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"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”
– Nelson Mandela

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M4 Assignment

M4 Assignment

Q The First Amendment protects religious freedoms in two different ways. What are the free exercise clause and the establishment clause, and how do they differ from each other? Describe some recent controversies surrounding the maintenance of a “wall of separation” between church and state and how they have been addressed by the Supreme Court. What are some recent controversies involving the free exercise of religion, and how have they been addressed by the Supreme Court? The First Amendment to the Constitution says that “Congress shall make no law” abridging freedom of the press. Explain how much constitutional protection the press actually receives in practice by discussing prior restraint, “shield laws” and laws against libel and slander. In your answer, be sure to define each of these legal concepts and to address relevant Supreme Court decisions. Describe some of the rights of the accused found in the Bill of Rights. Specifically, discuss the exclusionary rule, Miranda rights, and double jeopardy. In your answer, be sure to define each term, identify its support in the Constitution and in Supreme Court cases, and discuss why the rights of the accused are so essential to due process of law. What is the right to privacy and what is the constitutional basis for it? Discuss three areas of law that directly involve questions about how far the right to privacy extends. In your answer, be sure to mention at least one Supreme Court case for each area of law. Describe the history of legalized racial discrimination in the United States between the end of the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. What were the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments intended to accomplish, and how did the Supreme Court justices limit civil rights protections in the late nineteenth century? The struggle for women’s rights has made some important strides and experienced a number of setbacks over the last 30 years. Discuss the “Equal Rights Amendment,” Title IX of the 1972 Education Act, the Supreme Court’s decisions in Franklin v. Gwinnet County Public Schools (1991) and Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. (2007). Affirmative action policies have been controversial since their inception in the 1960s. Define what affirmative action policies are and discuss their main goals. Describe three prominent Supreme Court decisions associated with affirmative action.

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Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free practice thereof,” the First Amendment states. The "establishment clause" and the "free exercise clause" are the two clauses in question. Each of these clauses, like the part of the First Amendment that protects freedom of speech, have been applied to the states and thus work against them. The free exercise clause guarantees all citizens' religious views and, to a degree, religious practices. The establishment clause, which is more contentious, prevents the government from sponsoring, promoting, or becoming heavily interested in religion and religious activity. In the US it is often debated that in spite of the US having no officially recognized religion the use of the term “Under God” in pledge of allegiance promotes Christianity.