Civil Liberties Vocabulary

Includes the right to remain silent, the right to have an attorney present during questioning, the right to an attorney if you can’t afford one, and the right to stop answering questions at any time

Spoken untruths that are hurtful to someone’s reputation

Freedoms to think and act without government interference or fear of unfair legal treatment

Government censorship of material before it is published

This provision of the first amendment prohibits congress from designating any religion in the United States

A law that punishes a person accused of a crime without a trial or fair hearing in court

A group of citizens that decides whether there is sufficient evidence to accuse someone of a crime

Procedures established by law and guaranteed by the constitution

Written untruths that are harmful to someone’s reputation

States that evidence that is obtained illegally cannot be used at trial

The banning of printed materials or films due to alarming or offensive ideas

The practice of using earlier judicial rulings as a basis for deciding cases

A law that would allow a person to be punished for an action that was not against the law when it was committed

A court order that requires police to bring a prisoner to court to explain why they are holding the person

Putting someone on trial for a crime which he or she was previously acquitted

A court order allowing law enforcement officers to search a suspects home or business and take specific items as evidence

This provision of the first amendment prohibits congress from inferring with someone’s religious beliefs

Under this rule, the Supreme Court tries not to overturn its own decisions unless it has a strong reason to do so

Any criminal offense that is punishable by death

Supreme Court case that created a special circumstances rule to determine whether or not a poor person would be provided with an attorney

A criminal offense that is punishable by a sentence of more than one year in jail

Was accused of breaking and entering into the bay harbor poolroom in Panama City, Florida with the intent to commit petty larceny

The nine African American defendants that were accused of raping two white women on a train and despite the lack of evidence, eight of them were sentenced to death

Two opposing parties are in charge of presenting all evidence and questioning all witnesses

Attorney that argued on behalf of Clarence earl Gideon in the Supreme Court

Mentioned in the 5th and 14th amendment, these are constitutional protections that an individual accused of a crime is guaranteed and the legal procedures that must be followed to ensure fairness

Supreme Court case that guaranteed the right to counsel in felony cases

A criminal offense that is punishable by a sentence of less than one year

The Supreme Court case that guaranteed the right for to legal counsel in any case in which the defendant is faced with the death penalty

Term for an individual who because of his or her financial situation, cannot afford to hire their own attorney

Individual that was charged with robbery and ultimately convicted in Carroll county, Maryland. At his trial he requested an attorney because he could not afford one. The trial judge denied his request and his conviction was later upheld by the United States Supreme Court

Guarantees a number of rights to an individual accused of a crime

A legal motion to bring a case to the Supreme Court from a lower court

Allows a person to proceed in federal court without paying the filing fee of filing multiple copies of printed forms

Supreme Court case that guaranteed the right to counsel in all criminal cases including those involving misdemeanors

Supreme Court case that stated that the bill of rights only applied to the federal government not to the states