The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, passed to reassure some supporters of the recently ratified Constitution that the federal government would not interfere with individual rights or the states' authority to regulate those rights.

A measure unsuccessfully proposed by James G. Blaine in 1875 to amend the U.S. Constitution prohibiting any public funds from supporting religious establishments. The amendment was motivated by anti-Catholic sentiment.

(1992) A case that reaffirmed the basic holding of Roe v. Wade giving a woman a qualified right to choose an abortion, though at the same time narrowing that right by upholding regulations on abortion and jettisoning the “trimester” scheme.

Basically a vague affirmation of monotheism, stripped of all or nearly all its theological doctrine and often justified on the grounds that it solemnizes national occasions when secular mottos or slogans would not be adequate.

Test used by the court when government laws or actions interfere with the fundamental liberties of individuals or groups, based on religious or other associations. Government must show the law is neeeded to protect a compelling interest (such as children's safety).

A type of opinion in a court case that agrees with the judgment of the Court but offers a different rationale for coming to that conclusion.

A type of ruling by a court that represents the opinion of a majority and controls the way that lower courts decide future cases.

Religious belief claiming factual correctness of the Genesis account of Earth's creation by God in six days, and denying the slow evolution of species from one form to another.

Describes a situation in which the court regards the infringement on a right to be so minimal that a legal remedy is not needed to prohibit or remedy the infraction.

The opinion of the minority judges in a court case. While such opinions obviously are not controlling, their reasoning is often used as a "beachhead" in later cases when the Court decides to reverse a previous court decision.

The 14th Amendment clause declaring that no state "shall deny any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law." There is also a 5th Amendment clause of due process which applies only to the federal government.

A 14th Amendment provision requiring that government not discriminate against persons because of their affiliation with some group.

Clause in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that forbids government favoritism towards any religious group, at the very least, and government promotion of religion more generally.

Clause in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that protects individuals from government persecution based on hostility to their religious beliefs, including the right not to believe.

The Supreme Court doctrine which extended most, but not all, of the provisions of the Bill of Rights as restrictions against the states, where previously they had applied only to the federal government.

The doctrine that allows states to expand upon the rights found in the federal Bill of Rights, or create new rights.

A pseudo-scientific belief system holding that life is too complex to have evolved and therefore must have had a Creator. ID was adopted when less sophisticated attempts (such as creationism) to combat the dominance of evolution in the science classroom proved inadequate.

A judicial doctrine for assessing whether a law complies with the Establishment Clause, based on three “prongs:” (1) A secular legislative purpose; (2) Primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion; (3) No excessive government entanglement with religion.

The scientific doctrine stating that organisms have radically changed form over time, resulting in new species. Most creationists oppose macroevolution, but accept microevolution (such as the development of different breeds of dog) because such variation does not result in new species or “kinds”.

The third religious clause, found in the main text of the Constitution rather than in the Bill of Rights. It states that “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the authority of the United States.”

Describes an institution that strongly articulates its religious message as part of its mission. While such an institution may be given tax-exempt status from the government, the government is not permitted to fund its programs because that would amount to endorsing the religious message of the institution.

Act passed by Congress in 1994 (and then declared unconstitutional in 1997) to broaden religious freedom by restoring the Sherbert Doctrine, requiring that an exemption be granted whenever government inadvertently burdened religious conduct, except in the case of a compelling government justification.

Describes an institution that is able to separate its religious message from its secular mission. The Court has held that the Establishment Clause does not forbid government from supporting such institutions.

(1973) A landmark Supreme Court case ruling that a woman had a qualified right to an abortion based on a pregnancy trimester system.

A form of the Strict Scrutiny Test that requires government, in the absence of a compelling interest, to exempt an individual from a religiously neutral law that substantially burdens that individual’s religious practices. (The law itself is not invalidated.)

The doctrine adopted in Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith that government is not required to accommodate a religious entity or individual by granting an exemption when one of its religiously-neutral, generally applicable laws burdens religious practice.

Test used by the court when government laws or actions interfere with the fundamental liberties of individuals or groups, based on religious or other associations. Government must show the law is neeeded to protect a compelling interest (such as children's safety).

Laws prohibiting (or requiring) certain forms of conduct, such as drinking alcohol or closing a business, because they are carried out on Sunday.

The Catholic religious belief that the consecration of the wine and bread during the Mass actually transforms these substances into the blood and body of Jesus Christ. For Protestants the substances do not change, but are merely representative of Christ’s sacrifice.

Announcements issued by the U.S. Supreme Court that it will review a lower court decision. The losing party in a lower court must first file a petition for this writ before the Court will consider the case (a rare occurrence).