Bill of Rights Vocabulary

abridge - to shorten or reduce the breadth of something (like a book or rights)

capital punishment - the death penalty.

censorship the legal act of determining if information or speech is suitable for the public, or if that information should be banned.

civil liberty - a basic individual right to which every human being is entitled.

double jeopardy - trying someone more than once for the same criminal offense.

due process - a constitutional protection that keeps the government from depriving people of their rights and freedoms without following established legal procedures.

establishment clause - part of the First Amendment which denies the government the right to directly support religion through law.

exclusionary rule - says that evidence gained in violation of the Constitution cannot be used in a trial.

indictment - a formal document issued by a grand jury that names and charges an individual with a violation of criminal law, usually a felony.

infringe - to cross the boundary of or take the lands or rights of a person.

libel - to intentionally publish false WRITTEN or VISUAL statements harming the reputation of a business, group, or person.

prior restraint - to keep the press from publishing a document before it goes to press (does not mean that the press cannot be punished for what it does print).

slander - to intentionally make false SPOKEN statements that harm the reputation of a business, group, or person (rarely prosecuted criminally, but sometimes leads to civil suits).