Gov Test 4

Which of the following scenarios would be considered a violation of the rights of someone accused of a crime, according to the Supreme Court?

A person who is unable to afford an attorney is tried and convicted of a crime without legal representation.

The Supreme Court addressed policies related to government hiring practices and race in City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Company. In 1983, the local government in Richmond, Virginia enacted a regulation that required companies that received contracts from the city to subcontract at least 30 percent of that work to minority business enterprises. When the J.A. Croson Company lost a contract due to this regulation, they sued the city. The court found in favor of the business, reasoning that racial quotas were not protected by the Fourteenth Amendment and were an impermissible requirement for employment Which of the following issues was the primary concern in City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Company?

Affirmative action policies intended to address workplace and educational disparities.

Which of the following best illustrates the protection of an individual's Fifth Amendment rights?

After arrest, a suspect is informed of the right to remain silent during interrogation.

A school district in Seattle used the race of students as a tie-breaking factor to determine which students would be admitted to the more popular schools in an attempt to maintain racial diversity. In the case Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007), the Supreme Court ruled this plan unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment. Which of the following statements offers the most accurate comparison between this case and the decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) ?

Both cases ruled against the school district based on the equal protection clause.

In the case Boynton v. Virginia (1960), the Supreme Court ruled that segregation at a bus stop restaurant was illegal based on the Interstate Commerce Act. Which of the following explains how this case is similar to Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) ?

Both cases struck down local ordinances that prescribed segregation

In the case Guey Heung Lee v. Johnson (1971), the parents of Chinese American students who attended a primarily Asian American school challenged San Francisco's effort to desegregate the public schools, arguing that their culture and language would be diluted if their children were dispersed from their local school. The Supreme Court denied the challenge from the parents basing their decision on the Fourteenth Amendment. Which of the following cases was most likely used in the decision as a precedent?

Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)

17 year old Chris was charged and convicted of murder and subsequently sentenced to death. Chris argued that the Constitution protects him from execution.

Chris in correct, the death penalty is considered to be a disproportionate punishment for minors and therefore cruel and unusual.

Which of the following scenarios best explains how the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment has influenced political behavior?

Civil Rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., cited constitutional arguments as a basis for opposing segregation and inequality.

Writing for the court in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), a case weighing whether race can be considered in college admissions, Justice Lewis Powell wrote: "Preferring members of any one group for no reason other than race or ethnic origin is discrimination for its own sake. This the Constitution forbids. . . . The . . . goal asserted by petitioner is the attainment of a diverse student body. This clearly is a constitutionally permissible goal for an institution of higher education. . . . The freedom of a university to make its own judgments as to education includes the selection of its student body." According to the quote, what was the likely effect of the Court's ruling in the Bakke case?

Colleges could have considered race but could not use strict racial quotas in admission practices.

Which of the following principles protects a citizen from imprisonment without trial?

Due process

Which of the following constitutional clauses was most relevant to the right to privacy?

Due process clause

Ernie is charged with kidnapping and rape. When police take him into custody, he admits to the crime during questioning without a lawyer present. Ernie claims that his admission should not be used against him because he wasn't aware of his rights.

Ernie is correct, the police must inform an accused person of their rights before questioning.

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

Police suspected Gene of killing two brothers with a shotgun and he voluntarily went to the police station to answer questions. However, when Gene was asked about his shotgun, he stopped talking and would not say anything. When the case went to trial, prosecutors told the jury that Gene refused to answer any questions about his gun. Gene was convicted. Gene claims that his silence cannot be used against him.

Gene is incorrect, if a voluntary witness wants to exercise their right to remain silent, they must communicate that with authorities.

Which of the following Supreme Court cases established that those accused of felonies who cannot afford legal counsel are entitled to legal counsel provided by the state?

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)

"Just as the Fourth Amendment's right to privacy has been declared enforceable against the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth, it is enforceable by the same sanction . . . as is used against the federal government. Were it otherwise, . . . the assurance against unreasonable searches and seizures would be 'a form of words,' valueless . . . 'in the concept of ordered liberty." Justice Tom Clark, Mapp v. Ohio (1961) Which two principles are addressed in the excerptabove? The incorporation doctrine The concept of eminent domain The exclusionary rule The "wall of separation" doctrine

I and III

In the majority opinion of a United States Supreme Court case, Justice Alito wrote, "we now turn directly to the question whether the...right to keep and bear arms is incorporated in the concept of due process. In answering that question, . . . we must decide whether the right to keep and bear arms is fundamental to our scheme of ordered liberty." Which Supreme Court case is most aligned with Justice Alito's reasoning to treat gun ownership for self-defense as a fundamental liberty?

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

In the case of McDonald v. Chicago (2010) the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense was applicable to the states. This ruling is an example of the application of the doctrine of

Selective incorporation

The Supreme Court ruled in McDonald v. Chicago (2010) that a citizen's right to keep and bear arms at home for self-defense is protected from state and federal infringement. Which of the following is most relevant to that decision?

Selective incorporation

In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the Supreme Court established which of the following principles?

Separation of students by race, even in equally good schools, is unconstitutional.

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

Which of the following was an argument 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.

Suzy lives in a small suburban town in the United States. A local Company wants her township's government to take her house(by paying her fair market price) to build a gym for employees to workout in before and after their shifts. The Government likes the idea because the gym would generate more tax money than Suzy's house and would also create some jobs. Suzy doesn't want to sell and says that the government cannot do that.

Suzy is incorrect, the Supreme Court has ruled that economic development that generates more tax revenue satisfies the public use criteria necessary for taking your land.

After hours of interrogation by police a suspect confesses to multiple felony offenses. His attorney objected to the admission of the confession because he was not advised of his right to have an attorney present nor his protection from self-incrimination. Which amendments are most relevant to this scenario?

The Fifth and Sixth Amendments

The United States Supreme Court has used which of the following to incorporate the Bill of Rights into state law?

The Fourteenth Amendment

Clarence is accused of breaking and entering a pool room and stealing money and beverages. Clarence is put on trial for the crime without an attorney to defend him. When he asks the judge for a lawyer, the judge says that he is not required to appoint a free attorney to represent him.

The Judge is incorrect, a person is entitled to a free attorney whenever they are on trial for any crime above minor offenses.

In McDonald v. Chicago (2010), the United States Supreme Court stated that, "[s]elf-defense is a basic right, recognized by many legal systems from ancient times to the present day" and that an individual's right to bear arms was "deeply rooted in this Nation's history and tradition." The quote points to which of the following amendments to the United States Constitution as a basis to limit state action?

The Second Amendment

Which of the following explains the constitutional reasoning in McDonald v. Chicago (2010) ?

The Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense is applicable to the states through 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.

In McDonald v. Chicago (2010), the United States Supreme Court held that the Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms for the purpose of self-defense and that the Second Amendment applied to the states through which of the following constitutional clauses?

The due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

During an investigation, police officers find illegal drugs while searching a home for which they did not acquire a warrant. Which of the following would prevent the drugs from being used as evidence at trial?

The exclusionary rule

A woman is arrested for possessing illegal substances that were obtained after a warrantless search of her home by local police. Which of the following best explains whether the evidence could be used in a criminal trial?

The exclusionary rule, derived from the Fourth Amendment, prevents the evidence from being used against the suspect.

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

The right to privacy is not explicitly named in the Constitution

In which of the following situations would the Supreme Court be most likely to utilize the doctrine of selective incorporation?

When an individual claims that a right protected by the Bill of Rights is infringed upon by a state

Willie is a young man that has been convicted and sentenced to death by electrocution. When Willie is put on the electric chair, the chair malfunctions and does not kill him. The prison officials inform Willie that once the chair is fixed, he will be put back on it to "finish the job". Willie claims that is a violation of his Constitutional rights.

Willie is incorrect, the 8th Amendment refers to cruelty in method, not that cruelty which is part of the actual suffering accompanying a lawful sentence of death. Therefore botched executions are completed.

The Supreme Court addressed the admissions policy of the University of Michigan Law School in Grutter v. Bollinger (2003). Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote for the court, "in the context of its individualized inquiry into the possible diversity contributions of all applicants, the Law School's race-conscious admissions program does not unduly harm nonminority applicants." The primary issue in the Grutter v. Bollinger decision involves

affirmative action

The process of extending the protections of the Bill of Rights by means of the Fourteenth Amendment to apply to the actions of state governments is known as

incorporation

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 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 federal Constitution guarantees all of the following rights to a person arrested and charged with a serious crime EXCEPT the right to

negotiate a plea bargain

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

In Roe v. Wade, the majority of Supreme Court justices determined that

the United States Constitution implies a right to privacy and thus made abortions legal

Civil rights activists, such as those who campaign for gay and lesbian equal rights and those who advocated for racial equality in the 1950s and 1960s, often find the most effective way to secure those rights is

through litigation in the courts to gain legal protections against discrimination

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

unfair police interrogation