Although even hate speech (abusive language based on a person’s race, nationality, religion, or sexual orientation) is generally entitled to 1st Amendment protection, Court held in Virginia v. Black (2003) that a state law banning cross burning, a “particularly virulent form of ___” is allowed.
In ___ v. Verner (1963)
the Supreme Court created
___ test for determining whether a government has unconstitutionally infringed on a person's free exercise of religion.
To prove its action was not a constitutional violation under the ___ test, the government must show that its policy or action that burdens religiously motivated conduct is the least restrictive means of achieving a compelling interest.
A constitutional check on the President's power is the mechanism by which the President can be ___ from power, by
impeachment in the House and conviction in the Senate,
pursuant to Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution, "of, Treason, Bribery or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."
Two constitutional provisions that were infamously cited by Chief Justice Taney to justify his holding in the Dred ___ case that the framers intended neither slaves nor their descendants to be covered by the term “citizen” as used in the Constitution were Article I, Section 9, which provided constitutional protection for the slave trade and Art. IV, § 2, which required escaped slaves to be returned to their masters.
One important “check” or limit on the Court’s power under the Constitution is that the President can change the composition of the Court through the ___ power.
Methods the southern states used to ___ Black citizens (keep them from voting) even after the ratification of the 15th Amendment included:
Grandfather clauses and literacy tests;
Poll Taxes; and
White-only Primaries.
Governmental restrictions on fundamental rights are subject to the strict ___ level of judicial review. Under this test, such restrictions are presumed to be unconstitutional. Government carries the burden of showing the law furthers a compelling governmental interest and is narrowly tailored to that purpose. Strict ___ is the most rigorous test, and the least deferential to the government action.
A self-imposed limitation on the exercise of judicial review is called "judicial ___." The opposite of "judicial activism."
One of the Amendments to the Constitution that was made on the heels of the Civil War was the
14th Amendment (1868). The 14th Amendment defines citizenship, and provides that "no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the ___ protection of the laws."
In Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) the Court legalized same-sex ___ in all states.
In ___ v. US (1944) the Court created the "suspect classification doctrine--that laws classifying people according to race, ethnicity, or religion are inherently suspect and will be subjected to strict judicial scrutiny. This doctrine has had a lasting influence on equal protection jurisprudence. In this case the
Court said it applied this rigid scrutiny and nonetheless determined that moving Japanese American people out of their homes and into camps because of race was not a constitutional violation because of national security. The Court did not officially repudiate the ___ decision until 2018.
Individual ___ protected by the Constitution of 1787 (before the Bill of Rights was adopted) include
limitation of prosecution for treason, the privilege of habeas corpus, the prohibition against ex post facto laws and bills of attainder, and Protection of contracts from state interference.
In Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969) the Supreme Court held that suspension of students wearing black arm bands in protest of the Vietnam War was a ___ of their 1st Amendment rights.
One of the two basic structural characteristics of the American constitutional system is ___ whereby constitutional authority (power) is divided between the national government and the fifty states.
Unlike a unitary system, in which all authority is in a central government, and political subdivisions like states or provinces are just subdivisions of that central government, in a federal system, the national government is sovereign, AND the states are each sovereign entities as well.
The only way that Congress can override a Supreme Court decision based on the US Constitution is by constitutional ___.
A constitutional responsibility of the President is to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully ___.”
One of the Amendments to the Constitution that was made on the heels of the Civil War, the
15th Amendment (1880), prohibits racial discrimination in ___ rights.
After the Civil War, one of the constitutional amendments passed was the 14th Amendment, which provides in part:
“No state shall . . . deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. . . .”
The Supreme Court has interpreted this clause as incorporating into the 14th Amendment provisions of the Bill of Rights, thus making the Bill of Rights protections ___ to state and local government actions and policies.
The ___ Rights Act of 1965 outlawed the use of literacy tests as a condition of ___, waived accumulated poll taxes, and required certain states to 'pre-clear' changes in ___ procedures.
In D.C. v. ___ (2008) the Supreme Court struck down a District of Columbia ban on handguns in the home. The Court cited a right to self-defense with weapons typically possessed by "law-abiding citizens." The Court minimized the significance of the word "militia" in the second amendment's text, calling this portion a "prefatory clause" – as opposed to an "operative clause".