Deck 8: Crimes Against Public Order and Public Decency

Question 1

Today's disorderly conduct statutes grew from the common law crime of:

A) public disorder
B) disturbing the peace
C) breach of the peace
D) public rowdiness

Answer 1

C

Question 2

In all states it is illegal to operate motor vehicles while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, although states vary with regard to how they define the offenses as well as what those offenses are called. Of the following terms, all are used except one:

A) driving while under the influence
B) operating under the influence of liquor
C) driving while intoxicated
D) operating a motor vehicle while exercising sobriety

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Under the common law it was a misdemeanor for three or more persons to meet to disturb the public peace with the intention of participating in a forcible and violent execution of an unlawful enterprise or of a lawful enterprise in an unauthorized manner. This offense is called:

A) rout
B) riot
C) unlawful assembly
D) lawful assembly

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Under the common law, if three or more persons to meet to disturb the public peace with the intention of participating in a forcible and violent execution of an unlawful enterprise or of a lawful enterprise in an unauthorized manner and the meeting resulted in steps to carry out the plan it is called a:

A) rout
B) riot
C) unlawful assembly
D) lawful assembly

Question 5

Under the common law, if three or more persons to meet to disturb the public peace with the intention of participating in a forcible and violent execution of an unlawful enterprise or of a lawful enterprise in an unauthorized manner, and the meeting resulted in steps to carry out the plan, and the plan was then carried out it was called a:

A) rout
B) riot
C) unlawful assembly
D) lawful assembly

Question 6

In drafting statutes regulating the flow of traffic and people on public streets, highway and sidewalk legislation must be careful to avoid vagueness and overbreadth issues that would grant too much discretion to law enforcement. To do so would potentially violate free speech assembly provisions of the ___________ Amendment to the constitution.

A) Fourteenth
B) Fourth
C) Second
D) First

Question 7

The Texas statute that defines the crime of homosexual conduct as engaging "in deviate sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex" was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the 2003 case of:

A) Johnson v. Texas
B) Ruiz v. Texas
C) Lawrence v. Texas
D) Robinson v. Texas

Question 8

Some jurisdictions retain an offense called___________________ , which refers to unlawful sexual intercourse between two unmarried persons of opposite genders.

A) sodomy
B) seduction
C) prostitution
D) fornication

Question 9

In 1603 the British Parliament made this act against the family a crime punishable by death. It remains a crime in the United States today but is not often prosecuted and no longer carries the death penalty.

A) adultery
B) double adultery
C) fornication
D) bigamy

Question 10

The crime of ____________________________ refers to procuring or securing a person, usually a female, to satisfy the lust of another, usually a male, or catering to the lust of another.

A) adultery
B) fornication
C) prostitution
D) pandering

Question 11

Which court case provided the current conditions that must be met for material to be considered obscene?

A) Stanley v. California
B) Stanley v. Georgia
C) Miller v. California
D) Miller v. Georgia

Question 12

In which 2002 case did the Supreme Court uphold virtual child pornography, which involves images that are created by computer simulations that make adults look like children?

A) Ashcroft v. ACLU
B) Reno v. ACLU
C) Reno v. Free Speech Coalition
D) Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition

Question 13

In 2008 the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the PROTECT Act in the case of:

A) Miller v. California
B) United States v. Williams
C) Ashcroft v. Williams
D) Ashcroft v. Miller

Question 14

In 2003, the _________ Act was passed by Congress which is a lengthy statute that contains provisions aimed at protecting children from sexual assaults, pornography, kidnapping, and other crimes.

A) Child Protection Action
B) Sexual Crimes Protection Act
C) PROTECT Act
D) CHILD Act

Question 15

As discussed in the textbook, ____________ pornography is that which is created by computer simulations.

A) Virtual child
B) Digital child
C) Modern child
D) Simulated child

Question 16

Pandering is also called _________.

A) Prostitution
B) Seduction
C) Fornication
D) Pimping

Question 17

Bigamy is considered a crime against the _______.

A) State
B) Individual
C) Family
D) Spouse

Question 18

What are the two types of adultery discussed in the textbook?

A) Single; Double
B) No fault; Major fault
C) Bigamy; Fornication
D) Reasonable; Unreasonable

Question 19

As discussed in the textbook, ___________ historically refers to the act by a man who uses solicitation, persuasion, promises, bribes, or other methods to entice a woman to have unlawful sexual intercourse with him.

A) Seduction
B) Pimping
C) Fornication
D) Bigamy

Question 20

In which case did the Supreme Court uphold the Georgia statute prohibiting sodomy, defined as "any sexual act involving the sex organs of one person and the mouth or anus of another?"

A) Johnson v. Texas
B) Bowers v. Hardwick
C) State v. Powell
D) Lawrence v. Texas

Question 21

Which of the following is not one of the three conditions that need to be met for information to be considered obscene?

A) The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest in sex
B) The work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state or federal law
C) The work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value
D) The work is viewed by a reasonably large audience and is considered reasonably offensive to the average person

Question 22

An example of a crime against public order that has received considerable attention in recent years is that of ______________.

A) Seduction
B) Obscenity
C) Harassment
D) Lewdness

Question 23

What term has the Supreme Court had difficulty in defining and has been deemed worthy of regulating?

A) Pornography
B) Abuse
C) Obscenity
D) Sodomy

Question 24

What crime is defined by Pennsylvania as "a person commits a misdemeanor of the third degree if he does any lewd act which he knows is likely to be observed by others who would be affronted or alarmed"?

A) Obscenity
B) Open lewdness
C) Seduction
D) Harassment

Question 25

Which of the following most recent category of porn consists of pornographic images that are published without the permission of the subjects?

A) Lewd
B) Sexting
C) Child
D) Revenge

Question 26

Explain the constitutional limits imposed on the fighting words doctrine.

Question 27

Explain the Court's rationale in Cohen v. California in reversing Cohen's conviction as it relates to offensive or fighting words.

Question 28

Explain the history of vagrancy and loitering statutes and how they may be unconstitutional.

Question 29

Explain the Court's rationale in holding an ordinance unconstitutional in City of Chicago v. Morales.

Question 30

Discuss the term "reading the riot act" as applied to the English Riot Act of 1714.

Question 31

In the 1973 case of Miller v. California, the Court articulated three conditions that must be met for information to be considered obscene. Explain those three conditions.

Question 32

Explain why the PROTECT Act passed constitutional scrutiny in the case of United States v. Williams in 2008.

Question 33

Should vagrancy be considered a crime? Why have many vagrancy statutes been declared unconstitutional?

Question 34

Explain the test for obscenity outlined in the U.S. Supreme Court decision Miller v. California (1973). What is meant by the evolving standards of decency? Why does the court focus on the location of the contested speech? Develop an argument against the Miller test as vague or overbroad.

Question 35

Define and explain the crime of harassment.

Question 36

Why do you believe adultery crimes are rarely prosecuted?

Question 37

Why are statutes regulating behavior in public places continuously challenged in the courts? What does it mean if a statute is vague or overbroad? What are the constitutional implications of these doctrines?

Question 38

Define breach of the peace, disorderly conduct, and fighting words.

Question 39

Discuss why animal abuse has attracted more attention now than before.

Question 40

What is human trafficking and what are some of the problems associated ith trying to regulate this type of crime?