4.1 notes AP US GOV

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Cornell Notes Topic/Objective: Name: Class/Period: Date: Essential Question: Questions: Notes: Trace the process by which the Bill of Rights has been applied to the states. First congress passed the bill of rights in 1789 and sent it to the states for ratification. In 1791, these amendments became part of the constitution The Bill of Rights ensures Americans’ basic liberties, such as freedom of speech and religion, and protection against arbitrary searches and being held for long periods without trial. When the Bill of Rights was ratified, British abuses of the colonists’ civil liberties were still a fresh and bitter memory. Colonial officials had jailed newspaper editors, arrested citizens without cause, and detained people and forced them to confess at gunpoint or worse. Thus, the first 10 amendments enjoyed great popular support. Political scientists have discovered that people are devotees of rights in theory but that their support often wavers when it comes time to put those rights into practice. For example, Americans in general believe in freedom of speech, but many citizens would oppose letting the Ku Klux Klan speak in their neighborhood or allowing public schools to teach about atheism or homosexuality. In addition, Americans seem willing to trade civil liberties for security when they feel that the nation is threatened, as in the case of terrorism.2 As you will see in this chapter, because few rights are absolute, we cannot avoid the difficult questions of balancing civil liberties and other individual and societal values

The First Amendment of the Bill of Rights was written by the Founders to limit the powers of the national government. Initially, the First Amendment only applied to the national government and not to state governments, as stated in the Barron v. Baltimore court case in 1833. However, the Fourteenth Amendment, ratified in 1868, declared that no state shall make or enforce any law that abridges the rights of citizens or denies them due process and equal protection of the laws. In Gitlow v. New York in 1925, the Supreme Court relied on the Fourteenth Amendment to rule that states must respect certain First Amendment rights, such as freedom of speech and press. This decision marked the beginning of the incorporation doctrine, which made most provisions of the Bill of Rights applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Over time, the Supreme Court applied most of the Bill of Rights to the states, except for the Third and Seventh Amendments, the grand jury requirement of the Fifth Amendment, and the prohibition against excessive fines and bail in the Eighth Amendment. Today, the Bill of Rights protects individual freedoms against infringement by both state and national governments. Constitutional Amendments First Amendment  Establishes four liberties: press, speech, religion, and assembly

Fourteenth Amendment  Adopted after Civil War  No state shall restrict citizens' privileges or immunities  No state shall deny due process or equal protection of the laws Supreme Court Cases Barron v. Baltimore  1833 decision holding Bill of Rights restricts only national government Gitlow v. New York  1925 decision holding press and speech protected by due process clause Constitutional Provisions due process clause (Fourteenth Amendment)  Guarantees no deprivation of life, liberty, or property without due process incorporation doctrine  Supreme Court has made Bill of Rights applicable to states through Fourteenth Amendment Religious Rights (First Amendment) establishment clause  Prohibits Congress from making laws respecting an establishment of religion

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Summary: Although Congress is an elite in situation, it is responsive to the public when the public makes its wishes clear. It is open to influence, which makes it responsive to many interests; its openness may also reduce its ability to m ake good public policy. Members of congress often support expanding government to aid their constituents, generally in response to public demands for policy but many also fight to limit the scope of government. Questions: Notes:

Summary: In accordance with the incorporation doctrine, most of the freedoms outlined in the Bill of Rights limit the states as well as the national government. The due process clause of the Fourteenth amendment provides the basis for this protection of rights