The document discusses several key concepts related to individual rights and freedoms in the United States: 1) The Bill of Rights and later amendments guarantee certain civil liberties and civil rights to American citizens, protecting them from government overreach while also aiming to ensure equal treatment under the law. 2) There is an ongoing debate around balancing individual rights with principles of limited government and how rights can conflict in some cases. 3) Religious freedom is protected through the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses, though separation of church and state remains complex with issues around school prayer and funding. 4) Freedom of speech, press, assembly and protest are broadly protected subject to reasonable time/place restrictions or if speech incites

1. Unalienable Rights
Chapter 19, Section 1

2. A Commitment to Freedom
• Listing of general rights of the people can
be found in the first 10 Amendments in
the Constitution—Bill of Rights
• 13th
and 14th
amendments also added to
the Constitution’s guarantees of personal
freedom

3. Rights & Liberties in American Political
Thought
• 1. Dec. of Independence and Const.
guarantee to the American People
Certain rights and liberties
• 2. Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
• difficult to define each

4. • Civil Liberties=protections against govt.
• The are guarantees of the safety of
persons, opinions and property from
arbitrary acts of the government
• Civil Rights=positive acts of government
that seek to make the guarantees of the
Constitution a reality for all people

5. Individual Rights & Principle of Limited
Government
• Government in the US is limited, meaning that
it can do only those things that people allow it
to do
• Rights that citizens have under the Const. are
limited as well
• People in the US are free to do as they please
as long as do not infringe on the rights of
others

6. • Sometimes different rights conflict with one
another, such as freedom of the press and the
right to a fair trial
• Not all rights are guaranteed to aliens, who
are foreign born residents or non-citizens
• Ex: right to travel is often restricted

7. Individual Rights & Principle of
Limited Government Cont.
• How government handles our/their
freedoms is crucial
• Difference between dictatorship and
democracy lies in the extent of the
government’s authority or accountability

8. • Each person’s rights are relative to
the rights of every other person
–Example—education

9. Federalism & Individual Rights
• American concept of federalism
results in a complex pattern of
individual rights guarantees
• Scope of the Bill of Rights—Bill of
Rights applies only to the National
Government, not the State
Governments

10. Federalism and Individual Rights
• 14th
Amendment’s Due Process Clause
provides that no State can “deprive any
person of life, liberty or property without due
process of law…”
• But to include rights under that heading, the
SC had to define the rights on a case by case
basis—process of incorporation

11. 9th
Amendment
• There is no way anyone can list all the rights a
person has
• 9th
Amendment states that the American
people posses rights that are not set out
explicitly in the Constitution
• Used to protect rights as various as the rights
of the accused to a woman’s right to an
abortion without inference from Govt.

12. Freedom of Religion
Chapter 19, Section 2

13. Two Guarantees of Religious Freedom
• Establishment Clause
– Guards against establishing a mandated religion—
i.e. freedom of religion
• Free Exercise Clause
– Guards against government interfering in the
exercise of religion—i.e. freedom of religion

14. A. Religion and the Bill of Rights
• 1. Many of the early colonists came to this
country to escape religious persecution
• 2. 1st
and 14th
Amendment prohibit the
establishment of a state religion
(Establishment Clause), and any
interference with free exercise of religion

15. B. Separation of Church and State
• 1. Establishment Clause separates church and
state
– Govt. does support church/religion in a variety of
ways including tax exemption
• 2. Released Time—Court has allowed schools
to release children from school to attend
religious classes if the class is held on private
property

16. • 3. Prayers and the Bible—Court has ruled against laws
requiring or suggesting prayers or the religious use of
the Bible in public school
• 4. Student Religious Group—Court has ruled that
schools must allow student religious groups to meet in
the school on the same terms as it sets for other
student organizations
• 5. Evolution—Court has struck down State law
prohibiting the teaching of evolution or mandating the
teaching of the Biblical account of creation

17. • 6. Seasonal Displays—Court has held that
public displays of religious beliefs are
permissible only if they are part of an
otherwise non-religious or multi-religious
display
• 7. Aid to Parochial Schools—Supreme Court
uses the Lemon Test to determine what public
funding of church-related schools is
acceptable

18. The Lemon Test
• Based on Lemon v. Kurtzman, 1971 (a deaf
student at a Catholic school needed an
interpreter—who would pay for it?)
• Purpose of the aid must be non-religious
• Aid can neither advance nor prohibit religion
• Aid must not excessively entangle the
government in religion

19. Free Exercise Clause
• Limits—actions that violate social duties or
disrupt social order are NOT covered under
the Free Exercise Clause
• Examples:
– Bigamy (more than one wife)
– Using poisonous snakes during religious
ceremonies
– School children who have not been vaccinated

20. • Free Exercise Upheld:
• Court has found many government actions to
be counter to the Free Exercise Clause
• Examples:
– Amish Children cannot be forced to school after
grade 8
– Ministers are allowed to hold elective office
– Unemployment benefits cannot be denied to
someone who quit their job because of religious
beliefs

21. Freedom of Speech and Press
Chapter 19, Section 3

22. A. Democracy & Freedom of Expression
• 1. First and 14th
amendments protect free speech
and free press
• Done in order to give people the right to say and to
hear what others have to say
• 2. The guarantees of free speech and press are
intended to protect the expression of unpopular
views
• 3. Court has ruled reasonable limits may be placed
on the exercise of these rights, including restrictions
against libel or slander

23. B. Obscenity
• Obscenity is not protected by the 1st
amendment
• In January, 1973, the Court ruled that
“contemporary community standards” be used in
judging what is obscene
• But the definition of obscenity and the restrictions
that may be placed on it remain difficult questions

24. Obscenity Test
• 1. The average person finds that the work appeals
to “prurient interest” judging from contemporary
standards
• 2. The work describes offensive sexual conduct
that is specifically outlawed as obscene
• 3. The work lacks serious value of any variety

25. C. Prior Restraint
• Except in most extreme situations, the
government cannot curb ideas before they are
expressed
• Exceptions to this rule have been made in the
case of threats to national security, threats to
the order of military camps or prisons, and
public school officials’ editorial control over
student publications

26. D. Confidentiality (media)
• Many members of the press refuse to reveal the
sources of their information even in courts of
law, claiming that unless they can protect their
sources, many people will be unwilling to give
them important information
• Court has rejected this argument, saying that it is
up to Congress and the State legislatures to
exempt the press from testifying
• 30 states have given some protection to
reporters

27. E. Motion Pictures (media)
• Until 1952, the Court viewed the motion
picture industry as a business not protected
by constitutional guarantees of freedom of
the press
• Today motion pictures are protected by the
freedom of the press, but still are subject to
censorship if deemed obscene

28. F. Radio and Television
• Radio and television are subject to extensive
federal regulations because they use public
airwaves to broadcast their material
• FCC—Federal Communications Commission
cannot exercise prior restraint, but it can
prohibit indecent language and can take
violations into account when reviewing
applications for license renewal

29. G. Symbolic Speech
• Definition—expression by conduct
• Court is sympathetic to the argument that
symbolic speech must be protected by the 1st
Amendment and 14th
Amendment
• Picketing—patrolling of a business site by
workers is a prevalent form of symbolic
speech

30. H. Commercial Speech
• For many years many believed that 1st
and 14th
amendment
guarantees did not protect advertising
• In the 1970’s, the SC held that advertising was protected
but not without exceptions
• Exceptions include: baring false and misleading
advertisement, advertising illegal goods or services and the
promotion of tobacco products on the radio or television

31. Freedom of Speech doe NOT protect:
• Libel—false and malicious use of written
words
• Slander—the false and malicious use of
spoken words
• Words that incited others to commit crimes

32. Seditious Speech
• 3 major laws to prevent sedition and seditious
speech
• Alien and Sedition Acts—made scandalous and false
criticism of govt. illegal
• Sedition Act of 1917—made it a crime to encourage
disloyalty or spread anti-govt. ideas during times of
crisis
• Smith Act of 1940—forbade violent overthrow of
the govt. as well as belonging to any group that
does (very hard to enforce!!!!)

33. Freedom of Assembly and
Petition
Chapter 19, Section 4

34. A. Constitution’s guarantees
• 1st
Amendment guarantees the right of people to
assemble peaceably and to petition the
government; 14th
Amendment extends these rights
to State and local governments
• Court has ruled that the right to organize to
influence public policy—through such means as
advertisements, lobbying, parades and
demonstrations is protected
• Endangering life, property or public order, however
are not protected

35. B. Time-Place-Manner Regulations
• Government can enforce reasonable rules covering the
time, place and manner of assemblies
• Such rules must be specific, neutral and equitably enforced
• Example—public areas near schools and courthouses are
restricted
• Govt. rules must be content neutral—place restrictions on
the basis of the time, place and manner of assembly but
not on what the assembly is trying to say

36. C. Demonstrations on Public Property
• Court has upheld laws that require advance notice
and permits for demonstrations in public places
• So long as demonstrators act peacefully, the police
cannot punish them for disorderly conduct, even if
their demonstrations leads to disorder because of
the reactions of others

37. D. Right of Assembly and Private
Property
• Court has ruled that freedom of assembly and
petition do not apply to private property
• State Constitutions however may be
interpreted to allow the reasonable exercise
of the rights to petition on private property

38. E. Freedom of Association
• Freedom to associate with others to promote
political, economic and other social causes is
implicit in the guarantees of freedom of
assembly and petition
• Right to Freedom of Association however
cannot be used to exclude females or
members of minority groups from clubs and
organizations

39. Freedom of Expression and
National Security
Chapter 19, Section 5

40. A. Punishable Acts
• 1. Espionage, sabotage and treason are
punishable actions
• 2. Sedition, which involves only speech or
writing, presents a more complex issue

41. B. Alien and Sedition Acts
• Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 made false,
scandalous or malicious criticism of the
government illegal and allowed the President
to deport undesirable aliens
• These acts were unconstitutional but were
never challenged in the courts; they were
repealed with a few years

42. C. Seditious Acts in Wartime
• During WW1, a law was passed which made it a
crime to encourage disloyalty, interfere with the
draft or commit other acts deemed potentially
harmful to the government of the United States
• In Schenck v. United States, 1917, the Court upheld
the conviction of a man who had urged young men
to resist the draft
• The principle used in this and other cases was the
words can be outlawed if their use triggers a “clear
and present danger” that the criminal will follow

43. D. Sedition in Peacetime
• Court has held that merely urging someone to
believe something, rather than urging them to
do something cannot be made illegal
• During the cold war, sedition laws were
passed in an attempt to defend the country
against communist subversion, but most of
the laws were ineffective and impossible to
enforce