1. AP GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Objective: SWBAT understand civil liberties outlined in the Constitution.
Objective: SWBAT understand how civil rights have extended civil liberties to various minorities in the US.
Agenda:
Bell ringer: Finish up #7 on the Constitution USA video questions and turn in to your class’ tray.
Lecture and discussion

2. Let’s pick up where we left off…..
What are the two types of defamatory statements that can be made?
Libel – defamatory statements in print
Slander – statements made by speech
NY Times v. Sullivan:
Libelous claims made by public figures must be able to be proven malicious and false.

3. Obscenity…. First of all, even the Supreme Court can’t define it
SC Justice Potter Stewart said “I know it when I see it…”
Public standards vary from time to time, place to place, and person to person
Work that some call “obscene” may be “art” to others
No nationwide consensus exists that offensive material should be banned
Mostly left to local governments to regulate

4. Obscenity (cont.) Roth v. US (1957): Miller v. CA (1973):
Supreme Court ruled that “obscenity is not within the area of constitutionally protected speech or press.”
What is the problem with this ruling?
It doesn’t define what is “obscene”
Miller v. CA (1973):
SC tried to define what is obscene
The work as a whole must:
“appeal to the prurient interest”
aka elicits “lust”
or show “patently offensive sexual
contact”
or “lack serious artistic, literary,
political, or scientific merit.”

5. Symbolic Speech Tinker v. Des Moines: Texas v. Johnson PLEASE NOTE:
Symbolic speech for students okay –
protesting something
Texas v. Johnson
Burning flag can be symbolic speech
PLEASE NOTE:
1st Amendment does not protect symbolic speech intended to incite illegal actions.
Example, states may make it a crime to burn a cross with the intent to threaten racial terror

6. Pair and Share: Discussion Question
What about the right to freedom of press before a trial?
Does this infringe on the rights of the accused?

7. Freedom of Press Prior Restraint SC has repeatedly ruled against this
attempt to limit freedom of press
by preventing material from being
published
SC has repeatedly ruled against this
However, school administrators can exercise “editorial control over the style and content of student speech in school-sponsored expressive activities” if there is a legitimate concern.
Hazelwood School Dist. v Kuhlmeier (1988)

8. Freedom of Assembly
Constitutional basis for forming interest groups / political parties, for picketing and protesting in groups
Two facets of freedom of assembly
Right to assemble
Right to associate

9. Assembly and Association
Right to assemble
Right to gather together in order to make a statement within reasonable limits (SC regularly has upheld the right on public property)
Called time, place, and manner restrictions
Includes rights to parade, picket, protest
Right to associate
Freedom to associate with people who
share a common interest
Includes right to meet with people who
want to create political change

10. Pair and Share: Discussion Question
After the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Amendments, what do the next five mainly concern themselves with?
Answer: Rights of the Accused
Why do you think this was so important to the framers?

11. Rights of the Accused 4th Amendment
Protects against “unreasonable searches and seizures”
Exclusionary rule prohibits evidence obtained by illegal searches or seizures from being admitted in court
Supreme Court first established the
exclusionary rule in Weeks v.
United States (1914).
Mapp v. Ohio is important in this also.

12. Rights of the Accused
The Fifth Amendment forbids forced self-incrimination, stating that no person “shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.”
Burden of proof rests on police and prosecutors, not the defendant
Right applies to congressional hearings and police stations, as well as to courtrooms
Known as the Miranda Rule:
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights? "

13. Rights of the Accused 6th Amendment – The right to Counsel
First not incorporated to the states, but Gideon
v. Wainwright changed that
Remember the video yesterday??
8th Amendment – No cruel and unusual punishment
What does “cruel and unusual” mean?
Meaning has changed over time, but mainly focuses on the death penalty

14. Pair and Share: Discussion Question
Is there a right to privacy in the Constitution?

15. Right to Privacy
Justice Louis D, Brandeis defined privacy as “the right to be left alone.”
Bill of Rights doesn’t specifically grant Americans a right to privacy
However, the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th Amendments do imply the right.
Also, the 9th Amendment can be used to exemplify this right.
Justice William O. Douglas argued that the right to privacy was found in the unstated liberties implied by the explicitly stated state rights in the Bill of Rights or “penumbras”
penumbras -- unstated liberties implied by explicitly stated rights
This “right” has been used to find a legitimate reason to make abortion legal.

16. Privacy Post 9/11 More security USA Patriot Act
We tend to relinquish rights in the name of
security.
USA Patriot Act
Allows government officials to secretly search a suspected terrorist house with special warrant
Allows government to monitor internet, phone conversation, banking, and book purchases with special warrant
Allows government to open mail with special warrant
FBI must present evidence why warrant is
necessary, but judge has no authority to
reject warrant
Individuals targeted by these investigations are
forbidden to discuss investigation, including the
facts of its existence, with anyone

17. Civil Rights
The text really focuses on the civil rights of African-Americans and women
Plessy v. Ferguson is an example of de jure segregation
Racial segregation that is required by law
After Brown v. Board of Ed., white inner city residents tended to move to the suburbs, which is an example of de facto segregation
Racial segregation that occurs as a result of patterns of residential settlement

18. Civil Rights Movement
Sit-ins and freedom rides – went from the non-violent movement to the “long, hot summers” of racial violence
Many bills passed including: (see pg. 138)
Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965
This has all helped lead to a dramatic rise in political participation among African-Americans and a change in “white elite opinion”

19. Affirmative Action Affirmative Action This policy applies to:
A policy that requires most employers to take positive steps to remedy the effects of past discriminations.
This policy applies to:
Agencies of the Federal, State and Local Governments
All those private employers who sell goods or services to any agency of the Federal Government.
Starting in 1965: Programs established guidelines and timetables for overcoming past discriminations.
Many employers hire/promote certain workers (even specific numbers) due to their minority backgrounds or gender. These are called quotas.

20. Affirmative Action Regents of the Univ. of CA v. Bakke:
Reverse discrimination: Schools can’t use race as primary factor for admissions.
Adarand Contractors v. Pena:
SC decision in this case holds that whenever government provides any preferential treatment based on race, that action is almost certainly unconstitutional, even if it is intended to benefit minority groups suffering from past injustices.

21. Pair and Share: Discussion Question
Is Affirmative Action okay to repair previous historical inequities or is it unnecessary?

22. Other Civil Rights Women’s Rights Aliens Rights Rights of the Disabled
Equal Pay, Sexual Harassment, Women’s right to choose, employment, military
Aliens Rights
Children of illegal immigrants, other rights?
Rights of the Disabled
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Gay Rights
Morality issues, anti-sodomy laws (overturned by SC), private organizations can still discriminate
Gay Marriage – the issue du jour

23. What is going to be the next frontier in Civil Rights?? Why?
Thinking Question:
What is going to be the next frontier in Civil Rights?? Why?