POLS CHAPTER 4 ciliv liberties

About ________ percent of all cases in the United States are heard in federal courts.

1

There are ________ circuits in the United States Court of Appeals.

13

In what year was freedom of speech extended to protect against the acts of state governments?

1925

The Supreme Court justices began to change their position on racial discrimination in the ________.

1930s

About ________ percent of all lower court cases are reviewed by federal appeals courts.

20

Under normal rules of oral argument, each lawyer has ________ to present his or her case before the Supreme Court.

30 minutes

Each Supreme Court justice is assigned ________ law clerks.

4

There are approximately ________ federal district court judges in the United States.

679

There are ________ U.S. district courts.

94

About ________ percent of all cases in the United States are heard in state courts.

99

________ is a law that declares a person guilty of a crime without a trial.

A bill of attainder

________ occurs when a criminal case is resolved through a negotiated agreement before a full trial is completed.

A plea bargain

Which of the following best reflects the Supreme Court's position on commercial speech, such as advertisements?

Advertisements receive limited First Amendment protection.

During the Founding era, ________ were the strongest supporters of adding a bill of rights to the Constitution.

Antifederalists

When did civil rights become part of the U.S. Constitution?

Civil rights were incorporated with the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment.

The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) was significant because it concluded that the

Constitution prohibits the government from regulating political speech funded by corporations.

What is the significance of dissenting opinions?

Dissents are signs that the Court is in disagreement on an issue and could change its ruling.

The constitutional basis for the nationalization of the Bill of Rights is the ________.

Fourteenth Amendment (1868)

"Due process of law" in the United States is generally defined by the ________ amendments.

Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Eighth

Which of the following statements about freedom of speech is true?

Free speech can be regulated by government officials.

What was the main reason that Alexander Hamilton did NOT want a bill of rights?

He believed it was unnecessary for a national government that possessed only specific, delegated powers.

Which of the following is true about high school students in public schools?

High school students have conditionally protected speech.

Why is Marbury v. Madison an important case?

In this case, the justices authorized the Supreme Court to exercise judicial review over laws passed by Congress.

What did the Thirteenth Amendment accomplish?

It abolished slavery.

The exclusionary rule was applied to all levels of government by the Supreme Court justices in ________.

Mapp v. Ohio (1961)

________ is most closely associated with the idea that the First Amendment protects the "marketplace of ideas."

Oliver Wendell Holmes

________ began the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-1956.

Rosa Parks

Which of the following is the best description of the Supreme Court's first ruling on the issue of the nationalization of the Bill of Rights in 1833?

The Bill of Rights limits the national government but not state governments.

What is the main function of the chief justice of the Supreme Court?

The chief justice presides over the Court's public sessions and private conferences.

What was the Supreme Court's response to the Civil Rights Act of 1875?

The justices declared the act unconstitutional because it protected against acts of private discrimination, not state discrimination.

Which of the following is true of Brown v. Board of Education (1954)?

The justices outlawed de jure segregation.

Why was New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) significant?

The justices ruled that a newspaper had to print false and malicious material deliberately in order to be guilty of libel.

Which of the following statements best describes the number of peaceful civil rights demonstrations during the 1950s and 1960s?

The number of demonstrations grew in the early 1960s and peaked in 1965.

________ argued that there was a "wall of separation" between church and state.

Thomas Jefferson

Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) and Roe v. Wade (1973) have been extremely important in the development of

a constitutional right to privacy.

What is a grand jury?

a jury that determines whether there is enough evidence to justify a trial

The Supreme Court justices formally articulated the right to privacy in a case involving

access to birth control.

A person, agency, or interest group not directly a party to a case but with an interest in its outcome may file a(n) ________ brief.

amicus curiae

In most circumstances, a supreme court is best described as a(n) ________ court.

appellate

Which of the following would NOT be an example of speech plus?

assassinating a political leader

Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools (1992) is important because it

asserted that violations of Title IX of the 1972 Education Act could be remedied with monetary damages.

The written document in which attorneys explain why the court should rule in favor of their clients is called a(n) ________.

brief

When a private individual brings a suit against a company for breaking a contract, this is an example of ________ law.

civil

The first and most famous test for determining when the government could intervene to suppress political speech was called the ________.

clear and present danger test

The ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

established the separate but equal rule.

The right of due process is best described as the right of

every person not to be treated arbitrarily by a government official or agency.

Freedom of speech and of the press have a special place in American democracy because

free and open debate is an essential mechanism for determining the quality and validity of competing ideas.

The ________ of the First Amendment protect(s) an individual's right to believe and practice whatever religion he or she chooses.

free exercise clause

The rights to assembly and petition are guaranteed by the same amendment that guarantees ________.

free speech

Activist judges believe that federal judges should

go beyond the words of a constitution or statute to consider the broader societal implications of their decisions.

Prisoners who are challenging their convictions are most likely to seek a writ of ________.

habeas corpus

The Fair Housing Act of 1968

had little effect on housing segregation because its enforcement mechanisms were very weak.

The number of cases filed in the Supreme Court

has increased dramatically since 1940.

The assignment of the opinion in a Supreme Court case is

important because differences in wording and emphasis can have important implications for how the decision is interpreted in future litigation.

The fact that federal judges have relied on a discretionary use of the exclusionary rule in recent years means that

it is difficult to know whether a defendant will be protected from an illegal search under the Fourth Amendment.

The area of authority possessed by a court, in terms of either subject area or geography, is called its________.

jurisdiction

In Lawrence v. Texas (2003), the Supreme Court justices ruled that

laws criminalizing gay sexual behavior are a violation of the right to privacy.

Which of the following types of speech receives the greatest level of First Amendment protection?

political speech that stops short of inciting violence

Justice Potter Stewart was talking about ________ when he declared "I know it when I see it."

pornography

The constitutional authority of Congress to forbid discrimination in employment is based on the

power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce.

The term eminent domain describes the

power of the government to take private property for public use.

Which of the following rights is NOT found in the original, unamended Constitution?

prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment

The substantive constraints found in the Bill of Rights

put limitations on what government officials can and cannot do.

In the University of Michigan affirmative action cases, the Supreme Court justices

rejected mechanical point systems for university admissions but upheld highly individualized affirmative action policies that were designed to promote diversity.

In the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Congress vastly expanded the role of the executive branch and the credibility of court orders by

requiring that federal grants-in-aid to state and local governments for education be withheld from any school system practicing racial segregation.

The process by which the Supreme Court justices have expanded specific parts of the Bill of Rights to protect citizens against state and federal actions is called ________.

selective incorporation

Senatorial courtesy describes the practice of

senators from a president's party approving of a judicial nominee from their home state.

The right to legal counsel in a criminal proceeding is guaranteed by the ________ Amendment.

sixth

The doctrine of ________ requires courts to follow authoritative prior decisions when ruling on a case.

stare decisis

The Bill of Rights was written because

the Antifederalists demanded it as the price of ratification of the Constitution.

The jurisdiction of each federal court is derived from ________.

the Constitution and federal law

The Supreme Court's power to review acts of Congress has not been seriously questioned because

the Court has been reluctant to strike down congressional laws and has overturned only a small number over the last 200 years.

If a man is arrested because his home was searched by police without a legal warrant, he could argue in court that he had been denied ________.

the due process of law

Members of Congress have frequently proposed a constitutional amendment to make flag burning a crime because

the only way to overturn the Supreme Court's ruling that flag burning is protected speech is through a constitutional amendment.

When New York Times reporter Judith Miller was jailed in 2005, it illustrated that

the press has no constitutional right to withhold information in court.

The current prohibition on states to criminalize abortion is based on

the right to privacy.

The Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution guarantees

the right to vote for African American men.

Aside from the justices themselves, who or what has the greatest power in shaping the flow of cases to the Supreme Court?

the solicitor general

The solicitor general is the

third-ranking official in the Department of Justice.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) established the right

to counsel in felony cases.

Title IX of the 1972 Education Act has had its greatest effect on ________.

university athletic programs

The Fourth Amendment protects against ________.

unreasonable searches and seizures

Since 1973, the right to an abortion has been

upheld but narrowed in scope.

The takings clause states that government may NOT take private property

without just compensation.

The attempt to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment was an important struggle for ________.

women