Unit 9 Vocab Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

Front

The protections against government. Civil liberties guarantee the protection of persons and property from the arbitrary acts of government. Examples include freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the guarantee of a fair trial.

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Civil Liberties

Front

Those positive acts of government that seek to make constitutional guarantees a reality for all people. Examples include prohibitions of discrimination on the basis of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation.

Back

Civil Rights

Front

The practice of separating people based on race, particularly the legal separation of Black and white Americans that was enforced through Jim Crow laws.

Back

Segregation

Front

The right to vote in political elections.

Back

Suffrage

Front

The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people, especially on the grounds of race, age, sex, or other characteristics.

Back

Discrimination

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States that the government must act fairly and in accord with established rules and laws in all that it does. Due process requires that both the ways in which the government acts and the laws under which it acts must be fair.

Back

Due Process of Law

Front

State and local laws that enforced racial segregation in the Southern United States, particularly after Reconstruction, creating a system of 'separate but equal' facilities.

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Jim Crow laws

Front

The legal doctrine that allowed for racial segregation as long as the separate facilities were theoretically equal. This doctrine was established in Plessy v. Ferguson and later overturned by Brown v. Board of Education.

Back

Separate but equal

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Part of the 5th Amendment which says that once a person has been charged for a crime, he or she cannot be tried again for the same crime. For example, if an individual is found innocent for a crime of murder, that person cannot be tried again for that same crime.

Back

Double jeopardy

Front

Means that in a criminal case, the burden of proof is on the prosecution. The defendant does not have to testify, or be a witness, against himself or herself.

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Self-incrimination