Glossary

  • Selective incorporation

    the Supreme Court process of using individual cases to make the Bill of Rights apply to the states

  • Self-sustaining

    Able to continue in a healthy state without outside assistance.

  • Senate Judiciary Committee

    a standing committee (group) of 21 senators who oversee the Department of Justice, consider executive and judicial nominations, and review pending legislation.

  • Sensational

    causing great public interest and excitement.

  • seriatim

    A Latin word meaning consecutively. Justices giving their opinion one after the other.

  • Sherman Antitrust Act

    federal law that prohibits activities that restrict interstate commerce and competition in the marketplace. It was put in place to address monopolies.

  • Shirley Chisholm

    the first African American woman in Congress (1968) and the first woman and African American to seek the nomination for president of the United States from one of the two major political parties (1972).

  • Sit-in

    a protest method, first used by students in Greensboro, North Carolina, where African Americans would sit in a “whites-only” section of a public space.

  • Sit-ins

    A protest method, first used by students in Greensboro, North Carolina, where African Americans would sit in a “whites-only” section of a public space.

  • Sixth Amendment

    part of the Bill of Rights that protects the rights of the accused during a criminal trial with provisions such as a right to a speedy trial, right to confront witnesses, and right to counsel.