1. What was Madison's original argument against including a Bill of Rights in the Constitution?

2. What role did Anti-Federalist complaints play in Madison's decision to draft the Bill of Rights?

1. How did Madison narrow down the proposed amendments into twelve formal rights for Congress?

2. What was the outcome of Madison's work on the Bill of Rights in 1791?

1. What categories of civil liberties are protected by the Bill of Rights?

2. What do the Ninth and Tenth Amendments add to the protections in the Bill of Rights?

1. Why did the Bill of Rights originally protect citizens only from the federal government, not state governments?

2. How did the selective incorporation doctrine change the application of the Bill of Rights to the states?

1. How does the United States balance civil liberties with the public interest?

2. What role do organizations like the ACLU play in protecting civil liberties?

1. Why has the Supreme Court needed to continually reinterpret the Bill of Rights over time?

2. How do broad phrases in the Bill of Rights like 'fair and impartial jury' require ongoing judicial clarification?

1. What did Thomas Jefferson mean by the 'wall of separation' between church and state?

2. Why did the First Congress include the establishment clause in the First Amendment?

1. What is the difference between the establishment clause and the free exercise clause?

2. How do the establishment clause and free exercise clause work together to protect religious liberty?

1. How did Everson v. Board of Education (1947) signal the Court's application of the establishment clause to the states?

2. Why did the Court distinguish between funding school transportation and funding religious instruction?

1. What was the Court's reasoning in Engel v. Vitale for striking down school-sponsored prayer?

2. How did the Court address the argument that student participation in prayer was voluntary?

3. What did the Court rule about moments of silence in schools, and why?

1. What three criteria did the Lemon test establish for evaluating establishment clause violations?

2. Why has the Supreme Court moved away from using the Lemon test in recent cases?

1. What was the Court's reasoning in Wisconsin v. Yoder for exempting Amish students from compulsory school attendance?

2. How did the Court balance the state's interest in education with the Amish parents' free exercise rights?

1. Why have most state funding programs for religious institutions been struck down by the courts?

2. How did the Court's ruling on school vouchers in Cleveland differ from its typical stance on funding religious schools?

3. What is the current legal status of prayer and religious expression in public schools?

4. How has the Court distinguished between religious symbols on public property based on context and purpose?

1. What does it mean that free speech is not absolute, and what standard must the government meet to limit it?

2. Why did the First Congress prioritize protection against seditious libel charges?

1. What is the key distinction the Court makes between suppressing the content of speech and regulating its time, place, or manner?

2. How did the Court's rulings in United States v. O'Brien and Cohen v. California differ in their treatment of Vietnam War protest?

1. When is symbolic speech protected under the First Amendment, and when can it be restricted?

2. Why did the Court strike down laws banning flag desecration in Texas v. Johnson and United States v. Eichman?

1. What was the Court's reasoning for protecting students' right to wear armbands as political protest?

2. How did Justice Fortas distinguish between protected political speech and unprotected lewd speech in schools?

3. What standard did the Court establish for when schools can restrict student speech?

1. Why did the Supreme Court struggle to define obscenity, and what standard did it eventually adopt in Roth v. United States?

2. How did the Miller test modify the Roth standard for determining obscenity?

3. What is the difference between obscenity and pornography in legal terms?

1. What is the 'clear and present danger' test, and how did it balance free speech with national security in Schenck v. United States?

2. How did Justice Holmes's views on the clear and present danger test evolve between Schenck and Abrams?

3. What standard did Brandenburg v. Ohio establish for speech that incites lawless action?

1. How does a free press serve as a check on government power in a democracy?

2. What is the difference between a free press and state-controlled media in totalitarian countries?

1. How does the First Amendment protect both professional journalists and average citizens equally?

2. What types of communication does the First Amendment's protection of 'press' include?

1. What standard did New York Times Co. v. Sullivan establish for proving libel against a newspaper?

2. Why did the Court create a higher standard for public officials to prove libel than for private citizens?

3. What does 'breathing space' mean in the context of free press protection?

1. What is prior restraint, and why did the Court rule against it in New York Times Co. v. United States?

2. How did the Pentagon Papers case demonstrate the limits of government power to suppress information?

3. What was the significance of the Court's ruling that the government carries a 'heavy burden' to justify prior restraint?