Deck 11: Criminal Justice

Question 1

The Supreme Court first applied the Fourth Amendment to the states in _____.

A) Wolf v. Colorado (1949)
B) Weeks v. U.S. (1914)
C) Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
D) U.S. v. Calandra (1974)

Answer 1

A

Question 2

_____ stands for the rule that police, upon making a lawful arrest, may perform a warrantless search only of the person and the area within the suspect's immediate grasp or control.

A) Aguilar v. Texas (1964)
B) Chimel v. California (1969)
C) Stone v. Powell (1976)
D) Illinois v. Gates (1983)

Answer 2

B

Question 3

In Terry v. Ohio (1968), the Supreme Court allowed a(n) _____ on the basis of _____.

A) pat-down search; reasonable suspicion
B) arrest; reasonable suspicion
C) arrest; drug courier profile
D) warrantless search; testimony from an unidentified informant

Answer 3

A

Question 4

In the case of Mapp v. Ohio (1961), Dollree Mapp had been prosecuted on a charge of _____.

A) harboring a fugitive
B) resisting arrest
C) arson
D) none of the above

Question 5

According to U.S. v. Leon (1984), evidence obtained through a warrantless search is not subject to the exclusionary rule as long as police are acting in "good faith." _____

Question 6

The majority opinion in Miranda v. Arizona (1966) was authored by _____.

A) Chief Justice Earl Warren
B) Justice William Brennan
C) Justice Potter Stewart
D) Justice Hugo Black

Question 7

In Powell v. Alabama (1932), the right to counsel for all criminal cases was incorporated into the Fourteenth Amendment and applied to the states. _____

Question 8

The _____ Amendment provides that that accused "shall enjoy the right" to a jury trial in criminal cases. The _____ Amendment guarantees a jury trial in civil cases "where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars."

A) Fifth; Fifth
B) Sixth; Sixth
C) Fifth, Sixth
D) Sixth; Seventh

Question 9

In Furman v. Georgia (1972), the Court held that the death penalty was unconstitutional because _____.

A) it violated "evolving standards of decency"
B) it was applied selectively
C) it served no penal, deterrence, or retribution purposes more effectively than a less severe punishment would
D) a sentencing mistake was without corrective devices

Question 10

In Furman v. Georgia (1972), Justices _____ and _____ stated their view that the death penalty is inherently "cruel and unusual punishment."

A) White; Rehnquist
B) Warren; Stewart
C) Blackmun; Burger
D) Marshall; Brennan

Question 11

Under the revised death penalty statute upheld by the Supreme Court in the Gregg v. Georgia (1976), the jury must find _____ to be present in a capital offense before it can impose a death sentence.

A) at least one mitigating factor
B) at least one aggravating factor
C) premeditation
D) criminal intent

Question 12

In Roper v. Simmons (2005), the Supreme Court overturned a sentence of death _____.

A) because of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct
B) because of racially discriminatory jury selection
C) because the defendant was younger than 21
D) because the defendant was older than 15 but younger than 18

Question 13

United States v. Jones (2012) involved electronic eavesdropping on a telephone booth. ____

Question 14

The Court's decision in California v. Riley (2014) partly involved a discussion of United States v. Robinson. _____

Question 15

California v. Riley mainly involved _____.

A) a wiretapped telephone call
B) a cell phone
C) possession of marijuana
D) assault of a police officer

Question 16

McCleskey v. Kemp involved

A) a police search
B) two cell phones
C) capital punishment
D) none of the above

Question 17

May Dickerson v. United States be seen as the Supreme Court's response to a congressional challenge to judicial authority? Discuss.

Question 18

What was the effect of United States v. Leon (1984) on the policy that the Court adopted in Mapp v. Ohio (1961)?

Question 19

What are the principal arguments for and against the Fourth Amendment exclusionary rule? Explain.

Question 20

Consider the two related questions that follow:
a. What crucial threshold (entry-point) question was common to Olmstead v. United States (1928), Terry v. Ohio (1968), and Kyllo v. United States (2001)? Explain.
b. How did the answer(s) that the Court gave to that question shape the decision in each of those three cases? Explain.

Question 21

Why did Mapp v. Ohio virtually guarantee that an increased number of Fourth Amendment cases would soon appear on the Supreme Court's docket?

Question 22

Concerning Kyllo v. United States….
"This case is all about answering the question, 'What constitutes a search?'" Explain.

Question 23

What was the "Ross anomaly" that Acevedo is supposed to have eliminated? Explain

Question 24

According both to Justice Scalia's concurring opinion in Acevedo and to Justice Stevens's dissenting opinion in Acevedo, the Court "cured" the Ross anomaly at the expense of creating another paradox. Explain.

Question 25

The facts in Terry v. Ohio (1968) presented the Supreme Court with a Fourth Amendment dilemma in at least two respects. Explain.

Question 26

The Supreme Court during the Chief Justiceship of Earl Warren (1953-1969) is remembered for a number of decisions on criminal justice that favored individual rights. Should Terry v. Ohio be considered one of those rights-friendly decisions? Explain.

Question 27

Someone has said that Mapp v. Ohio (1961) nearly single-handedly made the U.S. Supreme Court a general overseer of criminal justice in the United States. Discuss.

Question 28

Consider Justice Hugo Black's dissenting opinion in Adamson v. California (1947), his dissenting opinion in Katz v. United States (1967), and his concurring opinion in Duncan v. Louisiana (1968). What do these opinions reveal about Justice Black's approach to constitutional interpretation and about his views concerning the proper role for the Supreme Court in the American political system?

Question 29

In Katz v. United States (1967), Justices White and Douglas each wrote a concurring opinion taking different positions on an issue not directly involved in Katz. Explain.

Question 30

Consider Arkansas v. Sanders (1979) and California v. Acevedo (1991). Which decision gives greater latitude to police in law enforcement activities? Explain.

Question 31

In his dissent in United States v. Leon (1984) Justice Brennan wrote that the majority had used "faulty scales" in reaching its conclusion. What did he mean? Explain.

Question 32

In its decision in Miranda v. Arizona (1966) the Court attempted to lay down a clear rule with respect to the admissibility of confessions obtained by police during interrogations. Why was the Court not entirely successful? Explain.

Question 33

In Atwater v. City of Lago Vista (2001), what is the bright-line rule that the majority adopts but that Justice O'Connor finds so objectionable? What is the basis of her objection? Explain.

Question 34

Justice Potter Stewart wrote the opinion of the Court in both Chimel v. California (1969) and in Katz v. United States (1967). Is his approach to the Fourth Amendment in the earlier case consistent with his approach to the Fourth Amendment in the later case? Explain. (Be sure that your essay demonstrates an understanding of both cases.)

Question 35

Based on her dissent in Board of Education v. Earls (2002), what is Justice Ginsburg's disagreement with the majority view laid out in Justice Thomas's opinion of the Court in that case? Explain.

Question 36

According to Justice Thomas's opinion for the Court in Board of Education v. Earls (2002), the principles established in Vernonia School District v. Acton (1995) justified the position the Court took in Earls. However, Justice Ginsburg, who was part of the six-justice majority in the Vernonia case, wrote the dissent in Earls and stated that the Vernonia decision provided an inadequate basis for what the Court was doing in Earls. Does Justice Thomas or Justice Ginsburg seem to be standing on more solid ground? Why?

Question 37

What question did Katz v. United States (1967) present to the Court? On what grounds might Solicitor General Erwin Griswold have expected the government to prevail in this case? Explain.

Question 38

As disputes over the meaning of the U. S. Constitution, what do Powell v. Alabama (1932) and Palko v. Connecticut? (1937) seem to have in common? What differences do you find? Explain.

Question 39

In U.S. v. Leon, what constitutes the "objectively reasonable belief" that police believe they are acting correctly under the Fourth Amendment? Explain.

Question 40

According to Justice Thurgood Marshall's dissent in United States v. Robinson (1973), the decision in Chimel v. California (1969) as well as the reasoning in that case argued strongly that the search that turned up the heroin on Robinson was conducted in violation of the Fourth Amendment. What did Marshall mean? Explain.

Question 41

What position does Justice White advance in his concurring opinion in Katz v. United States? Is it consistent with his view of the Fourth Amendment that we find in his opinion in Chimel v. California? Why? Explain.

Question 42

What major change in constitutional law did the Supreme Court make in Mapp v. Ohio? What three justifications did Justice Clark offer for the result that the Court reached in that case? Explain.

Question 43

According to Justice Stevens's dissent in Kyllo v. United States, the Court's "new rule" was both "too narrow as well as too broad." What was the "new rule"? What did Stevens mean? Explain.

Question 44

Discuss the Supreme Court's justification for its limitation in Roper v. Simons on the imposition of the death penalty for juveniles.

Question 45

Given the statistics offered by McCleskey's counsel, how does the majority justice its decision in his case?