Question 1

The Nineteenth Amendment guarantees the right to vote regardless of a person's sex.

Accepted Answer

The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1920, prohibits the states and the federal government from denying the right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, effectively granting women the right to vote.

Question 2

The Fourteenth Amendment provides an enforcement clause in Section 5 that allows Congress to pass legislation to enforce the Equal Protection Clause.

Accepted Answer

Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment grants Congress the power to pass appropriate legislation to enforce the provisions of the amendment, including the Equal Protection Clause.

Question 3

The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified before the Civil War.

Accepted Answer

The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified after the Civil War, in 1868, as part of the Reconstruction Amendments.

Question 4

The state action requirement in the Fourteenth Amendment for equal protection cases applies only to state governments and does not apply to conduct of local governments.

Accepted Answer

The state action requirement in the Fourteenth Amendment applies to both state and local governments, as local governments are considered subdivisions of the state and thus their actions are subject to the equal protection clause.

Question 5

Court have upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964 based on authority granted to Congress in Article I of the Constitution involving interstate commerce.

Accepted Answer

The Supreme Court has upheld the Civil Rights Act of 1964, particularly in cases like Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States, based on the authority granted to Congress under the Commerce Clause of Article I of the Constitution, which allows Congress to regulate interstate commerce.

Question 6

Even if a discrimination case is not governed under the Equal Protection Clause, the provisions of federal, state, or local civil rights legislation may apply to preclude the identified form of discrimination.

Accepted Answer

Even if a discrimination case falls outside the scope of the Equal Protection Clause, various federal, state, and local civil rights laws can still apply to prohibit the specific type of discrimination in question, offering protections against discriminatory practices in employment, housing, education, and more.

Question 7

The rational basis test is used for fundamental rights such as the right to vote.

Accepted Answer

The rational basis test is generally used for cases that do not involve fundamental rights or suspect classifications. Fundamental rights, such as the right to vote, typically receive stricter scrutiny, such as strict scrutiny or intermediate scrutiny, depending on the context.

Question 8

The intermediate scrutiny test is a constitutional standard used in cases involving a semi-suspect form of discrimination that requires the government to show that its semi-suspect form of discrimination is substantially related to an important governmental interest.

Accepted Answer

The intermediate scrutiny test is indeed used for cases involving semi-suspect classifications, such as gender or legitimacy, requiring the government to demonstrate that the challenged discrimination is substantially related to an important governmental objective.

Question 9

Suspect classification is a type of distinction or discrimination that is highly questionable and deserves the highest form of judicial scrutiny.

Accepted Answer

Suspect classification refers to a category or class, such as race or national origin, that triggers the highest level of scrutiny from the United States Supreme Court when evaluating laws that affect those classes. This means the law must serve a compelling state interest and be narrowly tailored to achieve that interest.

Question 10

The separate but equal doctrine adopted in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) remains the law today under the Equal Protection Clause.

Accepted Answer

The separate but equal doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson was overturned by Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.

Question 11

Desegregation is the process by which the policies and effects of exclusion and separation are reversed and corrected.

Accepted Answer

Desegregation refers to the process of eliminating racial, ethnic, or other forms of segregation, thereby reversing and correcting the policies and effects of exclusion and separation in a society or institution.

Question 12

In United States v. Virginia (1996), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Virginia Military Institute (VMI)'s long-standing male-only admission policy.

Accepted Answer

In United States v. Virginia (1996), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that VMI's male-only admission policy was unconstitutional, violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and required the institute to admit women.

Question 13

The rational basis test is used for cases involving classifications based on income.

Accepted Answer

The rational basis test is a standard of review used by courts to evaluate government classifications, including those based on income, to ensure they are rationally related to a legitimate government interest.

Question 14

The intermediate scrutiny test is used for cases involving classifications based on the marital status of a person at the time of birth.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The intermediate scrutiny test is used for...

Question 15

In Alabama Legislative Black Caucus v. Alabama (2015), the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a lower court's conclusion that Alabama's race-based redistricting plan satisfied strict scrutiny.

Accepted Answer

The U.S. Supreme Court held that the lower court did not properly apply the strict scrutiny standard in evaluating Alabama's race-based redistricting plan, indicating that the plan may have impermissibly used race as the predominant factor in drawing electoral district lines.

Question 16

The Privileges or Immunities Clause prohibits states from denying persons the privileges or immunities of American ________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The Privileges or Immunities Clause prohibits states...

Question 17

The Fifteenth Amendment provides that government cannot deny persons the right to ________ based on race, color, or previous servitude.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The Fifteenth Amendment provides that government cannot...

Question 18

The constitutional guarantee that "No state shall … deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws"
is found in the ________ Amendment.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The constitutional guarantee that "No state shall...

Question 19

The state ________ requirement is an essential element to any due process or equal protection claim that requires sufficient government involvement.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The state ________ requirement is an essential...

Question 20

In Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States (1964), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld civil right legislation barring discrimination in employment and places of public accommodation that affect inter-state ________ because Congress has the power to regulate under Article I of the Constitution.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v....

Quiz 12: Equal Protection