Unit Test: Civil liberties and civil rights
Based on previous rulings, the Supreme Court is most likely to view a case concerning which of the following as an establishment clause case?
A courthouse prominently displays the Ten Commandments
Which of the following scenarios would most likely be considered a violation of the Second Amendment?
A state bans the sale and purchase of handguns
Which of the following scenarios would most likely be considered a violation of the Fourth Amendment?
A suspect's property is searched before a warrant is issued
Which of the following scenarios is an example of how a state may constitutionally limit free speech at a protest demonstration?
Antoni starts yelling for other protestors to light buildings on fire and the police arrest him
Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the two court cases?
Decided that the state had to provide legal counsel for the poor or indigent Decided that the right to privacy extended to a woman's right to have an abortion
Which of the following best defines civil liberties?
Freedoms that protect citizens, opinions, and property against government abuse of power
Prior restraint is best defined as which of the following?
Government censorship that blocks free speech or publication
In 1961, Clarence Earl Gideon stood trial in Florida, accused of robbing a pool hall. Gideon was poor and could not afford a lawyer. He requested that the court provide one for him, but Florida only provided lawyers for defendants accused of capital offenses. The Supreme Court decided to throw out the conviction because lawyers were necessary to ensure a fair trial. The Court ruled that states must provide counsel to defendants too poor to afford lawyers or they are violating the constitutional right to legal counsel. Which of the following statements best explains the impact of this decision?
It applied the Sixth Amendment to the states through the incorporation doctrine
Which statement accurately summarizes the impact of the McDonald v. Chicago (2010) decision?
It incorporated an individual's right to bear arms for self-defense and made it apply to state and local governments
Which statement accurately summarizes the impact of the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) decision?
It restricted African-American access to the same public facilities as the majority white population
"The Second Amendment was adopted to protect the right of the people of each of the several States to maintain a well-regulated militia. It was a response to concerns raised during the ratification of the Constitution that the power of Congress to disarm the state militias and create a national standing army posed an intolerable threat to the sovereignty of the several States. Neither the text of the Amendment nor the arguments advanced by its proponents evidenced the slightest interest in limiting any legislature's authority to regulate private civilian uses of firearms. Specifically, there is no indication that the Framers of the Amendment intended to enshrine the common-law right of self-defense in the Constitution." Associate Justice John Paul Stevens, dissenting opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) People who disagree with Stevens's view on the rights protected under the Second Amendment could cite which of the following Supreme Court cases to support their argument?
McDonald v. Chicago (2010)
Which of the following Supreme Court cases is most relevant to the topic of the cartoon?
McDonald v. Chicago (2010)
"The District Court's assessment that all this evidence proved racial predominance clears the bar of clear error review. The court emphasized that the districting plan's own architects had repeatedly described the influx of African-Americans into District 12 as a . . . compliance measure, not a side-effect of political gerrymandering. And those contemporaneous descriptions comported with the court's credibility determinations about the trial testimony—that Watt told the truth when he recounted Rucho's resolve to hit a majority-BVAP target; and conversely that Hofeller skirted the truth (especially as to Guilford County) when he claimed to have followed only race-blind criteria in drawing district lines. We cannot disrespect such credibility judgments." -Associate Justice Elena Kagan, opinion of the Court in Cooper v. Harris, 2017 Which of the following statements best summarizes the author's argument?
North Carolina created a district predominantly based on racial lines, which is unconstitutional
Based on the information in the graphic, which of the following strategies would a group seeking to preserve the ruling in Roe v. Wade likely pursue?
Petitioning the Supreme Court to preserve the ruling in Roe v. Wade, arguing that the majority of Americans do not think the Court should overturn the decision
The data displayed in the table above best supports which of the following statements?
Respondents of all races were less likely to support programs giving special preferences to black candidates than programs aimed to help them more generally
Which of the following Supreme Court cases is most relevant to the topic of the cartoon?
Schenck v. United States (1919)
Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the constitutional principles cited in Engel v. Vitale (1962) and Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)?
School sponsorship of religious activities violates the establishment clause Compelling Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade violates the free exercise clause
Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the two court cases?
Speech creating a "clear and present danger" is not protected by the First Amendment Public school students have the right to wear black armbands to protest the Vietnam War
Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up that state's segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority of the population, not a single Negro is registered. Can any law enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically structured?" -Excerpt from King, Martin Luther Jr., "Letter from the Birmingham Jail" in Why We Can't Wait, ed. Martin Luther King, Jr., 77-100, 1963. The "devious methods" mentioned in this passage refer to which of the following?
Structural barriers
A suspected terrorist has chosen to remain silent after being arrested, yet the police continue to question him on potential locations of a bomb without informing him of his rights. This scenario is an example of which of the following?
The "public safety" exception
"The Constitution abhors classifications based on race, not only because those classifications can harm favored races or are based on illegitimate motives, but also because every time the government places citizens on racial registers and makes race relevant to the provision of burdens or benefits, it demeans us all. . . . Undoubtedly there are other ways to 'better' the education of law students aside from ensuring that the student body contains a 'critical mass' of underrepresented minority students." Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, dissenting opinion in Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) Which of the following statements is most consistent with the author's argument in this passage?
The Constitution is colorblind and any racial classifications, even when used to help minorities, are harmful to society
"As the quotations earlier in this opinion demonstrate, the inherent right of self-defense has been central to the Second Amendment right. The handgun ban [by the District of Columbia] amounts to a prohibition of an entire class of 'arms' that is overwhelmingly chosen by American society for that lawful purpose. The prohibition extends, moreover, to the home, where the need for defense of self, family, and property is most acute. Under any of the standards of scrutiny that we have applied to enumerated constitutional rights. . . banning from the home 'the most preferred firearm in the nation to 'keep' and use for protection of one's home and family, . . .would fail constitutional muster.'" -Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, majority opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) Which of the following statements is most consistent with the author's argument in this passage?
The Second Amendment protects a person's right to own a gun from government infringement
After the terrorist attack on September 11th, the United States issued the USA PATRIOT Act, giving federal agencies the power to conduct surveillance and perform searches. Which of the following best describes the message in the political cartoon?
The USA PATRIOT Act has given the government too much power to perform searches, which should be unconstitutional under the Fourth Amendment
"An unjust law is a code inflicted upon a minority which that minority had no part in enacting or creating because it did not have the unhampered right to vote. Who can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up the segregation laws was democratically elected? Throughout the state of Alabama all types of conniving methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there are some counties without a single Negro registered to vote, despite the fact that the Negroes constitute a majority of the population. Can any law set up in such a state be considered democratically structured?" Dr. Martin Luther King, "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," 1963 Which of the following governmental policies would the author most likely support as a solution to the problems described in this passage?
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
In the 1960s, Connecticut had a law prohibiting counselors from providing advice to married couples on how to prevent pregnancy. The Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut disobeyed this law and was arrested. In 1965, the Supreme Court heard the case and ruled that protections in the Bill of Rights implies that people have a right to privacy. Which of the following constitutional provisions does the case described in the scenario have in common with Roe v. Wade (1973)?
The due process clause
In 1890, Louisiana enacted a law that required separate railway cars for black people and for white people. Homer Plessy took a seat in a "whites only" train. He refused to move to the car reserved for black people and was arrested. In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court ruled in a 7-1 vote to uphold the Louisiana law. Which of the following constitutional clauses does this case have in common with Brown v. Board of Education (1954)?
The equal protection clause
When the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1789, the amendments protected civil liberties infringement from which levels of government?
The federal government only
Which of the following government policies would be most likely to draw criticism for interfering with individual rights under the Second Amendment?
The federal government passes a law banning the sale of automatic weapons to anyone under the age of twenty-one
Which of the following statements accurately summarizes the decision in New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)?
The government violated the First Amendment and could not stop the newspaper from publishing its article
"In the Bill of Rights for this Commonwealth it is declared that the happiness of the people & the Preservation of civil government depend upon the piety religion & morality & that the people have a right to invest their Legislature with power to require that provision be made for the public worship of God & the support of protestant teachers & require the attendance of people upon such worship instructions.... We must insist that the Continental Constitution contain a Bill of Rights which by Express shall secure to us our privileges especially our religion." Daniel Adams, at a town meeting in Townshend, Massachusetts, 1787 Supporters of Adams's view that a bill of rights is necessary to protect individual liberties could point to which of the following cases?
Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
