Protecting Individual Liberties

1. Protecting Individual Liberties Section 1 Chapter 14

2. Focus Questions • What does the term due process mean? • How is procedural due process different from substantive due process? • How do the Fourth Amendment and due process protect people’s security against unreasonable state action? • How does the Bill of Rights protect people’s privacy?

3. Fifth Amendment secures that the government man not take away anyone’s “life, livery, or property, without due process of law” • Due Process refers to government’s duty to follow fair procedures set by law when carrying out government functions

4. Due Process of Law • The concept of due process can be broken down into two parts: procedural due process and substantive due process • The courts evaluate the government’s use of police power on these two aspects of due process

5. Due Process of Law Procedural Due Process • Procedural Due Process– government must apply a law fairly and act according to procedures and rules set by law • A government that does not carry out rules fairly and according to law does not act with due process • Save Our City example and how procedural due process was ignored

6. Due Process of Law Substantive Due Process • Substantive Due Process is considering whether or not a law is fair and reasonable and whether or not it unjustly restricts constitutional freedoms • Are parade permits legal? Is the question of substantive Due Process

7. Due Process and the States • Originally the Bill of Rights only applied to protecting citizens from the federal government • Just after the Civil War the Fourteenth Amendment extended these rights to the state levels • Congress added a provision that stated that states may not “deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law”

8. Due Process and the States • In 1925, the Supreme Court issued a series of ruling clearly stating that the freedoms of the Bill of Rights are protected from state and Federal government in Gitlow v. New York • From Gitlow the Supreme Court firmly established that the Bill of Rights is protected against states (even though they sided with New York)

9. Due Process and the States • The due process clause limits the government’s police power– its authority to promote and to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the people • Fighting crime requires police to restrict some individual liberties but to prevent abuse of police power, the Constitution requires government to act within the framework of the Bill of Rights

10. Protecting People from Government Intrusion • The Constitution further protects people from government intrusion • The Fourth Amendment guarantees people “the right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures”

11. Protecting People from Government Intrusion Security at Home • The Fourth Amendment requires authorities to respect the security of private homes • Search warrant allows police to enter a home or other private property to search for specific items • Police must first show a judge that they have probable cause, or reasonable grounds for requesting a warrant • Exclusionary Rule –is when evidence is tainted and is barred from court because it was illegally seized

12. Protecting People from Government Intrusion Security at Home • Mapp v. Ohio– in 1961 the Supreme Court extended the exclusionary rule to state trials • If the officer acted in “good faith” when obtaining a search warrant • Also if evidence would have been legally obtained it could be used in court • Police do not need search warrants for garbage, evidence that is in “plain view” when house was searched

13. Protecting People from Government Intrusion Personal Security • The Fourth Amendment prevents police from conducting unreasonable searches of people and their possessions • Police can not stop a person in public unless they have reason to think that they are armed or dangerous • Employers have been allowed to require workers to submit to drug testing

14. Protecting People from Government Intrusion Personal Security • Supreme Court has allowed police greater leeway in conducting searches of people’s personal possessions, including cars, boats, and other vehicles • Police may search a car without a search warrant (suspects could get rid of or destroy evidence while warrant is being obtained • Police may have check points to see if drivers are intoxicated

15. Protecting People from Government Intrusion Security and Private Communication • Fourth Amendment protections have extended to private communications between people • Listening to private conversations is considered a form of search and seizure (wiretaps) • In 1928 the Supreme Court ruled that authorities could use wiretaps to list to private conversations (Olmstead v. United States)-stated that wiretapping was not a form of illegal search and seizure because it did not involve breaking into a private home • In 1967 the Supreme Court changed its mind on the issue (stated that authorities cannot listen to private telephone conversations without obtaining a warrant)

16. Protecting People from Government Intrusion Students Rights • Fewer restrictions apply to authorities searching students or their possessions • New Jersey v. T.L.O.– school officials do not need a warrant to search student possessions (14 year-old– selling marijuana) • School officials only need “reasonable” grounds to suspect a student has broken a law or school rules

17. Protecting the Right to Privacy • The courts determined that the Bill of Rights provides a right of privacy against the governments police power • Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis argued that the court was wrong to allow government to wiretap telephones without a warrant • Some judges and constitutional scholars argue that the right to privacy does not exist because it is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution • The opposing view points to the fact that the right to privacy have played a leading role in the bitter controversy over abortion (1973– Roe v. Wade)

18. Protecting the Right to Privacy • Many people strongly oppose the court’s ruling in Roe and argue that government should ban abortion • Since 1989 the court has allowed state governments to place certain restrictions on the right to have an abortion (females under the age of 18 from having abortions without the approval of their parents or a judge)

19. Focus Questions • What does the term due process mean? • How is procedural due process different from substantive due process? • How do the Fourth Amendment and due process protect people’s security against unreasonable state action? • How does the Bill of Rights protect people’s privacy?