Question 1

In ______________, the Supreme Court upheld a village ordinance that limited residential land use to one-family dwellings.

Accepted Answer

Belle Terre v. Boraas (1974) dealt with a village ordinance that limited land use to only one-family dwellings. The Supreme Court ultimately upheld the ordinance, ruling that the ordinance was not discriminatory and that it served the legitimate purpose of preserving the village's character and environment.

Question 2

In Jacobson v. Massachusetts (1905), Justice ___________ majority opinion did recognize that "[t]here is, of course, a sphere within which the individual may assert the supremacy of his own will and rightfully dispute the authority of any human government, especially of any free government existing under a written constitution, to interfere with the exercise of that will."

Accepted Answer

Jacobson v. Massachusetts was a Supreme Court case that upheld the authority of states to enforce compulsory vaccination laws. Justice John M. Harlan delivered the majority opinion, which recognized the individual's right to assert their will in certain spheres.

Question 3

To prevent assisted suicide in the state of _____________, the legislature enacted a law providing that "[a] person is guilty of promoting a suicide attempt when he knowingly causes or aids another person to attempt suicide," which was held unconstitutional in 1994.

Accepted Answer

The answer of To prevent assisted suicide in the state...

Question 4

In ______________, the Supreme Court struck down an ordinance that limited the occupancy of residences to members of single families. However, the ordinance defined "family" in such a way as to prohibit a grandmother from cohabiting with her two grandsons.

Accepted Answer

The case described refers to Moore v. City of East Cleveland (1977), in which the Supreme Court ruled that the ordinance's narrow definition of "family" violated the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court held that the ordinance unconstitutionally impinged on the freedom of choice in family living arrangements by prohibiting a grandmother from living with her grandsons.

Question 5

While the Schiavo case did not develop any new legal principles or procedures, it did reaffirm the __________ in a highly public and highly politicized context.

Accepted Answer

The Schiavo case involved the right to make end-of-life decisions and to withdraw life-sustaining treatment, which is a well-established legal principle. The case did not address birth control or same-sex marriage.

Question 6

In ____________, the Supreme Court voted to uphold a Connecticut welfare regulation that denied Medicaid benefits to indigent women seeking to have abortions, unless their attending physicians certified their abortions as "medically necessary."

Accepted Answer

Maher v. Roe (1977) is the case where the Supreme Court upheld a Connecticut welfare regulation that limited Medicaid funding for abortions to those that were "medically necessary," thereby denying Medicaid benefits for indigent women seeking abortions that were not deemed medically necessary by their attending physicians.

Question 7

In ____________, the Supreme Court upheld a federal regulation that barred birth control clinics that received federal funds from providing information about abortion services to their clients.

Accepted Answer

Rust v. Sullivan (1991) upheld a federal regulation that prohibited birth control clinics that received federal funds from providing information about abortion services to their clients. This became known as the "gag rule" and was controversial because it limited the free speech of healthcare providers and restricted access to information about reproductive health options.

Question 8

Proponents of a constitutional right of privacy often cite the ______ Amendment, which guarantees rights "retained by the people" even though they are not enumerated in the Constitution.

Accepted Answer

The Ninth Amendment is often cited as the basis for the constitutional right to privacy, as it states that just because certain rights are not specifically mentioned in the Constitution does not mean that they do not exist.

Question 9

In Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), Justice __________ asserted that "specific guarantees in the Bill of Rights have penumbras, formed by emanations from those guarantees that help give them life and substance, " and reasoned that the explicit language of the Bill of Rights, specifically the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Amendments, when considered along with their "emanations" and "penumbras" as defined by previous decisions of the Court, add up to a general, independent right of privacy.

Accepted Answer

Justice Douglas wrote the majority opinion in Griswold v. Connecticut, where he introduced the concept of "penumbras" and "emanations" from the Bill of Rights to argue for a constitutional right to privacy.

Question 10

In ______________, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court permitted the guardian of an elderly, retarded man to assert his ward's right of privacy and refuse chemotherapy treatment for the elderly man's leukemia.

Accepted Answer

The case described in the question is Superintendent of Belchertown State School v. Saikewicz (1977).

Question 11

The best-known case involving the doctrine of ____________in relation to the so-called right to die is In re Quinlan (N.J. 1976).

Accepted Answer

The doctrine of substituted judgment allows someone else to make healthcare decisions on behalf of someone who is unable to make their own decisions. In the case of In re Quinlan, the court used the doctrine of substituted judgment to allow Quinlan's father to make the decision to remove her from life support.

Quiz 6: Personal Autonomy and the Constitutional Right of Privacy