Question 1

Most terrorists claim to be ______.

Accepted Answer

Most terrorists claim to be "freedom fighters" as they often justify their actions by stating they are fighting against what they perceive as oppression or for the liberation of their people.

Question 2

What rule prohibits the use of evidence in court if it was obtained by police or an agent of the police in violation of the constitutional rights of the suspect?

Accepted Answer

The exclusionary rule prohibits the use of evidence in court if it was obtained by police or an agent of the police in violation of the constitutional rights of the suspect. This rule is designed to deter police misconduct by excluding improperly obtained evidence from being used in court.

Question 3

The exclusionary rule was first expounded in ______ and applied only to federal law enforcement officers.

Accepted Answer

The exclusionary rule, which prevents illegally obtained evidence from being used in court, was first expounded in Weeks v. United States in 1914 and initially applied only to federal law enforcement officers.

Question 4

The exclusionary rule applies to evidence obtained directly as the result of constitutional violations and also to evidence found indirectly as a result of the violation under what is referred to as the ______.

Accepted Answer

The correct term is "fruit of the poisonous tree doctrine," which extends the exclusionary rule to evidence indirectly obtained as a result of a constitutional violation.

Question 5

The ______ deals with searches conducted with a warrant, and it states that when a police officer acting in good faith obtains a warrant, conducts a search, and seizes evidence, that evidence will not be excluded from court proceedings even if the warrant is later invalidated.

Accepted Answer

The good-faith doctrine allows evidence collected with a technically invalid warrant to be used in court if the police acted in good faith, believing the warrant was valid.

Question 6

The ______ allows the admission of illegally obtained evidence if it would have been discovered lawfully in the "normal course of events" anyway.

Accepted Answer

The inevitable discovery doctrine allows for the admission of evidence that was obtained illegally if it can be shown that the evidence would have been discovered lawfully in the normal course of events.

Question 7

The ______ holds that illegally obtained evidence may be admitted if it was also obtained through an independent source not tainted by police misconduct.

Accepted Answer

The independent source doctrine allows evidence initially discovered during, or as a consequence of, an unlawful search, but later obtained independently from activities untainted by the initial illegality, to be admitted in court.

Question 8

In ______, the Supreme Court recognized that announcing the presence of a police officer and waiting outside for a response is unreasonable in certain cases.

Accepted Answer

In Wilson v. Arkansas, the Supreme Court recognized that the "knock-and-announce" rule is not absolute and that there are circumstances where it is unreasonable to require police to announce their presence before entering.

Question 9

It is the responsibility of the judge to advise the police in matters pertaining to law and to help them prepare cases for trial.

Accepted Answer

Judges are responsible for interpreting the law and ensuring fair trials, not advising the police or helping them prepare cases.

Question 10

Determining whether a law has been broken is a technical judgment.

Accepted Answer

Determining whether a law has been broken requires an understanding of the specific legal provisions and their application to the facts of the case, which is a technical judgment.

Question 11

Making broad statements on the Internet meant to intimidate another person is a clear violation of the 1st Amendment.

Accepted Answer

The 1st Amendment protects freedom of speech, but it does not protect speech that involves threats or intimidation, which can be subject to legal restrictions.

Question 12

The right to have a peaceful assembly falls under the 2nd Amendment.

Accepted Answer

The right to have a peaceful assembly is protected under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, not the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment addresses the right to keep and bear arms.

Question 13

The sharing of child pornography via the Internet, for example, has been ruled beyond the protection of the 1st Amendment.

Accepted Answer

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that child pornography is not protected by the First Amendment due to its exploitative and harmful nature.

Question 14

The 2nd Amendment does not address due process.

Accepted Answer

The 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution addresses the right to keep and bear arms, while due process is addressed in the 5th and 14th Amendments.

Question 15

The right to carry concealed weapons has received a good deal of attention in the past few years, with law enforcement officials coming down on both sides of the argument.

Accepted Answer

The debate over the right to carry concealed weapons has indeed been a significant issue in recent years, with law enforcement officials and public figures expressing varied opinions on the matter, reflecting the complexity and divisiveness of the topic.

Question 16

If a transgender person complains of being held among his or her biological gender in jail, as opposed to his or her identified gender, he or she would have a valid complaint of a 14th Amendment violation against the department and municipality holding him or her.

Accepted Answer

The 14th Amendment guarantees equal protection under the law, and courts have recognized that discrimination based on gender identity can violate this principle. Holding a transgender person in a facility that does not align with their gender identity could be seen as discriminatory and a violation of their rights.

Question 17

A seizure occurs when an expectation of privacy that society is prepared to consider reasonable is infringed.

Accepted Answer

A seizure refers to the act of forcibly taking control or possession of something or someone, particularly by legal authority; it does not relate to expectations of privacy. The definition provided describes more closely the concept of a violation of privacy or unreasonable search, not a seizure.

Question 18

To comprehend the impact of the 4th Amendment, the police must be conversant with the underlying concepts of probable cause and reasonableness.

Accepted Answer

The 4th Amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, requiring law enforcement to understand probable cause and reasonableness to ensure compliance with constitutional protections.

Question 19

Reasonable suspicion, which is short of probable cause, may be used as a basis for stopping and even frisking specific individuals under the right circumstances.

Accepted Answer

Reasonable suspicion is a standard used in criminal procedure that is indeed lower than probable cause. It allows law enforcement officers to stop and frisk individuals if they have a reasonable basis to suspect the person is involved in criminal activity, as established in the U.S. Supreme Court case Terry v. Ohio (1968).

Question 20

Reasonableness generally refers to what a reasonable person, in similar circumstances, based on similar information, might conclude.

Accepted Answer

Reasonableness is a standard used to evaluate decisions or actions based on what a hypothetical reasonable person would do in similar circumstances, considering the information available at the time.

Quiz 9: Law, Court Decisions, and the Police