Themes, Issues, Concepts, and Events

Until recent years, the execution of innocents was mostly an abstract debate.

Lynching has a long history in the United States, beginning at least around the time of the Revolutionary War.

Jurisdictions with capital punishment use one or more of the following methods to implement the sentence: hanging, firing squad, electrocution, lethal gas, and lethal injection.

Proportionality in principle justifies, limits, or condemns capital punishment. That deeply held common value—that punishment must not be grossly disproportionate to the crime—dominates U.S. Supreme Court jurisprudence.

The idea that speech may be curbed to protect the sensibilities of an audience held captive by the speaker is rooted in the notion that governmental power. . .

The ‘‘categorical approach’’ is a method of judging where decisions are reached through use of a preestablished system of classifications or categories.

One of the difficult church–state issues is determining when the use of religious language by the government violates the Establishment Clause.

In the late 1860s, state legislatures authorized judges to sentence offenders to work on chain gangs.

The practice of using a chaplain to offer a prayer at the beginning of each legislative session dates back to the first session of the first congress.

Military chaplains originated in biblical times and have long been recognized as an important component of many armed forces. They have served in Western armies since at least the fourth century.

Charitable Choice is a set of statutory parameters attached to a social service program with the purpose of making the government more welcoming to all faith-based social service providers.

If police set up a checkpoint (also known as a roadblock) on the highway, requiring all drivers to stop and answer some questions, is that constitutional? The answer is yes if certain conditions are met.

The 1968 Democratic convention was held in one of the most tumultuous times in recent history. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Bobby Kennedy had been assassinated, racial tensions exploded into riots in cities across the country, and student protests paralyzed college campuses.

In the area of adoption, the interest that takes center stage is that of the biological parents.

In America, the family serves as both the primary vehicle for the care and rearing of children and as a private realm of intimate association and moral autonomy.