| A | B |
|---|
| First Amendment | guarantees your freedom of speech, religion, press, petition, and assembly. |
| Second Amendment | guarantees your right to bear arms. |
| Fourth Amendment | protects you from unreasonable searches and seizures. |
| Fifth Amendment | protects you from being a witness against yourself. |
| Sixth Amendment | guarantees your right to a speedy and public trial with a jury of your peers. |
| Eighth Amendment | protects us from cruel and unusual punishment. |
| acquit | to find them not guilty in a criminal trial. |
| arraignment | a hearing in which a person charged with a crime first appears before a judge. |
| automobile exception | when a police officer can search your car without a search warrant. |
| bail | a sum of money, exchanged for the release of an arrested person as a guarantee of that person's appearance for trial. |
| bench trial | a trial in which there is no jury but instead a judge hears the case. |
| Brady Bill | instituted federal background checks on firearm purchasers in the United States. |
| censorship | suppression of words, images, or ideas that are "offensive," |
| challenge for cause | to remove a prosepective juror for a reason |
| change of venue | moving a trial to a different location |
| clear and present danger | a doctrine adopted by the Supreme Court of the United States to determine under what circumstances limits can be placed on First Amendment freedoms of speech, press or assembly. |
| coercion test | a method to test if the Establishment Clause has been violated by threatening or intimidating someone into doing something. |
| community standard | local norms bounding acceptable conduct that state the community's values. |
| confrontation clause | the right of the accused to confront their accusers. |
| creationism | belief in the literal interpretation of the account of the creation of the universe and of all living things related in the Bible. |
| defamation | intentional false communication, either written or spoken, that harms a person's reputation. |
| double jeopardy | to be prosecuted for the same crime twice |
| due process | legal requirement that the state must respect all of the legal rights that are owed to a person. |
| eminent domain | The power to take private property for public use |
| establishment clause | forbids the government from establishing an official religion |
| evolution | the change in the inherited characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. |
| excessive entanglement | when government and religion are overly involved with one another. |
| exclusionary rule | evidence obtained illegally cannot be used against you in court. |
| Framers | group of 55 men who are responsible for writing the U.S. Constitution |
| free exercise clause | allows you to practice any religion you choose, or no religion at all. |
| grand jury | used to decide whether there is enough evidence for someone to be charged ("indicted") for a serious crime. |
| imminent | An immediate threat of harm |
| incite | To provoke and urge on |
| indictment | formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. |
| inevitable discovery rule | if evidence would have been eventually obtained legally, then the evidence obtained by illegal means becomes admissible. |
| Lemon Test | a three-part test used to determine if a law violates the 1st Amendment. |
| libel | Written defamatory statement |
| militia | an army or other fighting force that is composed of non-professional fighters |
| Miranda Rights | what the police read to you when you are arrested to let you know what your rights are. |
| mistrial | when a courtroom trial has been terminated prior to its normal conclusion. |
