1. Civil Liberties
Chapter 4

2. The Bill of Rights
 The Bill of Rights was written by the founders exclusively to
limit the powers of the national government
 At the time, there was little concern over the potential of state
governments to curb civil liberties
 People reasoned that state governments were closer to home
and easier to control
 Overall, the fear of potential tyranny rested in the national
government
 1833, Barron v. Baltimore – the Supreme Court ruled that the Bill
of Rights did not apply to state laws

3. The Bill of Rights
 Civil Liberties varied from state to state as each state’s
constitution address civil liberties differently
 When the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868, civil liberties
guaranteed by the Constitution began to be applied to the
states
 Section 1 of the amendment states, “No State shall…deprive any
person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”

4. Incorporation of the 14th
Amendment
 After 1868, there was no question that the 14th Amendment
applied to state governments
 However, for decades, courts were reluctant to define the
liberties spelled out in the Bill of Rights as constituting “due
process of law,” which was protected under the 14th Amendment
 The shift to incorporation began in 1925 with Gitlow v. New York
 Incorporation theory
 The view that most of the protections of the Bill of Rights apply to
state governments through the 14th Amendment’s due process
clause

5. Incorporating the Bill of Rights into
the 14th Amendment
Year Issue Amendment Involved Court Case
1925 Freedom of Speech I Gitlow v. New York
1931 Freedom of the press I Near v. Minnesota
1932 Right to a law in capital
punishment cases
VI Powell v. Alabama
1937 Freedom of assembly I De Jonge v. Oregon
1940 Freedom of religion I Cantwell v. Connecticut
1947 Separation of church and state I Everson v. Board of Education
1948 Right a public trial VI In re Oliver
1949 No unreasonable search and
seizures
IV Wolf v. Colorado
1961 Exclusionary rule IV Mapp v. Ohio
1962 No cruel and unusual
punishment
VIII Robinson v. California
1963 Right to a law in all criminal
felony cases
VI Gideon v. Wainwright
1964 No compulsory self-
incrimination
V Mallory v. Hogan
1965 Right to privacy I, III, IV, VI, IX Griswold v. Connecticut
1966 Right to an impartial jury VI Parker v. Gladdon
1967 Right to a speedy trial VI Klopfer v. North Carolina
1969 No double jeopardy V Benton v. Maryland
2010 Right to bear arms II McDonald v. Chicago

6. Freedom of Religion
 Freedom of Religion consists of two main principles in the 1st
Amendment
 Establishment Clause – prohibits the establishment of a church
officially supported by the national government
 Applies to: legality of giving state/local gov’t aid to religious
organizations and schools; allowing or requiring school prayer; and
teaching evolution vs. intelligent design
 Separation of Church and State
 Free Exercise Clause – guarantees the free exercise of religion
 Constrains the national gov’t from prohibiting people from practicing the
religion of their choice

7. Separation of Church and State
 Establishment Clause case law
 Aid to Religious Schools
 Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) – Supreme Court ruled that direct state aid
to subsidize religious schools was unconstitutional
 Aid had to secular in aim and could not advance or inhibit religion
 School Vouchers
 Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002) – school vouchers (state funding)
could be used for public or private schools as they do not
unconstitutionally entangle church and state

8. Separation of Church and State
 Establishment Clause case law
 School Prayer
 Engel v. Vitale (1962) – school recommended prayer violates the
Establishment Clause because the business of government is not to
compose official prayers for any group of American people to recite as
part of a religious program carried on by the government
 Ruling based in part on the historical fact that “governmentally established
religions and religious persecution go hand in hand”
 Wallace v. Jaffree (1985) – Supreme Court ruled that mandated
moments of silence for prayer or mediation in all public schools was
unconstitutional as it was an “endorsement of religion lacking any
clearly secular purpose

9. Freedom of Expression
 Most invoked freedoms: right to free speech and free press
 In general, Americans have the right to criticize public
officials and their actions without fear of reprisal by any
branch of government
 Prior Restraint
 Restraining an activity before it has actually occurred; censorship
 New York Times vs. United States (1971) – Pentagon Papers
case; gov’t had no standing to restrict the newspaper’s right to
publish the documents
 Gov’t has a heavy burden of showing justification to restrain the press

10. Check my SlideShare page
(rfair07) for more lectures
Lectures posted for:
 United States History before 1877 / after 1877
 Texas History
 United States (Federal) Government / Texas Government
 Slide 10 of 25
 To download a full copy of the full PowerPoint presentation,
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