American Government and Politics Today

1
American Government and Politics Today

• Chapter 4
• Civil Liberties

2
The Bill of Rights

• Origins - colonists fear of a tyrannical
  government
• Federalists agreed to amend the Constitution to
  include a Bill of Rights after ratification
• This placed limitations on the government and
  thus protected citizens civil liberties

3
The Bill of Rights and State Governments

• The original Bill of Rights did not apply to
  state governments
• The Fourteenth Amendment (1868) imposed,
  step-by-step, most Constitutional protections of
  civil liberties upon state governments
• Incorporation theory the view that most
  protections of the Bill of Rights apply to state
  governments through the Fourteenth Amendments
  due process clause

4
Freedom of Religion The Establishment Clause

• Setting up a wall of separation of Church and
  State
• Aid to church-related schools
• School vouchers
• School prayerEngel v. Vitale
• Prayer outside the classroom
• The Ten Commandments
• The teaching of evolution
• Religious speech

5
Freedom of Religion The Free Exercise Clause

• Guarantees the free exercise of religion, and is
  restrained when religious practices interfere
  with public policy
• Examples the ability of school districts to
  select texts for students the requirement of
  vaccinations for school enrollment
• The Religious Freedom Restoration Act
• Free exercise in public schools

6
Freedom of Expression

• No prior restraint
• Protection of symbolic
  speech
• Protection of commercial
  speech
• Permitted restrictions on expression
• Clear and present danger
• Modifications the bad-tendency rule, the grave
  and probable rule

7
Freedom of Expression (continued)

• Unprotected Speech
• Obscenity
• Slander
• Pornography and
  Internet pornography
• Campus speech
• Hate speech on the Internet

8
Freedom of the Press

• Libel a written defamation of character
• Public figures must meet higher standards than
  ordinary people to win a libel suit
• A free press versus a fair trial
• Gag order the right of a defendant
  to
  a fair trial supersedes the right
  of the
  public to attend the trial
• Film, radio, and television
• This freedom is no longer limited to
  
  print media, though broadcast media
  do
  not receive the same protection as
  print media

9
The Right to Assemble and Petition the Government

• The Supreme Court has held that state and local
  governments cannot bar individuals from
  assembling
• However, they can require permits for assembly so
  that order can be maintained, though they cannot
  be selective as to who receives permits
• Street gangs
• Online assembly

10
Matters of Privacy

• There is no explicit Constitutional right to
  privacy it is an interpretation by the Supreme
  Court drawn from the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth,
  and Ninth Amendments
• The right was established in 1965
  in Griswold v. Connecticut
• Privacy rights in an information age

11
Privacy Rights and Abortion

• In Roe v. Wade (1973) the court held that
  governments could not prohibit abortions, as this
  would violate a womans right to privacy
• The Supreme Court has issued many
  decisions on the boundaries of state
  regulations concerning abortion
• The controversy continues

12
Privacy Rights and the Right to Die

• Cruzan v. Director, Missouri Department of Health
  (1997) a patients life support could be
  withdrawn at the request of a family member if
  there was clear and convincing evidence that
  the patient did not want the treatment
• This has led to the popularity
  
  of advance health directives,
  
  commonly called living wills
• What if there is no living will?

13
Privacy Rights and the Right to Die (continued)

• Physician-assisted suicide - the Court has stated
  that the Constitution does not imply a right to
  commit suicide
• This decision has given
  states much leeway to legislate
  on this issue
• Only Oregon has legalized
  physician-assisted suicide

14
Privacy Rights versus Security Issues

• Privacy rights have taken on particular
  importance since September 11, 2001
• Rules such as the proposed
  
  roving wiretap legislation
  may
  violate the Fourth
  Amendment
• The USA Patriot Act
• Concerns about civil liberties

15
The Rights of the Accused versus the Rights of
Society

• Fourth Amendment
• No unreasonable or unwarranted search or seizure
• No arrest except on probable cause
• Fifth Amendment
• No coerced confession
• No compulsory self-incrimination

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The Rights of the Accused (continued)

• Sixth Amendment
• Legal counsel
• Informed of charges
• Speedy and public
  jury trial
• Impartial jury of ones peers
• Eighth Amendment
• Reasonable bail
• No cruel or unusual punishment

17
Extending the Rights of the Accused

• Miranda v. Arizona (1966) requires police to
  inform suspects of their rights
• A public safety exception to Miranda says that
  illegal confessions need not bar a conviction if
  other evidence is strong, and that suspects must
  claim their rights unequivocally

18
Extending the Rights of the Accused (continued)

• In the future, a procedure such as video
  recording of interrogations might satisfy Fifth
  Amendment requirements
• The exclusionary rule prohibits the admission
  of illegally seized evidence

19
The Death Penalty

• Is the death penalty cruel and unusual
  punishment?
• Or is it a useful method for dealing with the
  worst criminals?

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The Death Penalty Today

• The death penalty is allowed in 37 states
• Time limits for death row appeals
• The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
  of 1996 limits appeals from death row
• DNA testing has freed about 100 death row inmates
  who were wrongly convicted, casting more doubt on
  the use of capital punishment

22
Questions for Critical Thinking

• What do you think is the historical basis for
  civil liberties? Are Americans as concerned today
  about the protection of their civil liberties as
  were our founders?
• Do you think the libel laws restrict a free
  press? Should the press be allowed to publish
  anything it wants about a person? Should the
  press have to prove that everything published is
  absolutely true?

23
Questions for Critical Thinking

• Why are the rights of the accused so important?
  Is there any way to strike a balance between the
  rights of the victims and the rights of the
  accused?