Question 1

The USA PATRIOT Act (reauthorized by Congress in 2006 with a few changes),the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 2008,and actions carried out by the National Security Agency and George W.Bush administration raised new questions about the competing interests of national security and civil liberties.What are these interests and what issues of civil liberties are at stake? How should the Court reconcile these competing issues? Has the War on Terrorism overstepped appropriate boundaries of civil liberties?

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Question 2

The Supreme Court has generally not upheld campus speech codes that limit certain forms of speech,including hate speech,on college and university campuses.Do you agree or disagree with the Court's rulings? Should colleges and universities be permitted to regulate student speech in the interest of protecting individuals from the harms associated with hearing racist,hateful,or otherwise injurious speech?

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Question 3

Should freedom of assembly include the right of groups like the American Nazi Party,the Ku Klux Klan,the Communist Brigade,and similar groups to march and hold rallies? Explain your answer and why others might argue otherwise.

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Question 4

In what way does the Constitution guarantee a right to privacy? How has this right evolved over time?

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Question 5

What was the significance of the Supreme Court's 2008 ruling in Boumedine v.Bush?

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Question 6

Which amendments of the Bill of Rights protect the rights of the criminally accused? Identify the appropriate amendments and explain the protections.

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Question 7

In what ways might the further expansion of individual liberties require an expansion-rather than a limitation-of the scope of government?

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Question 8

Present the argument that the extension of defendants' rights has inhibited the police and benefited criminals.What specific court decisions have extended defendants' rights and how?

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Question 9

How and why have the provisions of the Bill of Rights been incorporated into state laws? Do you think this is an infringement on the rights of the states,or is it appropriate to protect national civil liberties in all cases? Explain.

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Question 10

One of the greatest debates concerning Americans' civil liberties lies in the area of privacy rights.Do we have a right to privacy,and,if so,where does that right come from? Should a right to privacy be extended to include new rights,such as a right to gay marriage or a right to die?

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Question 11

How have issues like prayer and Bible reading in public schools been settled by the Supreme Court,and why? How high would you construct the "wall of separation" between church and state,and why?

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Question 12

Civil liberties issues involve balancing competing values,such as protecting individual rights to free speech while preserving public order,or protecting national security while preserving the rights of the criminally accused.Chose and elucidate one of these tensions.Identify the constitutional issues at stake.Summarize recent Supreme Court rulings most relevant to this tension.

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Question 13

On what basis has the Court permitted state restraints on the legal right to abortion? In your estimation,are state restraints on abortion constitutional?

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Question 14

What is the exclusionary rule and how has it been used by the Supreme Court?

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Question 15

Describe the significance of the Supreme Court's Roe v.Wade ruling.Did the Court overstep its authority,or did it properly extend the right of privacy in this case? How have later Court decisions changed Roe? Explain.

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Quiz 4: Civil Liberties and Public Policy