme Court has ruled that schools can limit speech within the confines of the school if it creates a disturbance to the learning environment It also ruled that school officials could prohibit speech outside of school if it promoted illegal activity