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The Bill of Rights
The first ten amendments to the Constitution, what each protects, and key related ideas.
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62 cards
- Bill of RightsAmendment or termThe first ten amendments, ratified in 1791
- Why add a bill of rights?Amendment or termMany people wanted written protection from a strong national government
- First AmendmentAmendment or termFreedom of religion, speech, press, assembly and petition
- Freedom of religionAmendment or termGovernment cannot set up an official church or stop you from practicing your faith
- Establishment ClauseAmendment or termGovernment may not establish an official religion
- Free Exercise ClauseAmendment or termYou may practice your religion freely
- Freedom of speechAmendment or termYou may express your ideas without government punishment, within limits
- Freedom of the pressAmendment or termNews outlets may publish without government censorship
- Freedom of assemblyAmendment or termPeople may gather peacefully
- Right to petitionAmendment or termPeople may ask the government to fix problems
- Second AmendmentAmendment or termThe right to keep and bear arms, with a militia purpose stated
- Third AmendmentAmendment or termSoldiers cannot be forced to live in your home in peacetime
- Fourth AmendmentAmendment or termProtection from unreasonable searches and seizures
- Search warrantAmendment or termCourt order that lets police search a place, based on probable cause
- Probable causeAmendment or termGood reason to believe a crime happened
- Fifth AmendmentAmendment or termGrand jury, no double jeopardy, no self-incrimination, due process, fair payment for property taken
- Double jeopardyAmendment or termYou cannot be tried twice for the same crime
- Self-incriminationAmendment or termNo one can be forced to testify against themselves
- Pleading the fifthAmendment or termRefusing to answer questions that could incriminate you
- Due processAmendment or termFair procedures before the government takes life, liberty or property
- Eminent domainAmendment or termGovernment may take private land for public use if it pays fairly
- Grand juryAmendment or termGroup that decides whether there is enough evidence to bring charges
- Sixth AmendmentAmendment or termSpeedy public trial, an impartial jury, a lawyer, and facing your accusers
- Right to counselAmendment or termRight to have a lawyer
- Impartial juryAmendment or termJurors who are fair and have not decided in advance
- Seventh AmendmentAmendment or termJury trials in many civil cases
- Civil caseAmendment or termA legal dispute between people or groups, often about money
- Criminal caseAmendment or termGovernment charges someone with breaking a law
- Eighth AmendmentAmendment or termNo excessive bail, excessive fines, or cruel and unusual punishment
- BailAmendment or termMoney paid to be free while waiting for trial
- Ninth AmendmentAmendment or termPeople have other rights besides those listed
- Tenth AmendmentAmendment or termPowers not given to the national government belong to the states or the people
- Reserved powersAmendment or termPowers the Tenth Amendment leaves to the states
- James MadisonAmendment or termWrote the Bill of Rights in Congress in 1789
- George MasonAmendment or termVirginian who urged a bill of rights and wrote the Virginia Declaration of Rights
- Anti-FederalistsAmendment or termOpponents of the Constitution who demanded a bill of rights
- FederalistsAmendment or termSupporters of the Constitution who promised to add one
- Ratification of Bill of RightsAmendment or termCompleted December 15, 1791
- Bill of Rights DayAmendment or termDecember 15, marking ratification
- Magna Carta influenceAmendment or termEngland's 1215 charter influenced ideas of due process
- English Bill of RightsAmendment or term1689 document that influenced American rights
- Virginia Declaration of RightsAmendment or term1776 state document, a model for the national Bill of Rights
- Selective incorporationAmendment or termCourts applying the Bill of Rights to the states through the 14th Amendment
- Fourteenth AmendmentAmendment or termGuarantees equal protection and due process from state governments
- Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)Amendment or termStudents keep free speech rights at school if they do not disrupt learning
- Miranda v. Arizona (1966)Amendment or termPolice must tell suspects of their rights before questioning
- Miranda rightsAmendment or termYou have the right to remain silent and to have a lawyer
- Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)Amendment or termThe state must provide a lawyer to defendants who cannot afford one
- Mapp v. Ohio (1961)Amendment or termEvidence taken by illegal search cannot be used in state court
- New York Times v. United States (1971)Amendment or termUpheld press freedom in the Pentagon Papers case
- Engel v. Vitale (1962)Amendment or termPublic schools cannot sponsor official prayer
- West Virginia v. Barnette (1943)Amendment or termStudents cannot be forced to salute the flag
- Libel and slanderAmendment or termFalse statements that harm someone's reputation; not protected speech
- CensorshipAmendment or termGovernment control of what can be said or published
- Peaceful protestAmendment or termGathering to express views, protected by the First Amendment
- Search and seizureAmendment or termLooking through property and taking items
- Jury of peersAmendment or termA group of ordinary citizens who decide a trial
- Unreasonable searchAmendment or termA search without a good reason or warrant
- WitnessAmendment or termPerson who testifies about what they saw or know
- DefendantAmendment or termPerson accused of a crime or sued in court
- Rights vs responsibilitiesAmendment or termRights come with duties, like respecting others' rights
- Amendments 11-27Amendment or termLater amendments, such as ending slavery, granting voting rights, and others
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