Deck 4: Civil Liberties

Question 1

A key function of the Bill of Rights is to

A) protect the rights of government.
B) preserve the will of the majority against the actions of the minority.
C) protect the rights of those in the minority against the will of the majority.
D) specify what the government must do to ensure equal protection under the law for all Americans.
E) delegate power to the Supreme Court to have the final say on how the Constitution should be interpreted.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The First Amendment to the Constitution

A) addresses the right to bear arms.
B) states that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech."
C) guarantees the right to a speedy and public trial.
D) addresses the right of trial by jury.
E) states that "Congress shall protect the right to privacy of all persons."

Answer 2

B

Question 3

"… the right of the people to keep and bear Arms …" is found in the

A) Second Amendment
B) Third Amendment
C) Fifth Amendment
D) Eighth Amendment
E) Tenth Amendment

Answer 3

A

Question 4

are limitations on government action, setting forth what the government cannot do.

A) Bills of attainder
B) Civil rights
C) The Miranda warnings
D) Ex post facto laws
E) Civil liberties

Question 5

The prohibition of "cruel and unusual punishments" is included in the .

A) Fourth Amendment
B) Fifth Amendment
C) Sixth Amendment
D) Eighth Amendment
E) Tenth Amendment

Question 6

The protection against "unreasonable searches and seizures" is found in the

A) Third Amendment
B) Fourth Amendment
C) Fifth Amendment
D) Eighth Amendment
E) Tenth Amendment

Question 7

It is the that determines where freedom of speech ends and the right of society to be protected from certain forms of speech begins.

A) Bill of Rights
B) the U.S. Supreme Court
C) the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
D) state legislatures
E) Congress

Question 8

The promise of the addition of a(n) to the U.S. Constitution helped to ensure its ratification.

A) Bill of Rights
B) bill of attainder
C) writ of habeas corpus
D) prohibition against ex post facto laws
E) national security letter

Question 9

A(n) is an order requiring that an official bring a specified prisoner into court and show the judge why the prisoner is being held in jail.

A) ex post facto law
B) writ of habeas corpus
C) bill of attainder
D) warrant based on probable cause
E) exclusionary rule

Question 10

For many years, the courts assumed that the Bill of Rights limited only the actions of

A) the state governments.
B) the national government.
C) local governments.
D) individuals.
E) state or local governments.

Question 11

of the U.S. Constitution provides that a writ of habeas corpus will be available to all citizens except in times of rebellion or national invasion.

A) Article I, Section 9
B) Article II, Section 2
C) Article III, Section 1
D) The First Amendment
E) The Fifth Amendment

Question 12

The writ of habeas corpus

A) is available to all citizens, all of the time.
B) is available to all persons, except in times of rebellion or national invasion.
C) may be made unavailable at the discretion of the courts.
D) may be made unavailable at the discretion of Congress.
E) may be made unavailable at the discretion of governors.

Question 13

A bill of attainder

A) is a legislative act that inflicts punishment on particular persons without granting them the right to a trial.
B) punishes individuals for committing an act that was legal when the act was committed.
C) requires an official to bring a specified prisoner into court and show the judge why the person is being kept in jail.
D) prohibits double jeopardy.
E) prohibits cruel and unusual punishments.

Question 14

The first eight amendments to the Constitution

A) reserve certain rights and powers to the people and to the states.
B) grant the people specific rights and liberties.
C) prohibit the states from coining money, negotiating treaties with foreign countries, and regulating interstate commerce.
D) grant states the power to enact laws and to establish courts to protect the rights of their citizens.
E) establish the powers of the executive branch.

Question 15

Many of our liberties were added by the , ratified in 1791.

A) ex post facto laws
B) writs of habeas corpus
C) Bill of Rights
D) bills of attainder
E) Miranda warnings

Question 16

A(n) punishes individuals for committing an act that was legal when the act was committed.

A) bill of attainder
B) "National Security Letter"
C) writ of habeas corpus
D) ex post facto law
E) warrant based on probable cause

Question 17

In , the Supreme Court decided that the Bill of Rights did not apply to state laws.

A) Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
B) Gitlow v. New York (1925)
C) Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
D) Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
E) McDonald v. Chicago (2010)

Question 18

The Bill of Rights became part of the Constitution in .

A) 1776
B) 1787
C) 1791
D) 1896
E) 1925

Question 19

The reserved powers of the states are derived from the .

A) Second Amendment
B) Third Amendment
C) Seventh Amendment
D) Ninth Amendment
E) Tenth Amendment

Question 20

The provides the right to have a "fair and public trial by jury" in criminal prosecutions.

A) Fifth Amendment
B) Sixth Amendment
C) Seventh Amendment
D) Eighth Amendment
E) Ninth Amendment

Question 21

The played a key role in the Supreme Court's changing stance on the application of the Bill of Rights to the states.

A) Barron v. Baltimore (1833) decision
B) passage of the Bill of Rights
C) Fourteenth Amendment
D) Fifth Amendment
E) Sixteenth Amendment

Question 22

State leaders favored the establishment clause to

A) ensure that the national government did not interfere with the state governments' right to establish a religion.
B) reduce the influence of religion in government and politics at every level.
C) ensure that national government could firmly direct and influence the public expression of religious ideas.
D) prohibit the government from supporting religion in general.
E) allow the establishment of God-centered oaths of office for public officials.

Question 23

Since 1971, the Supreme Court has used a test to determine whether government aid to parochial schools is constitutional. To be constitutional, the

A) aid cannot be for a secular purpose.
B) primary effect of the aid must inhibit religion.
C) aid must be for a clearly religious purpose.
D) aid must avoid an "excessive government entanglement with religion."
E) primary effect of the aid must advance religion.

Question 24

In Engel v. Vitale (1962), the Supreme Court

A) upheld an Alabama law authorizing a daily one-minute period of silence for meditation and voluntary prayer.
B) ruled that the State Board of Regents in New York had acted unconstitutionally by composing a prayer to be used in public school classrooms at the start of each day.
C) held that individuals cannot pray in public schools, and teachers may no longer wish their students a "Merry Christmas."
D) held that public schools are barred from teaching about religion.
E) ruled that the State Board of Regents in New York had acted constitutionally when composing a prayer to be used in public school classrooms, because the prayer was nondenominational.

Question 25

In Everson v. Board of Education (1947), the Supreme Court

A) held that Congress could no longer open its sessions with prayers.
B) set the precedent that all forms of state aid to church-related schools are forbidden under the Constitution.
C) affirmed the position that all public references to God are prohibited.
D) held that government officials may not take an oath of office in the name of God.
E) both affirmed the importance of separating church and state and set the precedent that not all forms of government aid to church-related schools are forbidden under the Constitution.

Question 26

The Supreme Court was particularly active during the in broadening its interpretation of the due process clause to ensure that states and localities could not infringe on civil liberties protected by the Bill of Rights.

A) 1880s
B) 1920s
C) 1950s
D) 1960s
E) 1980s

Question 27

President Thomas Jefferson wanted the to be a "wall of separation between church and state."

A) the supremacy clause of Article VI
B) reserved powers clause of the Tenth Amendment
C) the establishment clause of the First Amendment
D) the necessary and proper clause of Article I, Section 8
E) the Supreme Court

Question 28

If a law or other governmental action limits , it will be held to violate substantive due process, unless it promotes a compelling or overriding state interest.

A) congressional jurisdiction
B) judicial discretion
C) state actions
D) presidential authority
E) a fundamental right

Question 29

The Supreme Court has used the clause to the protections guaranteed by the national Bill of Rights into the liberties protected under the Fourteenth Amendment.

A) due process; incorporate
B) equal protection; weave
C) full faith and credit; absorb
D) supremacy; merge
E) necessary and proper; wrap

Question 30

The right to bear arms described in the Second Amendment was incorporated in .

A) 1868
B) 1925
C) 1949
D) 1965
E) 2010

Question 31

In , the Supreme Court outlined a three-part test to determine whether government aid to parochial schools violates the establishment clause.

A) Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
B) Miller v. California (1973)
C) Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
D) Roe v. Wade (1973)
E) Schenck v. United States (1919)

Question 32

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires employers to accommodate their employees' religious practices unless such accommodation causes an employer to suffer a(n)

A) "undue hardship."
B) "loss of productivity."
C) "irreversible loss of business."
D) "strike by other employees."
E) "breakdown of employee morale."

Question 33

Starting in , the Supreme Court gradually began using the due process clause to say that states could not abridge a civil liberty that the national government could not abridge.

A) 1880
B) 1925
C) 1953
D) 1964
E) 1971

Question 34

due process requires that any governmental decision to take life, liberty, or property be made equitably.

A) Procedural
B) Programmatic
C) Strategic
D) Substantive
E) Operational

Question 35

The freedom of is the first freedom mentioned in the Bill of Rights.

A) assembly
B) speech
C) religion
D) petitioning the government
E) press

Question 36

The prohibits Congress from passing laws "respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

A) First Amendment
B) Fourth Amendment
C) Sixth Amendment
D) Ninth Amendment
E) Tenth Amendment

Question 37

The establishment clause

A) forbids the government from establishing an official religion.
B) requires religion and government to be enemies.
C) prohibits the government from supporting religion in general.
D) prohibits religion from being a part of public life.
E) bans government officials from taking an oath of office in the name of God.

Question 38

The process of applying liberties guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution to the states is called .

A) amendment
B) judicial review
C) devolution
D) incorporation
E) due process

Question 39

In the Supreme Court ruled that a state law prohibiting the teaching of evolution is unconstitutional.

A) Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
B) Engel v. Vitale (1962)
C) Stone v. Graham (1980)
D) Epperson v. Arkansas (1968)
E) Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)

Question 40

In Stone v. Graham (1980), the Supreme Court ruled that

A) a Kentucky law requiring that the Ten Commandments be posted in all public schools violated the establishment clause.
B) an Alabama law authorizing a one-minute period of silence for voluntary prayer in the public schools was constitutional.
C) because the State Board of Regents in New York had written a nondenominational prayer, it could be used in the public school classrooms at the start of each day.
D) student­led prayer, using the school's public address system, before public school sporting events was constitutional.
E) churches or other religious groups cannot run schools.

Question 41

If a newspaper or tabloid publishes something about a person that is untrue, with the intent of injuring that person's reputation, and actual harm results, the newspaper or tabloid has engaged in .

A) hate speech
B) slander
C) libel
D) symbolic speech
E) obscenity

Question 42

Stopping expression before it happens is known as .

A) intimidation
B) preferred position
C) government police powers
D) protection of the public good
E) prior restraint

Question 43

Protection from unreasonable searches and seizures can be found in the of the U.S. Constitution.

A) First Amendment
B) Sixth Amendment
C) Fourth Amendment
D) Eighth Amendment
E) Fifth Amendment

Question 44

The Fifth Amendment

A) includes a requirement that no warrant for a search or an arrest be issued without probable cause.
B) guarantees a speedy trial and a trial by jury.
C) includes a protection against self-incrimination.
D) includes a protection from unreasonable searches and seizures.
E) includes a right for criminal defendants to confront witnesses.

Question 45

Under the , the government may restrict expression that leads to some "evil."

A) clear and present danger test
B) Lemon test
C) preferred-position doctrine
D) bad tendency rule
E) exclusionary rule

Question 46

Commercial speech

A) is not protected by the First Amendment.
B) is considered slander.
C) receives more protection under the First Amendment than regular speech.
D) is protected by the First Amendment, but not as fully as regular speech.
E) cannot be restricted by the government.

Question 47

In the landmark 1965 case , the Supreme Court held that the right to privacy is implied by other rights guaranteed in the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Ninth Amendments.

A) Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier
B) Roe v. Wade
C) Griswold v. Connecticut
D) Lemon v. Kurtzman
E) Miller v. California

Question 48

The Miranda warnings

A) are criminal procedural rules that require illegally obtained evidence to be excluded from a criminal trial.
B) put a criminal suspect on notice that he or she may not request a speedy trial.
C) are issued when the federal government believes that a terrorist attack is imminent.
D) are a series of statements informing criminal suspects, on their arrest, of their constitutional rights.
E) are given to criminal suspects when they have been charged with double jeopardy.

Question 49

In 1997 the Supreme Court

A) held that the liberty protected by the Constitution includes the right to commit suicide.
B) ruled that state laws permitting assisted suicide are unconstitutional.
C) held that state laws banning physician-assisted suicide are inherently unconstitutional.
D) upheld the states' rights to ban assisted suicide, but did not hold that state laws permitting assisted suicide were unconstitutional.
E) held that physician-assisted suicide violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition of cruel and unusual punishments.

Question 50

require(s) that illegally obtained evidence not be admissible in court.

A) The Miranda warnings
B) The exclusionary rule
C) Probable cause
D) Double jeopardy
E) National Security Letters

Question 51

The current Supreme Court doctrine for assessing the constitutionality of subversive speech is the

A) "I know it when I see it" test.
B) "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" test.
C) "shouting fire in a theatre" test.
D) imminent lawless action test.
E) dangerous tendency rule.

Question 52

Burning the American flag as a gesture of protest is an example of .

A) obscenity
B) symbolic speech
C) slander
D) libel
E) seditious speech

Question 53

Seditious speech

A) is a published report of a falsehood that tends to injure a person's reputation or character.
B) urges resistance to lawful authority or advocates overthrowing the government.
C) is the public utterance of a false statement that holds a person up for contempt, ridicule, or hatred.
D) is best defined as cyberbullying.
E) is obscenity on the Internet.

Question 54

In , the Supreme Court held that the "right to privacy … is broad enough to encompass a woman's decision to terminate a pregnancy," subject to certain regulations.

A) Roe v. Wade (1973)
B) Miller v. California (1973)
C) Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
D) Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
E) Miranda v. Arizona (1966)

Question 55

The First Amendment is enforceable against .

A) governments
B) private corporations
C) individuals
D) churches
E) All of the above are true.

Question 56

Which of the following forms of speech is never protected under the First Amendment?

A) Acts of fraud
B) Sedition and treason
C) Symbolic
D) Flag burning
E) Speech that facilitates liquor consumption

Question 57

Those prosecuted under the were later pardoned by President Thomas Jefferson.

A) Alien and Sedition Act
B) Espionage Act
C) clear and present danger test
D) bad tendency rule
E) Smith Act

Question 58

Which of the following is NOT part of the test the Supreme Court developed in Miller v. California (1973) to determine if a book or film is legally obscene?

A) The average person applying contemporary community standards finds that the work taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest.
B) The work taken as a whole lacks serious literary or artistic value.
C) The work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, a form of sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law.
D) The work taken as a whole is offensive or disturbing.
E) The work taken as a whole lacks serious political or scientific value.

Question 59

Under the , the government may restrict expression if that expression would cause a dangerous condition, actual or imminent, that Congress has the power to prevent.

A) clear and present danger test
B) Lemon test
C) preferred-position doctrine
D) bad tendency rule
E) exclusionary rule

Question 60

According to the , any law that limits the freedom of speech or the press-freedoms essential to a democracy -should be presumed unconstitutional unless the government can show that the law is absolutely necessary.

A) clear and present danger test
B) incorporation doctrine
C) preferred-position doctrine
D) bad tendency rule
E) Lemon test