Deck 11: Constitutional Violations II: Other Remedies Against Official Misconduct

Question 1

According to Pinder v.Johnson,involving a lawsuit by a mother against police officers and others for the death of her children in a fire:

A)the due process clauses create an official duty to protect life.
B)a duty to protect life can arise when the state restrains citizens from acting on their own behalf.
C)an affirmative duty to protect life can never arise on the part of government officials.
D)government action can never create a duty to protect life.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Bivens actions are:

A)constitutional tort actions against federal officers.
B)prohibited against officials who act under color of authority.
C)do not have to show unreasonable legal action by the defendants.
D)banned against federal officials.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

According to Pinder v.Johnson,involving a lawsuit by a mother against a police officer and others for the death of her children in a fire:

A)public officials owe private citizens the right to protect them from damage from one another.
B)a violation of clearly established law is not recoverable.
C)the due process clause does not require government actors to affirmatively protect life.
D)an affirmative duty to protect life can never arise on the part of government officials.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The most common mechanism for holding police accountable for their misconduct is:

A)a tort lawsuit.
B)a section 1983 lawsuit.
C)a letter of complaint.
D)administrative review and discipline.

Question 5

Which of the following is not a stage of internal review?

A)Investigation
B)Arbitration
C)Deliberation
D)Disposition

Question 6

The U.S.Supreme Court has put which of the following limitations on 1983 actions?

A)They can only be brought for negligent acts.
B)They can only be brought against government bodies.
C)They can only be brought against senior government administrators.
D)They can only be brought for deliberate acts.

Question 7

The major objection to internal review of police misconduct is:

A)police officers do not trust the officers conducting the investigation of misconduct.
B)a police department has to divert resources away from fighting crime.
C)the police should not be policing themselves.
D)external review is less expensive and better received by the media.

Question 8

Judges have_________from civil lawsuits for actions they take while performing their official judicial duties.

A)official immunity
B)functional immunity
C)sovereign immunity
D)absolute immunity

Question 9

The first U.S._________case was DeShaney v.Winnebago County Department of Social Services (1989).

A)civil action
B)duty-to-protect
C)limited liability
D)strict liability

Question 10

According to the U.S.Supreme Court,there is an exception to the no-duty-to-protect-rule,called the special-relationship exception.That special relationship is:

A)dependent on the crime committed.
B)custody.
C)when a suspect is being interrogated.
D)when a warrant is being served.

Question 11

According to the defense of official immunity,an officer is personally liable:

A)for any misconduct while on duty.
B)for any willful or malicious misconduct.
C)for any negligent act while exercising personal discretion.
D)whenever she exercises her personal judgment.

Question 12

Which of the following are always protected by absolute immunity from civil lawsuits while they are performing their official duties?

A)Judges
B)Prosecutors
C)Juries
D)Police officers

Question 13

The legal doctrine of holding employers liable for wrongs committed by their employees if the employee is acting in the scope of employment is known as:

A)no duty to protect.
B)sovereign immunity.
C)color of law.
D)respondeat superior.

Question 14

According to the Supreme Court in Anderson v.Creighton,involving a lawsuit for damages stemming from the FBI's warrantless search of a house,police officers are entitled to qualified immunity for their illegal acts:

A)never.
B)when they acted in subjective good faith.
C)when they can establish that a reasonable officer could have believed that the search did not violate the Fourth Amendment,even though it actually did.
D)even if they violate a clearly established right.

Question 15

Civil actions by citizens against the government derive from all of the following except:

A)state tort law
B)federal statutes
C)penal codes
D)U.S.Constitution

Question 16

Which of the following is NOT a remedy for illegal government action?

A)Internal discipline
B)Legislative action
C)Damage suits against governments
D)Criminal prosecution

Question 17

Prior to 1971,individuals were banned from suing_________for violations of their constitutional rights,but that changed in Bivens v.Six Unnamed FBI Agents (1971).

A)the superiors of law enforcement officers
B)individual law enforcement officers
C)the government units in charge of officers and departments
D)law enforcement agencies

Question 18

The U.S.government can be sued for the constitutional torts of federal law enforcement officers who have the authority to search and arrest under:

A)the Bivens rule.
B)the Federal Tort Claims Act.
C)Section 1983.
D)state tort law.

Question 19

Internal review of police misconduct involves review:

A)of misconduct by civilians.
B)of misconduct by a special team of officers in the department.
C)by a special master appointed by the court.
D)by officers in another police department.

Question 20

People who sue the government or its officers under section 1983 are:

A)usually successful.
B)usually successful if the violation was extreme.
C)rarely successful.
D)usually successful because juries do not believe police officers tell the truth.

Question 21

Officials who violate the Fourth Amendment by conducting an illegal search can still receive qualified immunity for their actions.

Question 22

Prosecutors have_________immunity from civil lawsuit.

A)absolute
B)qualified
C)sovereign
D)functional

Question 23

Police are rarely charged or convicted of criminal misconduct.

Question 24

Research about the effectiveness of civilian review boards shows that:

A)they are very effective in investigating police misconduct.
B)civilians are not well equipped to evaluate police misconduct.
C)it is difficult to measure their effectiveness.
D)most large cities do not use civilian review,therefore data is lacking.

Question 25

Prosecutors have qualified immunity for their conduct as advocates in the judicial phase of the criminal process.

Question 26

Heightening the possibility of a successful Bivens action requires the plaintiff to prove that: (1)an officer was acting under the color of the law;and (2): that the officer:

A)willfully neglected the request of a private citizen for help because of having to prioritize other calls for service.
B)used reasonable force to arrest but nonetheless injured the person.
C)deprived that person of a constitutional right.
D)produced an observable physical injury to the claimant.

Question 27

Suing governmental bodies under Section 1983 is more complicated than suing individuals.

Question 28

Research indicates that:

A)civilian review procedures rarely sustain citizens' complaints about police.
B)civilian review procedures overwhelmingly sustain citizens' complaints about the police.
C)civilian review boards refuse to hear many of the complaints filed against the police.
D)most civilian review procedures allow the boards to take disciplinary action against police officers.

Question 29

According to the qualified immunity defense,law enforcement officers cannot be held personally liable in a civil lawsuit if:

A)the officer honestly believed they had not violated the law.
B)the officer can show that under the circumstances their actions were warranted.
C)the officer can show their action was objectively reasonable as measured by legal rules "clearly established" at the time they acted.
D)criminal charges are also not filed against them.

Question 30

Courts that have allowed the state-created danger exception apply it in one of two ways.The first way requires (a)a special relationship between the government and the victim,plus (b):

A)a plaintiff who committed only a minor offense
B)an affirmative defense
C)a danger created by the state
D)a danger created by the plaintiff

Question 31

Individual officers or government agencies cannot be sued for failing to stop private people from violating their rights by inflicting injuries on them.This is known as the:

A)no special relationship rule.
B)no affirmative duty to protect rule.
C)state did not create the danger rule.
D)avoid danger rule.

Question 32

Most plaintiffs who file civil lawsuits against police officers are seeking:

A)monetary damages.
B)injunctions.
C)declaratory judgments.
D)an apology.

Question 33

External civilian review results in more charges against police officers being sustained than internal review.

Question 34

Which of the following acts is statistically the single greatest cause of injury to women in America?

A)Homicide by strangers
B)Domestic violence
C)Drinking and driving
D)Sexual assault

Question 35

Which is true regarding suits against city agencies?

A)The city/agency may be sued when their policies or customs result in injuries that the agency is responsible for under section 1983.
B)There are no restrictions on suing any government agency or its agents.
C)A local government can be sued for an injury inflicted solely because of the individual actions by its employees or agents,whether on or off-duty.
D)Police officers can never be sued under the Police Officer's Bill of Rights.

Question 36

Law enforcement officers have a defense called_________,wherein individual officers cannot be held personally liable for official action if their action meets the test of objective legal reasonableness.

A)qualified immunity
B)the good faith defense
C)the Bivens umbrella
D)the law enforcement exception

Question 37

When the government takes a person into custody against their will the government:

A)does not have a duty to protect them from being injured by other private persons.
B)created the danger taking them into custody,so it must protect them.
C)must protect them because a special relationship has been created with the person in custody who cannot protect themselves.
D)only has the duty to protect the person in custody from harm by government officers.

Question 38

Beltran v.City of El Paso (2004)ruled that:

A)a 911 operator had an affirmative duty to protect a mother and her daughter from their husband/father who murdered them.
B)a 911 operator had no affirmative duty to protect a mother and daughter from their husband/father who murdered them.
C)the 911 operator violated the due process rights of the murdered mother and daughter due to the operator's failure to protect them.
D)the 911 operator violated the constitutional rights of the murdered mother and daughter due to the operator conveying untruthful information.

Question 39

The Federal Tort Claims Act:

A)waives sovereign immunity and allows lawsuits against the federal government for the constitutional torts of its officers.
B)allows citizens to submit their damage claims resulting from constitutional torts to a panel charged with deciding if the claim should be paid.
C)upholds the government's sovereign immunity from lawsuit.
D)only allows lawsuits against the individual officers involved.

Question 40

Which legal doctrine prohibits people from suing the government without its consent?

A)Qualified immunity
B)Absolute immunity
C)Official immunity
D)Sovereign immunity

Question 41

State and local governments are responsible for the torts of their employees,if the torts are committed during the
employees' employment,under the doctrine of_________.

Question 42

Review of complaints against police officers by participants who themselves are not police officers is called
.
__________

Question 43

The risk of vexatious litigation interfering with their official duties supports giving prosecutors absolute immunity for their decisions associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process.

Question 44

Under certain circumstances,law enforcement officers have a total immunity defense that protects them from
being held personally liable for violating someone's rights.

Question 45

In order to win a Section 1983 lawsuit against a police officer,the plaintiff must prove that the officer was acting under color of state law when he engaged in the behavior that is the subject of the suit.

Question 46

Under the doctrine of respondeat superior,state and local governments and their agencies are liable for their
employees' torts if the employee committed the tort during the course of their employment.

Question 47

When individual government employees are immune for their actions,criminal justice agencies can likewise escape liability under___________________________.

Question 48

Under the state-created danger exception to the no-duty-to-protect rule,a law enforcement officer can be held liable under section 1983 if his actions created a special danger to the general public.

Question 49

A person who brings a suit against the government asking for a remedy is called the_________.

Question 50

Money awarded to compensate someone for a violation of their rights is called_________.

Question 51

Lawsuits against individual federal law enforcement officers for a constitutional violation are called
.

Question 52

Under the doctrine of sovereign immunity,governments are always immune from lawsuit.

Question 53

Lawsuits may be brought against the federal government for federal officials' constitutional torts pursuant to the
.
__________

Question 54

Officers who violate the constitutional rights of private individuals commit a/n_________.

Question 55

Town of Castle Rock v.Gonzalez (2005)ruled that individuals have a constitutional right to have restraining orders enforced.

Question 56

The government and its officers have a constitutional duty to protect individuals from other private individuals who violate their rights.

Question 57

Most police believe internal affairs unit are necessary.

Question 58

Criminal justice personnel have limited limited with regard to torts under the defense of
.

Question 59

A prosecutor's appearance in court in support of an application for a search warrant is protected by qualified
immunity.

Question 60

Suits under the Civil Rights Act are commonly called__________________.

Question 61

Identify the two elements of the qualified immunity defense,and explain why the test is so easy for officers to pass.

Question 62

Identify two elements plaintiffs in § 1983 actions against state and local law enforcement officers have to prove.Identify and describe two limits placed by the U.S.Supreme Court in § 1983 actions against state and local officers.

Question 63

Can you sue a judge or a prosecutor for damages resulting from actions performed in their official capacities? Explain.

Question 64

Identify and describe the differences between two kinds of state civil lawsuits against individual state officers.

Question 65

Summarize the Bivens v.Six Unnamed FBI Agents case,and explain its significance.