Exhibit Guide Home

Exhibits
Introduction
Founding Generation
Founding Documents
You Be the Judge
Defining Freedom
The Struggle Continues
Faces of Freedom
Marketplace of Ideas
Censorship: What Is It?
Musical Hit List
Draw the Line


Resources
Museum Map
Glossary




Anti-Federalists
The Anti-Federalists feared that a centralized government would lead the country back toward a monarchy and away from the ideals expressed in the American Revolution. They were also concerned power would be taken away from the states and that the people would not have enough representation in the federal government.


Anti-Semite

Someone who discriminates against, is hostile to, or prejudiced against Jewish people.

Chilling Effect
A chilling effect is another way to describe self-censorship. It is when something causes an individual or group to censor their speech or actions before it is expressed in a public forum because of fears of potential restrictions or litigation.

Effigy
A crude representation of someone who is disliked; normally used for purposes of ridicule.


Federalists

The Federalists argued that a central government was necessary to preserve order and protect liberties in the growing country. They felt that too much power in the hands of the states could lead to civil war and leave them vulnerable to invasion by foreign countries.


Habeus Corpus
A writ of habeas corpus is a request made to prison officials to bring a jailed person to court. The purpose is so that the court can determine whether the person has been imprisoned lawfully, and if not, if he or she should be released from custody.

Prior Restraint

The government act of censoring, reviewing, or prohibiting a publication from going to print. Read more about prior restraint in Near v. Minnesota (1931).

Propaganda
Biased information intended to shape public opinion and behavior.

Secular
Worldly; not overtly or specifically tied to religion.

Shield Laws
Shield laws protect journalists from naming their sources in court. Forty-nine states have shield laws, some of which is based on Justice Potter Stewart’s concurring opinion in Branzburg v. Hayes (1972). Stewart identified three criteria the government should show before compelling a journalist to testify:

-Probable cause that the information is relevant to the specific alleged legal violation
-The information cannot be obtained through another means that causes less intrusion into First Amendment rights
-Demonstrate “a compelling and overriding interest in the information”

A federal shield law has been proposed several times but has never been passed by Congress. Defining who a journalist is in the Internet age and who should be protected by a shield law, has been debated repeatedly in discussions for a federal law.

Supreme Court
The Supreme Court takes appeals cases from all state and federal courts, and sometimes has the ultimate decision making power in a small number of cases. The Supreme Court has a chief justice and eight associate justices who are all appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. Justices serve on the court for life. Learn more about how courts work here iCivics.org.


Theocracy

A form of government where one religion’s laws and beliefs dominate or control the way a country is run.

Time, Place and Manner Restrictions
The government may impose reasonable time, place and manner restrictions in a public forum when it meets three criteria:

-The regulated speech is not content specific.
-The restrictions are narrowly written and serve a significant government interest
-The restrictions leave alternative ways to convey the message

Along with Ward vs. Rock Against Racism (1989) the time, place, and manner test evolved from a variety of court cases such as Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) and Schenck v. U.S. (1919). Some other notable time, place, and manner rulings include Madsen v. Women’s Health Center, Inc. (1994), Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley (1972), and Million Youth March, Inc. v. Safir (1998).

Zionist
A Zionist is part of the Zionism movement. Zionism is a movement to re-establish a homeland for the Jewish people. The movement is embedded in religious belief in the historical birthplace of Judaism. This homeland is believed to be a place established for the Jewish people by God. Part of this land is in the West Bank territory and Gaza strip that is part of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.