Chapter 5 Exam Civil Liberties Multiple Choice Questions 1) In D.C. v. Heller, the Supreme Court A) ruled that the USA PATRIOT Act was constitutional. B) struck down a law prohibiting the sale of handguns. C) ruled that the Second Amendment applied only to militias. D) urged the Congress to grant statehood to the District of Columbia. E) overturned the Court s earlier decision in Mapp v. Ohio (1961). 2) The personal guarantees and freedoms that the federal government cannot abridge by law, constitution, or judicial interpretation are called A) civil rights. B) enumerated rights. C) civil liberties. D) privacy laws. E) incorporated freedoms. 3) The Amendments were added to appease the Federalists concerns regarding enumerated rights. A) First and Fourth B) Second and Third C) Fourth and Eighth D) Ninth and Tenth E) Fourteenth and Fifteenth 4) Why was the Bill of Rights a politically necessary addition to the Constitution? A) The Framers wanted to outline states powers. B) The Framers feared the people would revolt. C) It was a compromise to appease Anti-Federalists. D) The Bill of Rights was necessary for the system of checks and balances. E) The institutional powers specified in the original Constitution were unclear. 5) Before the Fourteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution, the civil liberties protections contained in the Bill of Rights were A) universally applied to the states. B) rarely applied to the states. C) limited by Barron v. Baltimore. D) limited by Plessy v. Ferguson. E) applied only to state governments.
6) The Supreme Court ruled that states were not completely free to limit forms of political expression in A) Near v. Minnesota. B) Gitlow v. New York. C) Palko v. Connecticut. D) Pointer v. Texas. E) Cantwell v. Connecticut. 7) The process by which the Supreme Court has chosen to apply the specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights to the states is called A) due process. B) the inclusion doctrine. C) selective establishment. D) selective incorporation. E) the exclusion doctrine. 8) In some governments, politicians may be required to prove their religious knowledge to be considered suitable for office. In the United States, however, this is expressly prohibited by A) the Freedom of Religion Act. B) the First Amendment. C) Article VI of the Constitution. D) Article I of the Constitution. E) the Sixth Amendment. 9) Religious rights, including the right to free exercise and the protection against establishment of an official religion, are protected by the Amendment. A) First B) Second C) Third D) Fifth E) Eighth 10) The Supreme Court uses the test in dealing with religious establishment cases. A) prurient interest B) Lemon C) Engel D) Rodriguez E) equal access 11) In a 2006 Religious Freedom Restoration Act case, the Court ruled that A) religious use of a tea containing an illegal hallucinogenic drug was protected by the First Amendment. B) flag burning for religious purposes was constitutional. C) killing animals for religious purposes was constitutional. D) prayer in school could never be permitted under the First Amendment. E) public schools can mandate courses that teach religious doctrine and instruction.
12) The Court formulated the clear and present danger test in A) Schenck v. U.S. B) Brandenburg v. Ohio. C) Roth v. U.S. D) Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District. E) Lemon v. Kurtzman. 13) If a person yells that there is a bomb on a bus when he knows that there isn t, his exclamation is not considered protected speech under A) Schenck v. U.S. B) Brandenburg v. Ohio. C) Roth v. U.S. D) Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District. E) Lemon v. Kurtzman. 14) The Supreme Court first ruled that the First Amendment protected symbolic speech in A) Stromberg v. California. B) Schenck v. U.S. C) Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School. D) Texas v. Johnson. E) Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart. 15) The difference between libel and slander is that A) libel is illegal, and slander is legal. B) libel is spoken, and slander is written. C) libel is written, and slander is spoken. D) libel is legal, and slander is illegal. E) libel only occurs with public figures, and slander can occur with private individuals. 16) Public officials cannot sue for libel unless A) they are wealthy. B) they can prove that actual malice was involved. C) they can show that a newspaper disregarded the truth. D) they have been libeled in connection with their public duties. E) they first resign from office. 17) In Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, the Supreme Court ruled that was/were not protected by the First Amendment. A) obscenity B) libel C) fighting words D) slander E) child pornography
18) In the Supreme Court ruled that material can only be considered obscene if it is utterly without redeeming social importance. A) Roth v. U.S. B) Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire C) Near v. Minnesota D) U.S. v. Miller E) Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union 19) The Supreme Court has defined obscenity A) consistently using English common law standards. B) as knowing it when they see it. C) as consistently unconstitutional. D) narrowly, being only applicable to motion pictures. E) differently in different periods of time. 20) A woman sells scarves to passersby on a busy city street during the week of Independence Day. Three months later, the city council passes a law making street vending illegal. Could the woman be found guilty of violating the new law? A) Yes, but only if she was being libelous. B) No, because the woman broke law over a holiday weekend. C) No, as it is considered an ex post facto law. D) Yes, particularly if the law was passed because she was making a disturbance. E) Maybe, but only if the law is not considered a bill of attainder. 21) Warrantless searches are A) patently unconstitutional. B) always in violation of the Fourth Amendment since they are conducted without court approval. C) not regulated by state or local governments. D) constitutional only under certain circumstances. E) always constitutional. 22) A warrantless search is permissible if A) consent is given. B) a search warrant is difficult to obtain. C) the officer thinks stolen goods may be in a house. D) a parked car is involved. E) illegal drugs are involved. 23) The standard that illegally seized evidence cannot not be used at trial is known as the A) due process clause. B) procedural rights rule. C) probable cause rule. D) Mapp rule. E) exclusionary rule.
24) The Supreme Court ruled that lawyers in criminal cases are necessities, not luxuries, in A) Weeks v. U.S. B) Mapp v. Ohio. C) Gregg v. Georgia. D) Gideon v. Wainwright. E) McCleskey v. Kemp. 25) The interest group that organized and sponsored Furman v. Georgia was the A) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund. B) American Civil Liberties Union. C) National Organization of Women. D) Southern Christian Leadership Council. E) National Rifle Association. 26) The Eighth Amendment prohibits A) unreasonable searches and seizures. B) cruel and unusual punishment. C) trial without an attorney. D) self-incrimination. E) invasions of privacy. 27) In 1976, the Supreme Court ruled that a death penalty statute was constitutional because new laws had been passed to ensure that sentencing was not arbitrary. This was the case of A) Gideon v. Wainwright. B) Bowers v. Hardwick. C) Mapp v. Ohio. D) Furman v. Georgia. E) Gregg v. Georgia. 28) Griswold v. Connecticut involved the issue of A) gay marriage. B) availability of over-the-counter methods of birth control. C) access to birth control. D) abortion. E) sodomy. 29) In Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court ruled that the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments cast penumbras, thereby creating A) zones of privacy. B) a constitutional right to abortion. C) the Bill of Rights. D) civil liberties. E) areas of life subject to governmental regulation or control.
30) During the 1970s, the Supreme Court found that was protected by the right to privacy implied from guarantees in the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment. A) an absolute right to abortion B) a woman's right to sex education C) the right of married couples to have access to information on birth defects D) an absolute right to disseminate birth control information to minors E) a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy under certain conditions 31) The Ninth Amendment has been used as the basis for A) the death penalty. B) the right to an abortion when coupled with other guarantees. C) states' rights. D) many Federalist complaints. E) affirmative action. 32) Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) A) overruled Betts v. Brady. B) incorporated the right to counsel under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. C) held that the right to counsel was not fundamental. D) Both A and B 33) In Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), the plaintiff (Gideon) A) conducted his own defense on a criminal charge before a Florida jury. B) had a court-appointed counsel for his defense. C) hired a high-priced counsel. D) was given a suspended sentence by the Florida court. 34) In Abrams v. United States, Justice Holmes A) stressed the need for government to have wide latitude to regulate speech and press during both wartime and peacetime. B) modified his original clear and present danger standard in Schenck v. United States. C) stated that government should not regulate speech under any circumstances. D) directly overturned Schenck v. United States. 35) The Court held school prayer to be unconstitutional in the case of Engel v. Vitale (1962) on the grounds that it violated A) the First Amendment s Establishment Clause. B) the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. C) equal protection of the laws. D) First Amendment protections of freedom of speech and of the press. 36) Justice Douglas in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) A) held that there is no right to privacy in the Constitution. B) upheld the state law banning the sale of contraceptives. C) found a right to privacy in the penumbras of provisions of the Bill of Rights. D) held that the right to privacy included a right to abortion.
37) In Roe v. Wade (1973), the Supreme Court upheld abortion as a part of A) First Amendment freedoms of expression. B) equal protection of the laws. C) the right to privacy. D) Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination. 38) In Roe v. Wade (1973), the Supreme Court held that the right to abortion was A) absolute. B) subject to governmental regulation after the first trimester of pregnancy. C) subject to governmental regulation to protect the life and health of the fetus. D) subject to governmental regulation at any time to protect maternal life and health.
Chapter 5 Exam Civil Liberties Multiple Choice Questions 1) In D.C. v. Heller, the Supreme Court A) ruled that the USA PATRIOT Act was constitutional. B) struck down a law prohibiting the sale of handguns. C) ruled that the Second Amendment applied only to militias. D) urged the Congress to grant statehood to the District of Columbia. E) overturned the Court s earlier decision in Mapp v. Ohio (1961). Answer: B Reference: Chapter Opener, pgs. 148-150 2) The personal guarantees and freedoms that the federal government cannot abridge by law, constitution, or judicial interpretation are called A) civil rights. B) enumerated rights. C) civil liberties. D) privacy laws. E) incorporated freedoms. Answer: C Reference: Chapter Opener, pgs. 148-150 3) The Amendments were added to appease the Federalists concerns regarding enumerated rights. A) First and Fourth B) Second and Third C) Fourth and Eighth D) Ninth and Tenth E) Fourteenth and Fifteenth Answer: D Reference: LO 5.1, pgs. 151-153 4) Why was the Bill of Rights a politically necessary addition to the Constitution? A) The Framers wanted to outline states powers. B) The Framers feared the people would revolt. C) It was a compromise to appease Anti-Federalists. D) The Bill of Rights was necessary for the system of checks and balances. E) The institutional powers specified in the original Constitution were unclear. Answer: C Reference: LO 5.1, pgs. 151-153
5) Before the Fourteenth Amendment was added to the Constitution, the civil liberties protections contained in the Bill of Rights were A) universally applied to the states. B) rarely applied to the states. C) limited by Barron v. Baltimore. D) limited by Plessy v. Ferguson. E) applied only to state governments. Answer: C Reference: LO 5.1, pgs. 151-153 6) The Supreme Court ruled that states were not completely free to limit forms of political expression in A) Near v. Minnesota. B) Gitlow v. New York. C) Palko v. Connecticut. D) Pointer v. Texas. E) Cantwell v. Connecticut. Answer: B Reference: LO 5.1, pgs. 151-153 7) The process by which the Supreme Court has chosen to apply the specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights to the states is called A) due process. B) the inclusion doctrine. C) selective establishment. D) selective incorporation. E) the exclusion doctrine. Answer: D Reference: LO 5.1, pgs. 151-153 8) In some governments, politicians may be required to prove their religious knowledge to be considered suitable for office. In the United States, however, this is expressly prohibited by A) the Freedom of Religion Act. B) the First Amendment. C) Article VI of the Constitution. D) Article I of the Constitution. E) the Sixth Amendment. Answer: C Reference: LO 5.2, pgs. 154-156 Skill: Application
9) Religious rights, including the right to free exercise and the protection against establishment of an official religion, are protected by the Amendment. A) First B) Second C) Third D) Fifth E) Eighth Reference: LO 5.2, pgs. 154-156 10) The Supreme Court uses the test in dealing with religious establishment cases. A) prurient interest B) Lemon C) Engel D) Rodriguez E) equal access Answer: B Reference: LO 5.2, pgs. 154-156 11) In a 2006 Religious Freedom Restoration Act case, the Court ruled that A) religious use of a tea containing an illegal hallucinogenic drug was protected by the First Amendment. B) flag burning for religious purposes was constitutional. C) killing animals for religious purposes was constitutional. D) prayer in school could never be permitted under the First Amendment. E) public schools can mandate courses that teach religious doctrine and instruction. Reference: LO 5.2, pgs. 154-156 12) The Court formulated the clear and present danger test in A) Schenck v. U.S. B) Brandenburg v. Ohio. C) Roth v. U.S. D) Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District. E) Lemon v. Kurtzman. Reference: LO 5.3, pgs. 157-163
13) If a person yells that there is a bomb on a bus when he knows that there isn t, his exclamation is not considered protected speech under A) Schenck v. U.S. B) Brandenburg v. Ohio. C) Roth v. U.S. D) Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District. E) Lemon v. Kurtzman. Reference: LO 5.3, pgs. 157-163 Skill: Application 14) The Supreme Court first ruled that the First Amendment protected symbolic speech in A) Stromberg v. California. B) Schenck v. U.S. C) Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School. D) Texas v. Johnson. E) Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart. Reference: LO 5.3, pgs. 157-163 15) The difference between libel and slander is that A) libel is illegal, and slander is legal. B) libel is spoken, and slander is written. C) libel is written, and slander is spoken. D) libel is legal, and slander is illegal. E) libel only occurs with public figures, and slander can occur with private individuals. Answer: C Reference: LO 5.3, pgs. 157-163 Skill: Analysis 16) Public officials cannot sue for libel unless A) they are wealthy. B) they can prove that actual malice was involved. C) they can show that a newspaper disregarded the truth. D) they have been libeled in connection with their public duties. E) they first resign from office. Answer: B Reference: LO 5.3, pgs. 157-163
17) In Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, the Supreme Court ruled that was/were not protected by the First Amendment. A) obscenity B) libel C) fighting words D) slander E) child pornography Answer: C Reference: LO 5.3, pgs. 157-163 18) In the Supreme Court ruled that material can only be considered obscene if it is utterly without redeeming social importance. A) Roth v. U.S. B) Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire C) Near v. Minnesota D) U.S. v. Miller E) Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union Reference: LO 5.3, pgs. 157-163 19) The Supreme Court has defined obscenity A) consistently using English common law standards. B) as knowing it when they see it. C) as consistently unconstitutional. D) narrowly, being only applicable to motion pictures. E) differently in different periods of time. Answer: E Reference: LO 5.3, pgs. 157-163 Skill: Analysis 20) A woman sells scarves to passersby on a busy city street during the week of Independence Day. Three months later, the city council passes a law making street vending illegal. Could the woman be found guilty of violating the new law? A) Yes, but only if she was being libelous. B) No, because the woman broke law over a holiday weekend. C) No, as it is considered an ex post facto law. D) Yes, particularly if the law was passed because she was making a disturbance. E) Maybe, but only if the law is not considered a bill of attainder. Answer: C Reference: LO 5.5, pgs. 164-172 Skill: Application
21) Warrantless searches are A) patently unconstitutional. B) always in violation of the Fourth Amendment since they are conducted without court approval. C) not regulated by state or local governments. D) constitutional only under certain circumstances. E) always constitutional. Answer: D Reference: LO 5.5, pgs. 164-172 22) A warrantless search is permissible if A) consent is given. B) a search warrant is difficult to obtain. C) the officer thinks stolen goods may be in a house. D) a parked car is involved. E) illegal drugs are involved. Reference: LO 5.5, pgs. 164-172 23) The standard that illegally seized evidence cannot not be used at trial is known as the A) due process clause. B) procedural rights rule. C) probable cause rule. D) Mapp rule. E) exclusionary rule. Answer: E Reference: LO 5.5, pgs. 164-172 24) The Supreme Court ruled that lawyers in criminal cases are necessities, not luxuries, in A) Weeks v. U.S. B) Mapp v. Ohio. C) Gregg v. Georgia. D) Gideon v. Wainwright. E) McCleskey v. Kemp. Answer: D Reference: LO 5.5, pgs. 164-172
25) The interest group that organized and sponsored Furman v. Georgia was the A) National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Legal Defense Fund. B) American Civil Liberties Union. C) National Organization of Women. D) Southern Christian Leadership Council. E) National Rifle Association. Reference: LO 5.5, pgs. 164-172 26) The Eighth Amendment prohibits A) unreasonable searches and seizures. B) cruel and unusual punishment. C) trial without an attorney. D) self-incrimination. E) invasions of privacy. Answer: B Reference: LO 5.5, pgs. 164-172 27) In 1976, the Supreme Court ruled that a death penalty statute was constitutional because new laws had been passed to ensure that sentencing was not arbitrary. This was the case of A) Gideon v. Wainwright. B) Bowers v. Hardwick. C) Mapp v. Ohio. D) Furman v. Georgia. E) Gregg v. Georgia. Answer: E Reference: LO 5.5, pgs. 164-172 28) Griswold v. Connecticut involved the issue of A) gay marriage. B) availability of over-the-counter methods of birth control. C) access to birth control. D) abortion. E) sodomy. Answer: C Reference: LO 5.6, pgs. 172-178
29) In Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court ruled that the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Fourteenth Amendments cast penumbras, thereby creating A) zones of privacy. B) a constitutional right to abortion. C) the Bill of Rights. D) civil liberties. E) areas of life subject to governmental regulation or control. Reference: LO 5.6, pgs. 172-178 30) During the 1970s, the Supreme Court found that was protected by the right to privacy implied from guarantees in the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment. A) an absolute right to abortion B) a woman's right to sex education C) the right of married couples to have access to information on birth defects D) an absolute right to disseminate birth control information to minors E) a woman's right to terminate a pregnancy under certain conditions Answer: E Reference: LO 5.6, pgs. 172-178 31) The Ninth Amendment has been used as the basis for A) the death penalty. B) the right to an abortion when coupled with other guarantees. C) states' rights. D) many Federalist complaints. E) affirmative action. Answer: B Reference: LO 5.6, pgs. 172-178 32) Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) A) overruled Betts v. Brady. B) incorporated the right to counsel under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. C) held that the right to counsel was not fundamental. D) Both A and B 33) In Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), the plaintiff (Gideon) A) conducted his own defense on a criminal charge before a Florida jury. B) had a court-appointed counsel for his defense. C) hired a high-priced counsel. D) was given a suspended sentence by the Florida court.
34) In Abrams v. United States, Justice Holmes A) stressed the need for government to have wide latitude to regulate speech and press during both wartime and peacetime. B) modified his original clear and present danger standard in Schenck v. United States. C) stated that government should not regulate speech under any circumstances. D) directly overturned Schenck v. United States. 35) The Court held school prayer to be unconstitutional in the case of Engel v. Vitale (1962) on the grounds that it violated A) the First Amendment s Establishment Clause. B) the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. C) equal protection of the laws. D) First Amendment protections of freedom of speech and of the press. 36) Justice Douglas in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) A) held that there is no right to privacy in the Constitution. B) upheld the state law banning the sale of contraceptives. C) found a right to privacy in the penumbras of provisions of the Bill of Rights. D) held that the right to privacy included a right to abortion. 37) In Roe v. Wade (1973), the Supreme Court upheld abortion as a part of A) First Amendment freedoms of expression. B) equal protection of the laws. C) the right to privacy. D) Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination. 38) In Roe v. Wade (1973), the Supreme Court held that the right to abortion was A) absolute. B) subject to governmental regulation after the first trimester of pregnancy. C) subject to governmental regulation to protect the life and health of the fetus. D) subject to governmental regulation at any time to protect maternal life and health. 39) The Supreme Court s Roe v. Wade decision has fairly been described as an example of A) procedural due process. B) substantive due process. C) judicial self-restraint. D) strict constitutional construction. 40) Critics of the Supreme Court s Roe v. Wade decision argue that it is an example of A) improper judicial activism. B) the Supreme Court acting as a super-legislature. C) overly loose constitutional construction. D) All of the above