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Chapter 4: Civil Liberties

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Flash Cards

Practice Quiz

Critical Thinking and Learning Exercises

  1. 1. Test your knowledge of the Bill of Rights with a game of golf: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/GOLF.HTM
  2. 2. Research the stop and frisk issue and discuss whether you believe that it violates individuals' civil rights. Once you have provided your opinion read the following article and indicate whether you stand by your previously stated position: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/13/nyregion/stop-and-frisk-practice-violated-rights-judge-rules.html?pagewanted=all.
  3. 3. American Civil Liberties Union. Survey the topics discussed on the American Civil Liberties Union web page. Choose five topics and explain how these issues directly relate to the Bill of Rights: http://www.aclu.org/.
  4. 4. Visit the Center for Law and Justice's website, http://www.cflj.org/new-jim-crow/. The author, Michelle Alexander, compares the mass incarceration rates for African Americans to slavery. Indeed, there are more African Americans incarcerated than were enslaved in 1850. What is the impact of having such a disproportionate rate of African Americans incarcerated have on politics in America (e.g., elections)?
  5. 5. In 2013 George Zimmerman was found innocent in the killing of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The defense employed the so-called stand your ground law to justify the killing. During the trial, some argued that Zimmerman was not judged by a jury of his peers, because the jury did not include any African Americans. Also, based on your research, does the Second Amendment protect gunmen who make the claim that they shot someone in self-defense? Research the case of Marissa Alexander, who also used the stand your ground law when she attempted to scare off her abusive husband by firing a warning shot. Alexander was convicted by a Florida jury of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Compare the two cases and provide the similarities and differences. The following link provides arguments supporting and opposing the stand your ground law. http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/are-stand-your-ground-laws-a-good-idea

Links to further Resources

Constitution USA with Peter Sagal: Individual Rights

http://www.pbs.org/tpt/constitution-usa-peter-sagal/rights/

Peter Sagal of PBS explores foundational liberties like free speech, freedom of religion, and privacy rights.

The American Civil Liberties Union

http://www.aclu.org/

The website of the ACLU, the nation’s premier civil liberties advocacy organization, provides a wide range of information and resources relating to civil liberties.

The National Rifle Association

http://home.nra.org/

The NRA is one of the most powerful lobbying organizations in the United States, with a stated mission of protecting Americans’ Second Amendment right to bear arms. The NRA opposes any governmental attempt to limit the access of law-abiding citizens to firearms, yet we have seen in Chapter 4 that protections of individual liberty in the Bill of Rights are not unlimited. What limits to the right to bear arms would you regard as appropriate, and why?

A Cartoonist’s Take on Privacy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGUJqdne2Jc

Minnesota Public Television cartoonist David Gillette discusses the difficulties faced by legislators who seek to protect our privacy rights—for example, “Like watching a cat chase a laser pointer.” Privacy is a right recognized by the Supreme Court to exist even though it is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. Are implicit rights more difficult to protect than explicit, or enumerated, ones? Why or why not?