| Miranda Warnings |
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| Designed to protect a suspect under arrest from the pressures of being in custody, the "Miranda warnings" require police to tell the suspect that he has a right to remain silent, that if he gives up his right to remain silent anything she says may be used against him in court, that he has a right to have an attorney present during interrogation, and that if he cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for him. Any individual who is questioned or interrogated while in police custody must be given the Miranda warnings. This rule of law sounds simpler than it really is, as the question of "when is a suspect in custody" can be difficult to answer.
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| Children's Internet Protection Act |
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| The Children's Internet Protection Act requires a public library to use "filtering" or "blocking" software on computers that are available to the public. A library that fails to do so would lose certain federal funds.
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| What Laws Prohibit Religious Discrimination? |
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| Religious discrimination is, for the most part, illegal. The freedom of religion is among the fundamental freedoms or civil rights protected by the United States Constitution. Specifically, the First Amendment to the Constitution gives Americans the right to practice the religion of their choice--or no religion at all--without fear of religious discrimination or governmental interference. A number of federal and state laws and regulations prohibit many forms of discrimination and harassment.
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| Provisional Ballots |
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| Starting with the 2004 election, voters who go to a polling place but find their names missing from the voter registration lists or who fail to provide the proper identification will be allowed to cast provisional ballots. That vote is not counted immediately. If a state, county, or municipality then determines that a voter was not properly registered to vote, that vote does not have to be counted. Each state, county, or municipality can create its own voter registration verification procedures.
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| Censorship, Book Banning, and the First Amendment |
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| Because the United States Constitution protects a person's right to make even the most disagreeable statements, it is not surprising that the extent of the freedom of speech is often the subject of much discussion. Similarly, censorship by way of attempted book banning spurs debate over the free speech protections of the First Amendment.
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