American Government and Politics (POLS 122) Professor Jonathan Day

Outline 1. Attendance 2. Interpreting Our Rights: 2 nd Amendment 3. Restricting Our Rights: 1 st Amendment 4. Selective Incorporation 5. Cartoon Interpretation 6. Next Class Period

Interpreting our Rights: 2 nd Amendment 2 nd amendment: A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) What are your thoughts after hearing part of this case?

Restricting Our Rights Free speech is restricted: Direct Incitement Test – “incite imminent lawless action” Fighting words Slander and libel Obscenity

What’s Wrong??? 1 st Amendment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Selective Incorporation The Bill of Rights only applied to the Federal Government, not the state governments Selective Incorporation – The process of applying the Bill of Rights to the states on a case-by-case basis. 2 nd Amendment was incorporated through the recent court case: McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Interpret the meaning of this cartoon

For Next Class Period Read Chapter 4 of Fault Lines – it’s about the tradeoff between security and freedom