First Amendment

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First Amendment Religion

• Matt Wetstein

San Joaquin Delta College
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State Supreme Courts
State Appellate Courts
State Trial Courts
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Federal Court Circuits
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Stages in the Nomination Process

• Justice Dept. screening
• Announcement of nomination
• FBI background check
• ABA rating

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Stages in the Nomination Process

• Interest Group lobbying
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• Senate Vote

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Models of JudicialDecision Making

• THE LEGAL MODEL
• Plain meaning of the law
• Original intent
• Precedent
• Fair Impartial

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Models of JudicialDecision Making

• THE LEGAL MODEL
• Strict Construction
• Interpretivism
• Example -- Is there a constitutional right to
  privacy?
• Example -- 2nd Amendment right to bear arms

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Models of JudicialDecision Making

• A well regulated Militia being necessary to the
  security of a free State, the right of the people
  to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

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Models of JudicialDecision Making

• THE ATTITUDINAL MODEL
• Legal reasoning is a cover for judicial
  attitudes
• Ideology and personal views

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Models of JudicialDecision Making

• THE STRATEGIC MODEL
• Judges are constrained by other actors
• Executive Legislative branches
• Public opinion
• Winning enough votes for the case
• Strategic interactions within the court

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Factors Influencing Court Nominations

• Prior Experience
• Judicial or Political (William Rehnquist Sandra
  Day OConnor)
• Ideology or Political Party
• Like-minded judges, but mistakes are made
• Reward friends or allies
• LBJ Abe Fortas
• Eisenhower Earl Warren

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Factors Influencing Court Nominations

• Pursuit of political support
• Reagan/ Sandra Day OConnor
• Clinton/ Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer
• 5. Religion
• 108 justices have served
• 92 Protestant
• 9 Catholic
• 7 Jewish

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Factors Influencing Court Nominations

• 6. Gender Race
• 2 women
• 2 African-Americans

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Establishment Clause

• Congress shall make no law respecting an
  establishment of religion....
• Jefferson wall of separation between church
  and state

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Free Exercise Clause

• Congress shall make no law respecting an
  establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
  free exercise thereof...
• Protection from government prohibiting religious
  exercises

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Religious Cases

• Religious protection is not absolute
• Value conflicts
• Freedom versus order
• Equal treatment -- neutrality toward religions

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Pledge of Allegiance Religious Cases

• Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)
• freedom vs. order (religious exercise)
• West Virginia Bd. of Education v. Barnette (1943)
• freedom vs. order (free expression)

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Establishment Clause Cases

• Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
• Child Benefit Theory
• hot lunches
• textbook exchange programs
• health programs

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Establishment Clause Cases

• Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
• The Lemon Test
• Purpose of law is secular
• Primary effect of law is secular
• No excessive entanglement

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Prayer Public Schools

• Engel v. Vitale (1962)
• prayer at start of school day
• Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)
• minute of silence

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Creationism 10 Commandments

• Edwards v. Aguilard (1987)
• teaching of creationism
• Stone v. Graham (1980)
• 10 Commandments

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Prayer Public Schools

• Lee v. Weisman (1992)
• graduation prayer
• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe
  (2000)
• prayer at HS football game

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Religious Practices

• Reynolds v. U.S. (1879)
• bigamy polygamy
• Employment Division, State of Oregon v. Smith
  (1990)
• Native American practices

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Religious Practices

• Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah (1993)
• animal sacrifices

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Religious Practices

• Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1994 (RFRA)
• City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)

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Freedom of Expression

• Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom
  of speech
• No absolute right to free speech
• You cant yell FIRE! in a crowded theater

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Limits on Free Speech

• 1. Regulation punishment of speech that incites
  unlawful activity
• Riots
• Fights
• Violence
• Sedition

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Limits on Free Speech

• 2. Time, place, manner restrictions have been
  allowed to limit free speech
• nude dancing
• dirty words
• picketing demonstrations

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Free Speech Cases

• Schenck v. U.S. (1919)
• clear present danger test
• Gitlow v. New York (1925)
• attempt to incorporate the Bill of Rights to
  apply to the states

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Free Speech Cases

• Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)
• fighting words!

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Free Speech Cases

• Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)
• clear present danger test abandoned
• new test -- direct incitement test
• direct incitement to unlawful activity is
  necessary to restrict speech

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Symbolic Speech

• Expression through symbols or symbolic action
• picketing
• protest march
• flag burning
• nude dancing

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Symbolic Speech Cases

• Stromberg v. California (1931)
• displaying communist flag
• Tinker v. Des Moines School Dist. (1969)
• arm bands to protest war
• Cohen v. California (1971)
• a particular four letter word on clothing

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Symbolic Speech Cases

• U.S. v. OBrien (1968)
• burning of draft cards
• Texas v. Johnson (1989)
• flag burning

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Symbolic Speech Cases

• Federal Flag Protection Act of 1989
• U.S. v. Eichman (1990)

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Symbolic Speech Hate Speech

• R.A.V. v. St. Paul (1992)
• speech that targets certain groups --
• for example, cross burnings and swaztikas on
  synagogues
• can government punish this form of speech?

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Time, Place Manner Cases

• FCC v. Pacifica (1978)
• seven dirty words...
• Erzoznik v. Jacksonville (1975)
• nudity at drive-in theaters (on screen)

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Time, Place Manner Cases

• International Society for Krishna Consciousness
  v. Lee (1992)
• free speech in airports
• Barnes v. Glen Theater (1991)
• nude dancing

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Pornography Obscenity Cases

• Is pornography acceptable expression?
• What is obscene?
• Justice Stewart I know it when I see it.

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Obscenity Pornography Cases

• Roth v. U.S. (1957)
• Roth Test
• average person applying
• contemporary community standards
• dominant theme of material
• appeals to the prurient interest

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Obscenity Pornography Cases

• Miller v. California (1973)
• Miller Test
• appeals to prurient interest
• is patently offensive (local
• standards)
• lacks serious literary, artistic,
• political, or scientific value

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Obscenity Pornography Cases

• Barnes v. Glen Theatre (1991)
• Skywalker Records v. Navarro (1990)
• 2 Live Crew vs. Sheriff Navarro

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Obscenity PornographyCases

• Communications Decency Act of 1996
• Obscenity on the Internet Web
• Reno v. ACLU (1997)
• Court struck down law as unconstitutional -- too
  broad

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Free Press

• Libel Slander
• defamation of character
• libel written defamation
• slander spoken defamation

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Libel Cases

• New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
• absence of malice test for public figures
• Hustler Magazine v. Falwell (1988)
• libel emotional damages for a parody
  advertisement

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Prior Restraint Cases

• Preventing publication beforehand because of
  offensive material
• Near v. Minnesota (1931)
• exceptions obscenity national security

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Prior Restraint Cases

• New York Times v. U.S. (1971)
• Pentagon Papers Case
• Lower Federal Courts
• Progressive v. U.S. (1978)
• How to Build a Bomb
• Skywalker Records v. Navarro (1990)