| A | B |
|---|
| amendment | a change or addition to a document |
| state legislature | lawmaking body on the state level |
| ratify | to officially adopt |
| propose | to recommend |
| Bill of Rights | first ten amendments to the Constitution |
| writ of habeas corpus | means "you have the body" is a judicial mandate to a prison official ordering that an inmate be brought to the court |
| infringe | violate or harm |
| public good | something that benefits or helps the community |
| press | print media (e.g. newspapers, magazines) |
| petition for redress of grievances | communicating with government to solve problems |
| slander | the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation |
| assembly | a group of people gathered together in one place for a common purpose |
| libel | a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation; a written defamation |
| censorship | the suppression or prohibition of any parts of books, films, news, etc. that are considered obscene, politically unacceptable, or a threat to security |
| public interest | the welfare or well-being of the general public |
| symbolic speech | actions that purposefully and discernibly convey a particular message or statement to those viewing it |
| ex post facto law | A law that makes illegal an act that was legal when committed |
| double jeopardy | the prosecution of a person twice for the same offense |
| petition | a formal written request, typically one signed by many people, appealing to authority with respect to a particular cause |
| plead the Fifth | to exercise or invoke one's right not to incriminate oneself under the Fifth Amendment |
| bear arms | own or possess guns or other firearms |
| eminent domain | the right of a government or its agent to expropriate private property for public use, with payment of compensation |
| bail | the temporary release of an accused person awaiting trial, sometimes on condition that a sum of money be lodged to guarantee their appearance in court |
| cruel and unusual punishment | punishment that is cruel, demeaning, or too severe for the crime committed |
| legal counsel | services provided by a lawyer or attorney |
| jury trial | a trial at which a jury decides the judgment or verdict |
| militia | a military force that is raised from the civil population to supplement a regular army in an emergency |
| independent judiciary | free from improper influence from the other branches of government, or from private or partisan interests |
| search and seizure | the power to inspect persons and property and to seize said property |
| reserved powers | powers that are reserved to the states |
| quartering | keeping soldiers in one's home |
| civil trial | court trial setting a dispute between two parties |
| federalism | system of government in which national and regional governments share power |
| Equal Protection Clause | A phrase in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution requiring that states guarantee the same rights, privileges, and protections to all citizens |
| Separate but Equal | racially segregated but supposedly ensuring equal opportunities to all races |
| segregation | policy of separating people by race or other traits |
| civil rights | the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality |
| civil disobedience | the refusal to comply with certain laws or to pay taxes and fines, as a peaceful form of political protest |
| Civil Rights Movement | The civil rights movement was a struggle by African Americans in the mid-1950s to late 1960s to achieve Civil Rights equal to those of whites |
| poll tax | a legal way to keep African Americans from voting in southern states, these were a fee that had to be paid to vote |
| literacy test | a legal way to keep African Americans from voting in southern states; this test was created to punish those who had little to no education |
| suffrage | the right to vote |
| redlining | refuse (a loan or insurance) to someone because they live in an area deemed to be a poor financial risk |
| overturn | abolish, invalidate, or reverse (a previous system, decision, situation, etc.) |
