ap gov CHAPTER 5 outline - CHAPTER 5 Civil Liberties...

CHAPTER 5
Civil Liberties
REVIEWING THE CHAPTER
CHAPTER FOCUS
This chapter surveys quite a number of pressure points that have developed in the American
political
system regarding the liberties of individuals and the government’s involvement in protecting or
restricting those liberties. Included among these pressure points are national security, federal
versus
state enforcement of rights, First Amendment freedoms, and criminal law. After reading and
reviewing
the material in this chapter, you should be able to do each of the following:
1. Discuss the relationship of the Bill of Rights to the concept of democratic rule of the majority,
and
give examples of tension between majority rule and minority rights. Explain how the politics of
civil liberties may at times become a mass issue, and offer several examples.
2. Describe the conflicts that have arisen between those who claim First Amendment rights and
those who are in favor of sedition laws that might restrict freedom of speech. Explain how the
Supreme Court attempts to balance competing interests. Describe the various tests that the
Court has applied.
3. Explain how the structure of the federal system affects the application of the Bill of Rights
How
has the Supreme Court used the Fourteenth Amendment to expand coverage in the federal
system? Discuss changing conceptions of the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
4. List the categories under which the Supreme Court may classify “speech.” Explain the
distinction
between protected and unprotected speech, and name the various forms of expression that are
not
protected under the First Amendment. Describe the test used by the Court to decide the
circumstances under which freedom of expression may be qualified.
5. State what the Supreme Court decided in Miranda v. Arizona, and explain why that case
illustrates how the Court operates in most such due-process cases.
6. Analyze why the resolution of civil liberties issues involves politics as well as law. Discuss the
political factors that influence the Supreme Court when it decides fundamental civil liberties
issues.
.
STUDY OUTLINE
I. The politics of civil liberties
A. The objectives of the Framers
1. Limited federal powers
2. Constitution : a list of dos, not don’ts
3. Bill of Rights : specific do nots
a) Not intended to affect states
b) A limitation on popular rule
B. Civil Rights v. Civil Liberties
1. Liberties: protections against the abuse of government power
2. Rights: protections against discrimination
3. Sometimes the distinction can be blurred.
II. Rights in conflict: Bill of Rights contains competing rights
A. Sheppard case (free press versus fair trial)
B. New York Times and Pentagon Papers (common defense versus free press)
C. Kunz anti-Jewish speeches (free speech versus public order)
D. Struggles over rights show same pattern as interest group politics.
1. War is usually the crisis that has resulted in restrictions for some minorities.

a) Sedition Act of 1789, during French Revolution
b) Espionage and Sedition Acts of World War I
c) Smith Act