Unit 3 Civil Liberties/Civil Rights

Which of the following would most likely be protected by the First Amendment?

A student wears a black armband at school to protest government involvement in a war.

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.

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 is the likely effect of the Court's ruling in the Bakke case?

Colleges can consider race but cannot use strict racial quotas in admission practices.

Which of the following constitutional clauses was most relevant in the Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade (1973) ?

Due process clause

Which of the following actions by a news organization would most likely be protected from prior restraint based on the precedent established by New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)?

Reporting on a protest calling for the end of military involvement in South Korea

Which of the following is a doctrine based on the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution that was used in McDonald v. Chicago (2010) to limit the power of states and protect the right to keep and bear arms?

Selective incorporation

In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), the Supreme Court ruling limited state action in segregating public school students based on their race, stating "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." The Court pointed to which of the following amendments to the United States Constitution to achieve this ruling?

The Fourteenth Amendment

The police searched a suspect's smartphone without getting a warrant and found photo evidence of criminal activity. After a thorough investigation, the suspect was charged and the evidence obtained from the smartphone was used in the trial. Which of the following amendments contains the Bill of Rights protections that were most likely violated in this scenario?

The Fourth Amendment

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

A person accused of a crime cannot afford an attorney, so the state provides the accused with a public defender. Which of the following amendments in the Bill of Rights best applies in this scenario?

The Sixth Amendment

In McDonald v. Chicago (2010), the United States Supreme Court stated, "that the [Constitution] protects the right to possess a handgun in the home 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

In Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954), the Supreme Court stated that the plaintiffs "seek the aid of the courts in obtaining admission to the public schools of their community on a non-segregated basis. In each instance, they had been denied admission to schools attended by white children under laws requiring or permitting segregation according to race." The Supreme Court ruled "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal." Which of the following provisions of the United States Constitution did the Supreme Court use to strike down racial segregation in state public schools?

The equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

It ought to be possible, in short, for every American to enjoy the privileges of being American without regard to his race or his color. In short, every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated. But this is not the case. The Negro baby born in America today, regardless of the section of the Nation in which he is born, has about one-half as much chance of completing a high school as a white baby born in the same place on the same day, one-third as much chance of completing college, one-third as much chance of becoming a professional man, twice as much chance of becoming unemployed, about one-seventh as much chance of earning $10,000 a year, a life expectancy which is 7 years shorter, and the prospects of earning only half as much. This is not a sectional issue. Difficulties over segregation and discrimination exist in every city, in every State of the Union, producing in many cities a rising tide of discontent that threatens the public safety. Nor is this a partisan issue. In a time of domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics. President John F. Kennedy, Report to the American People on Civil Rights, June 11, 1963 The issues identified in the passage reflect a failure to uphold which of the following constitutional principles?

Equal protection

In Engel v. Vitale (1962), which of the following provides the legal reasoning behind the Supreme Court's ruling?

It ruled that the state had no justifiable interest to compel students to listen to a nondenominational prayer led by public school teachers, finding a clear establishment clause violation.

"The original understanding of the Second Amendment was neither an individual right to self-defense nor a collective right of the states, but rather a civic right that guaranteed that citizens would be able to keep and bear those arms needed to meet their legal obligation to participate in a well-regulated militia. Nothing better captured this constitutional ideal than the minuteman. Citizens had a legal obligation to outfit themselves with a musket at their own expense and were expected to turn out at a minute's notice to defend their community, state, and eventually their nation. Although each side in the modern debate claims to be faithful to the historical Second Amendment, a restoration of its original meaning, re-creating the world of the minuteman, would be a nightmare that neither side would welcome. It would certainly involve more intrusive gun regulation, not less. . . . Gun control advocates might blanch at the notion that all Americans would be required to receive firearms training and would certainly look askance at the idea of requiring all able-bodied citizens to purchase their own military-style assault weapons." Saul Cornell, A Well-Regulated Militia: The Founding Fathers and the Origins of Gun Control in America, Oxford University Press, 2006 Which of the following Supreme Court cases is most relevant to the topic of the article?

McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

It ought to be possible, in short, for every American to enjoy the privileges of being American without regard to his race or his color. In short, every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated. But this is not the case. The Negro baby born in America today, regardless of the section of the Nation in which he is born, has about one-half as much chance of completing a high school as a white baby born in the same place on the same day, one-third as much chance of completing college, one-third as much chance of becoming a professional man, twice as much chance of becoming unemployed, about one-seventh as much chance of earning $10,000 a year, a life expectancy which is 7 years shorter, and the prospects of earning only half as much. This is not a sectional issue. Difficulties over segregation and discrimination exist in every city, in every State of the Union, producing in many cities a rising tide of discontent that threatens the public safety. Nor is this a partisan issue. In a time of domestic crisis men of good will and generosity should be able to unite regardless of party or politics. President John F. Kennedy, Report to the American People on Civil Rights, June 11, 1963 Which of the following pieces of legislation was most likely a result of the passage?

The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Which of the following cases decided whether a state could compel children to attend school beyond eighth grade even if it violated the students' sincerely held religious beliefs?

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

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 of controversy in the Grutter v. Bollinger decision involves

affirmative action

The Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution, the Equal Rights Amendment, and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 were all directed toward the goal of

equality for women

Which of the following scenarios, related to the First Amendment, best illustrates the "right . . . to petition the Government . . ." ?

A citizen calls a member of Congress to persuade her to vote yes on a bill.

Which of the following scenarios is an example of a constitutional application of affirmative action?

A federal contractor actively recruits qualified minorities and women for positions in the company.

Which of the following scenarios illustrates an action that would be protected by the free exercise clause in the First Amendment?

A person wears a necklace bearing a Christian cross to work.

To enforce the Fourteenth Amendment more clearly, Congress passed the

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Which of the following is an example of affirmative action?

Harvard Medical School actively recruits highly qualified minorities and female applicants for its residency program.

Which of the following Supreme Court cases establishes that a woman has a due process right to make a decision whether or not to have an abortion?

Roe v. Wade (1973)