| civil liberties | constitutionally established guarantees that protect citizens, opinions, and property against arbitrary government interference
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| due process | legal safeguards that prevent the government from arbitrarily depriving citizens of life, liberty, or property; guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments
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| total incorporation | the theory that the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause requires the states to uphold all freedoms in the Bill of Rights; rejected by the Supreme Court in favor of selective incorporation
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| selective incorporation | the process by which, over time, the Supreme Court applied those freedoms that served some fundamental principle of liberty or justice to the states, thus rejecting total incorporation
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| marketplace of ideas | a concept at the core of the freedoms of expression and press, based on the belief that true and free political discourse depends on a free and un-restrained discussion of ideas
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| habeas corpus | an ancient right that protects an individual in custody from being held without the right to be heard in a court of law
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| clear and present danger test | a standard established in the 1919 Supreme Court case Schenck v. U.S. whereby the government may silence speech or expression when there is a clear and present danger that such speech will bring about some harm that the government has the power to prevent
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| bad tendency test | a standard extended in the 1925 case Gitlow v. New York whereby any speech that has the tendency to incite crime or disturb the public peace can be silenced
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| clear and probable danger test | a standard established in the 1951 case Dennis v. U.S. whereby the government could suppress speech to avoid grave danger, even if the probability of the dangerous result was relatively remote; replaced by the imminent lawless action (incitement) test in 1969
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| imminent lawless action test (incitement test) | a standard established in the 1969 Brandenburg v. Ohio case whereby speech is restricted only if it goes beyond mere advocacy, or words, to create a high likelihood of imminent disorder or lawlessness
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| symbolic speech | nonverbal "speech" in the form of an action such as picketing, flag burning, or wearing an armband to signify a protest
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| commercial speech | advertising statements that describe products
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| libel | false written statements about others that harm their reputation
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| slander | false verbal statements about others that harm their reputation
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| obscenity | indecent or offensive speech or expression
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| fighting words | speech that is likely to bring about public disorder or chaos; the Supreme Court has held that such speech may be banned in public places to ensure the preservation of public order
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| time, place, and manner restrictions | regulations regarding when, where, or how expression may occur; must be content neutral
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| prior restraint | a form of censorship by the government whereby it blocks the publication of news stories viewed as libelous or harmful
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| establishment clause | First Amendment clause that bars the government from passing any law "respecting an establishment of religion"; often interpreted as a separation of church and state but increasingly questioned
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| Lemon test | a three-part test established by the Supreme Court in the 1971 case Lemon v. Kurtzman to determine whether government aid to parochial schools is constitutional; the test is also applied to other cases involving the establishment clause
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| intelligent design | theory that the apparent design in the universe and in living things is the product of an intelligent cause rather than of an undirected process such as natural selection; its primary proponents believe that the designer is God and seek to redefine science to accept supernatural explanations
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| creationism | theory of the creation of the earth and humankind based on a literal interpretation of the biblical story of Genesis
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| free exercise clause | First Amendment clause prohibiting the government from enacting laws prohibiting an individual's practice of his or her religion; often in contention with the establishment clause
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| right to privacy | the right of an individual to be left alone and to make decisions freely, without the interference of others
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| criminal due process rights | safeguards for those accused of crime; these rights constrain government conduct in investigating crimes, trying cases, and punishing offenders
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| exclusionary rule | criminal procedural rule stating that evidence obtained illegally cannot be used in a trial
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| double jeopardy | the trying of a person again for the same crime that he or she has been cleared of in court; barred by the Fifth Amendment
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| Miranda rights | criminal procedural rule, established in the 1966 case Miranda v. Arizona, requiring police to inform criminal suspects, on their arrest, of their legal rights, such as the right to remain silent and the right to counsel; these warnings must be read to suspects before interrogation
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| rendition | transfer of suspected terrorists to other nations for imprisonment and interrogation; this practice circumvents U.S. law, which requires due process and prohibits torture
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