Question 1

Which of the following rights is guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment?

Accepted Answer

The Fifth Amendment guarantees the right against self-incrimination, allowing individuals to refuse to testify against themselves in criminal cases.

Question 2

Which court decision declared executions of severely retarded persons to be "cruel and unusual" and, thus, in violation of the Eighth Amendment?

Accepted Answer

The court decision that declared executions of severely retarded persons to be "cruel and unusual" and, thus, in violation of the Eighth Amendment is Atkins v. Virginia (2002). In this case, the US Supreme Court held that execution of intellectually disabled individuals violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

Question 3

Which of these statements most accurately describes the use of the death penalty by the United States and other countries around the world?

Accepted Answer

A majority of the world's countries have abolished the death penalty or do not use it in practice. The United States is among a smaller number of countries that still carry out executions, though it does so less frequently than the world's most active executioners, such as China, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.

Question 4

In what case did the Supreme Court declare that persons taken into custody must be specifically informed that they have the right to remain silent and that they cannot be questioned unless they waive that right?

Accepted Answer

The Supreme Court declared that persons taken into custody must be specifically informed that they have the right to remain silent and that they cannot be questioned unless they waive that right in the landmark case of Miranda v. Arizona in 1966.

Question 5

What did the Supreme Court declare in the case Montejo v. Louisiana (2009)?

Accepted Answer

The Supreme Court declared in Montejo v. Louisiana (2009) that if a criminal defendant is appointed an attorney, but they choose to speak to police without their attorney present, any incriminating statements made by the defendant can be used against them in court. This overruled a prior decision that had required police to obtain a waiver of the right to an attorney before questioning a defendant who had been appointed one by the court.

Question 6

In 2007 the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that ___.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In 2007 the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court...

Question 7

Which one of the following statements is not one of the three tests regarding church-state relations and the constitutionality of a government program in the Supreme Court's decision in Lemon v. Kurtzman?

Accepted Answer

The other three statements are the three tests outlined in the Supreme Court's decision in Lemon v. Kurtzman, while promoting faith-based initiatives is not a part of that decision.

Question 8

Which one of the following statements is too often the norm when public defenders or legal aid lawyers represent poor defendants?

Accepted Answer

Public defenders and legal aid lawyers often have incredibly high caseloads, which means that they have limited time to devote to each case. This can lead to a situation in which they are forced to negotiate plea bargains rather than mounting a full defense. In some cases, they may even feel compelled to negotiate guilty verdicts because they do not have the resources necessary to build a strong case. Unfortunately, these problems are all too common when public defenders or legal aid lawyers represent poor defendants.

Question 9

Edward Snowden's release of secret documents revealed the NSA's illegal gathering of vast amounts of ___.

Accepted Answer

The release of secret documents by Edward Snowden revealed that the NSA was illegally gathering vast amounts of data on phone, text, and Internet traffic. The other options (financial contributions from foreign heads-of-state and military weaponry for transfer to clandestine forces abroad) are not mentioned in relation to the NSA's activities in Snowden's leaked documents.

Question 10

Roy Moore has used his judicial position as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court to resist decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court with regard to which two of the following pairs of public issues?

Accepted Answer

Roy Moore has used his judicial position as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court to resist decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court with regards to prohibiting public display of the Ten Commandments and permitting gay marriage. In 2003, Moore was removed from office for refusing to obey a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the courthouse. In 2015, he issued an order instructing Alabama probate judges to enforce the state's ban on same-sex marriage, despite the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the ban was unconstitutional.

Question 11

Edmund Burke, an eighteenth-century member of the British parliament, reminded the Americans that _______were integral to the common law.

Accepted Answer

Edmund Burke emphasized the importance of individual rights and liberties in the common law system, which formed the basis of the legal system in both Britain and the American colonies.

Question 12

In August 2017, a meeting of white nationalists, neo-Nazis, the KKK, and others amassed in Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest a plan to ___.

Accepted Answer

The group gathered to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate civil war General Robert E. Lee.

Question 13

In which case did the Supreme Court privilege free and robust political speech over the pains that politicians, even presidents, might feel when criticized in the press?

Accepted Answer

New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964) established the principle that public officials must prove actual malice to bring a defamation suit against a news outlet. This meant that politicians, even presidents, could be criticized in the press without fear of legal reprisal, as long as the outlet did not knowingly or recklessly publish a false statement about them. This decision privileged free and robust political speech over the potential harm that politicians might feel from such criticism.

Question 14

By the end of 2018 _______nations had officially abandoned the death penalty.

Accepted Answer

The answer of By the end of 2018 _______nations had...

Question 15

_______has the largest prison population in the world.

Accepted Answer

The United States has the largest prison population in the world, with over 2.2 million people incarcerated. China has the second-largest prison population, followed by Russia and then India.

Question 16

During the ratification process of the new Constitution, the Federalists were led by ___.

Accepted Answer

James Madison was one of the leading proponents of the Constitution and he played a major role in the Federalist campaign for its ratification.

Question 17

During the ratification process of the new Constitution, the Anti-Federalists were led by ___.

Accepted Answer

The Anti-Federalists were a group of individuals who opposed the proposed new Constitution during the ratification process. They believed that the strong central government and lack of a bill of rights would lead to a loss of individual liberties. One of their leaders was Patrick Henry, who famously declared "Give me liberty or give me death" in a speech urging Virginia to reject the Constitution. Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, while influential in the creation of the Constitution, were actually Federalists who supported its ratification. Edmund Burke, while a prominent political thinker of the time, was not directly involved in the American political process and did not take a side in the ratification debates.

Question 18

In the case of District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court dealt with an issue of the _______Amendment.

Accepted Answer

The Second Amendment guarantees the right to bear arms and was the issue at the heart of the District of Columbia v. Heller case.

Question 19

In the case of McDonald v. Chicago (2010), the Supreme Court dealt with an issue of the _______Amendment.

Accepted Answer

The McDonald v. Chicago case dealt with an issue relating to the Second Amendment, specifically whether the Second Amendment guarantees an individual's right to keep and bear arms and how it applies to state and local governments. The Court ultimately ruled that the Second Amendment does apply to state and local governments, striking down Chicago's handgun ban as unconstitutional.

Question 20

The "incorporation doctrine" refers to the incorporation of protections in the Bill of Rights into the Fourteenth Amendment against the ___.

Accepted Answer

The incorporation doctrine refers to the incorporation of protections in the Bill of Rights into the Fourteenth Amendment against the states. Prior to incorporation, the Bill of Rights only limited the powers of the federal government, not the states. Incorporation extended these protections to state governments as well.

Quiz 13: Civil Liberties: Ordered Liberty in America