Civil Rights & Civil Liberties Practice Questions & 14th Amendment

When did Black women receive the right to vote in federal elections?

With the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 (The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.)

In the post- Civil War United States, the "grandfather clause" was

a law exempting men whose grandfathers were eligible to vote before 1967 from some voting restrictions

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) was a significant Supreme Court ruling because it

held the "separate but equal" concept to be a violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision upheld a woman's right to secure an abortion was based on the right to

privacy implied in the Bill of Rights

Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade are similar Supreme Court cases in that both cases are based on the

right to privacy Griswold v. Connecticut: Established right of privacy through 14th and 9th Amendments. Set a precedent for Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade:Established national abortion guidelines; trimester guidelines: no state interference in 1st, state may regulate to protect health of mother in 2nd, state may regulate to protect health of unborn child in 3rd. Inferred from right of privacy established in Griswald v. Conn

Which of the following statements best describes how United States citizens regard the rights of free speech and assembly?

A majority agrees in principle with these rights, but in practice many people are often intolerant of views they do not support.

All the following United States Supreme Court decisions strengthened the power of the federal government EXCEPT

Dred Scott v. Sandford (Denied slaves citizenship rights and declared that slaves in free territory were still slaves.) Decisions that strengthened the power of the federal government: 1. Gibbons v. Ogden (Court ruled that Congress' power to regulate commerce includes the power to regulate navigation. Expanded federal government powers.) 2. Marbury v. Madison (Established judicial review; "midnight judges;" John Marshall; power of the Supreme Court.) 3. McCullough v. Maryland (Established national supremacy; established implied powers; use of elastic clause; state unable to tax fed. Institution; John Marshall; "the power to tax involves the power to destroy.") 4. Korematsu v. United States (not even a key court case)

Which of the following is true of the Voting Rights Act of 1965?

It has been a major instrument for increasing the number of African American and other minority voters (VRA of 1965 aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution)

Congress passed the most important laws protecting the rights of African Americans during the

Johnson Administration

In Gideon v. Wainwright, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the

Sixth Amendment right-to-counsel provision applies to those accused of major crimes under state laws (Ordered states to provide lawyers for those unable to afford them in criminal proceedings)

Which of the following was an agreement used by the Supreme Court in upholding federal statutes outlawing segregation in public accommodations?

Such segregation affected interstate commerce, and Congress therefore had the authority to outlaw it

In Plessy v. Ferguson, the United States Supreme Court ruled that state-imposed racial segregation is constitutional, based on the

"separate but equal" doctrine

The Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution has been interpreted by the Supreme Court to

make most rights contained in the Bill of Rights applicable to the states

The "Miranda warning" represents an attempt to protect criminal suspects against

unfair police interrogation

The free- exercise clause protects

voluntary prayer by student groups before school

Which of the following statements is accurate regarding the right to privacy?

The Supreme Court acknowledged it as a Constitutional right in the case of Griswold v. Connecticut. (Griswald v. Connecticut (1965) Established right of privacy through 14th and 9th Amendments. Set a precedent for Roe v. Wade.)

Which of the following did the most to expand civil rights in the 1950s?

The Supreme Court decision declaring state- mandated school segregation to be unconstitutional

The establishment clause in the First Amendment does which of the following?

Prohibits the setting up of a state church

Which od the following best defines civil liberties?

Provisions in the Bill of Rights that provides guarantees against arbitrary interference by government

The Supreme Court established the incorporation doctrine when the Court

interpreted the Fourteenth Amendment as extending most of the requirements of the Bill of Rights to the states as well as the federal government

The clear-and-present-danger test devised by the Supreme Court was designed to define the conditions under which public authorities could

limit free speech (judicial interpretation of Amendment 1 that government may not ban speech unless such speech poses an imminent threat to society)

Jim Crow laws, still in place in the early 1960s in the South, were outlawed by the

passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act (outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin)

Protection of the legal rights of women has been facilitated by the passage of which of the following?

1. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex) 2. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 (ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin) 3. The Education Amendments Act of 1972 (prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity) **Not Equal Rights Amendment because it was never passed; 3/4 of the states did not approve

Both Gitlow v. New York and New York Times v. Sullivan are US Supreme Court cases that dealt with which of the following?

First Amendment Gitlow v. New York: Established precedent of federalizing Bill of Rights (applying them to the states); states cannot deny freedom of speech --protected through due process clause of 14th Amendment. NYT v. Sullivan: A newspaper cannot be sued for libel if statements were not made with knowing or reckless disregard for the truth.

Discrimination in public accommodations was made illegal in the United States as a direct result of the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 (outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin)

To enforce the Fourteenth Amendment more clearly, Congress passed the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 (outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin)

Most of the individual protections of the Bill of Rights now apply to the states because of the Supreme Court's interpretation of the Constitution's

Fourteenth Amendment

Which of the following is true about the right of free speech, as currently interpreted by the Supreme Court?

It cannot be limited in any manner

The US Supreme Court gas used which of the following to incorporate the Bill of Rights into state law?

The Fourteenth Amendment

The Supreme Court has ruled which of the following concerning the death penalty?

The death penalty is not necessarily cruel and unusual punishment.

Quote from Justice Tom Clark, Mapp v. Ohio (1961) Which two principles are addressed in the excerpt above?

The incorporation doctrine (applying the Bill of Rights to the states) The exclusionary rule (illegally obtained evidence is excluded from criminal trial) **Mapp v. Ohio established exclusionary rule; illegally obtained evidence cannot be used in court; Warren Court's judicial activism.

Which of the following is one of the central concerns of the First Amendment?

The right of citizens to petition the government for redress of grievances

The "exclusionary rule" refers to which of the following?

The rule that prohibits the use of illegally seized evidence in criminal prosecutions

The First Amendment prevents the federal government from doing all of the following EXCEPT

passing bills of attainder or ex post facto laws **The First Amendment prevents the government from doing all of the following: 1. establishing a state religion 2. abridging the free exercise of religion 3. abridging the right of freedom of speech or of the press 4. abridging the right of the people to assemble peacefully

In Miranda v. Arizona, the United States Supreme Court declared that

police must inform criminal suspects of their constitutional rights before questioning suspects after arrest