Constitutional Values

The first provision of the First Amend-ment, which provides that “ Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” This clause generally regulates the extent to which government can participate in, assist, or otherwise further religious activity or organizations.

A second dimension of the due process clause that concerns the type or substance of behavior that is included as a “ liberty” under the due process clause. The primary question under this dimension of the due process clause is what activities does “ liberty” include?

A constitutional right of the highest order and one to which utmost constitutional protection is applied, including strict scrutiny protection.

When committees that deal with new bills in the US congress decide to ignore a new bill, the term pigeonholing is used.

A category of unprotected speech that “ by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace.”

The process of government obtaining private property from individuals for public use under the Fifth Amendment. See also the takings clause.

A provision found in the Fifth Amendment that states that government cannot take private property for public use without just compensation. Also known as the eminent domain provision.

A liberty interest under the Fourteenth Amendment due process clause as determined by the Court during the latter part of the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries ( the laissez- faire era of the Court). The Court deemed this liberty interest to offer a constitutional right to engage in contractual relations without governmental interference.

A legal standard used by the Court to assess Fourth Amendment rights against unreason-able searches and seizures. Under this standard, the Court asks whether the individual had a reasonable expectation that a particular activity or location would be kept private.

A constitutional litmus test that weighs the government’s interest in advancing a particular policy against the free exercise interests of the individual. In order for the government’s interest to outweigh the individual’s, the government must prove that its interest is necessary to promote a compelling governmental in-terest. This standard is also used to assess other constitutional rights, including some free speech issues

The district court subsequently found that the trial court’s use of the Bible as a “ final source of authority” constituted an impermissible factor for sentencing. On appeal, the Sixth Circuit, in a 2- 1 ruling, reversed the district court’s judgment and upheld the trial court’s sentence, finding that “[ t] here is nothing in the totality of the circum-stances of Arnett’s sentencing to indicate that the trial judge used the Bible as her “ final source of authority,” as found by the district court.”

A phrase frequently offered by the Court as the standard for assessing whether a particular human activity will be included as a “ liberty interest” under the due process clauses.

Defined in a number of different ways, in-cluding the “ right to be left alone”; the “ freedom of personal choice in matters of marriage and family life”; and the “ right to be secure in persons, houses, papers, and effects.” The Court formally recognizes this right as a fundamental right of indi-viduals, despite the fact that it is not specifically mentioned by the Constitution.