Gov Civil Rights & Liberties – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
The use of dogs to sniff high school lockers for drugs has been determined by the Supreme Court to be a. unconstitutional. b. constitutional under all circumstances. c. constitutional if parental permission is obtained. d. constitutional if supervised by a federal agent. e. constitutional if incident to a reasonable search.
answer
e
question
A person treating the U.S. flag contemptuously is a. subject to conviction in federal court. b. subject to conviction in state court. c. subject to conviction in state and federal court. d. protected by Fourth Amendment rights. e. protected by the right to exercise free speech.
answer
e
question
The case of Dr. Samuel H. Sheppard and Walter Winchell illustrates how civil liberties issues arise when a. the rights of different groups are in conflict. b. the costs of enforcing rights are excessive. c. passions are inflamed by entrepreneurs. d. principles themselves are in conflict. e. the costs of enforcement are moderate
answer
a
question
Conflicts in civil liberties often arise because a. majoritarian politics is ineffective in resolving crises. b. the U.S. Constitution is vague on issues of individual rights. c. the Bill of Rights lists several competing rights. d. policy entrepreneurs rarely operate in the civil rights area. e. the Supreme Court has refused to play a leading role in the interpretation of the First Amendment.
answer
c
question
Civil liberties conflicts between the Fraternal Order of Police and theAmerican Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are most likely to be examples of a. majoritarian politics. b. neo-institutional politics. c. entrepreneurial politics. d. client politics. e. interest group politics.
answer
e
question
The Espionage and Sedition Acts were largely stimulated by fears of a. Germans and radicals. b. radicals and blacks. c. blacks and communists. d. Japanese and Germans. e. socialists and steel workers
answer
a
question
An example of how entrepreneurial politics can enter the realm of civil liberties is that of a. the so-called Red Scare during World War I. b. Dr. Samuel Sheppard's assertion of his right to a fair trial. c. Jewish opposition to Christmas creches. d. efforts to bring bilingual education into Hispanic districts. e. All of the above.
answer
a
question
Senator Joseph McCarthy became a powerful policy entrepreneur by claiming that a. the Japanese posed a West Coast security threat. b. hippies were undermining Christianity. c. communists had infiltrated the government. d. homosexuals were transmitting AIDS to heterosexuals. e. secular humanists were indoctrinating educators
answer
c
question
Usually, the Supreme Court has reacted to wartime curtailments of civil liberties by a. upholding them. b. rejecting them. c. upholding them at first, limiting them later. d. rejecting them at first, reinstating them later. e. avoiding rulings on constitutionality and consigning such issues to the lower federal courts.
answer
a
question
The earliest immigrant group to arrive in large numbers and thus alter the scope of civil rights issues consisted of a. Mexican Hispanics. b. Hispanics from other Latin American countries. c. Irish Catholics. d. Southeast Asians. e. German Protestants.
answer
c
question
The immigrant group usually associated with the drive for bilingual education is composed of a. Southeast Asians. b. Hispanics. c. Africans. d. Eastern Europeans. e. Germans.
answer
b
question
The balance between community sensitivities and personal self-expression is most likely to be challenged when a. rights conflict (e.g., the New York Times and Pentagon Papers). b. policy entrepreneurs become involved (e.g., the McCarthy era). c. cultures conflict (e.g., Jewish versus Christian symbols). d. minorities are repressed (e.g., sedition acts). e. a and d.
answer
c
question
A good example of how community sensitivities and personal self-expression can sometimes conflict is that of a. sedition acts. b. the Sheppard case. c. the blacklisting of suspected communists. d. incitement statutes. e. nude dancing
answer
e
question
In 2000, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of what organization to refuse membership to homosexual men? a. National Football League b. Fraternal Order of Police c. Boy Scouts of America d. Boston Rotary Club e. Pensacola Jaycee
answer
c
question
Which of the following statements concerning the Bill of Rights and state power is incorrect? a. The Bill of Rights originally applied only to the federal government. b. The Supreme Court clearly held that Bill of Rights applied only to the federal government in an 1833 case. c. The Constitution was generally silent on what states could not do to their residents. d. The interpretation and application of the Bill of Rights began to change after the Civil War. e. None of the above.
answer
e
question
The Bill of Rights has come to apply to the states through the interpretation of a. the Fourteenth Amendment. b. the Tenth Amendment. c. the commerce clause. d. Article III. e. the necessary and proper clause
answer
a
question
The earliest incorporations of portions of the Bill of Rights relied upon a. the notion of a reasonable person. b. the shock the conscience test. c. a rational basis standard. d. the due process and equal protection clauses. e. the notions of ordered liberty and fundamental rights
answer
d
question
In Palko v. Connecticut (1937) the Court began to apply rights to the states via a. the notion of a reasonable person. b. the shock the conscience test. c. a rational basis standard. d. the due process and equal protection clause. e. the notions of ordered liberty and fundamental rights.
answer
e
question
Which of the following has been incorporated (applied) to the states? a. The right to bear arms. b. The right to not have soldiers forcibly quartered in private homes. c. The ban on excessive bail and fines. d. The right to a jury trial. e. None of the above.
answer
e
question
The First Amendment does not address a. freedom of religion. b. the right to bear arms. c. freedom of the press. d. freedom of speech. e. freedom of assembly
answer
b
question
The Sedition Act of 1798 was considered an improvement over the British example because it left the determination of guilt or innocence up to a. military courts. b. administrative courts. c. the judge. d. prosecutors. e. the jury.
answer
e
question
The Espionage and Sedition acts that were passed in 1917 and 1918 placed restrictions on publications that a. advocated the overthrow of the government by force or violence. b. made any defamatory statements about the president or other member of government. c. advocated the crossing of state lines or use of interstate commerce to incite a riot. d. advocated treason, insurrection, or forced resistance. e. made any defamatory statements about military personnel or war strategy.
answer
d
question
Charles T. Schenck was convicted in 1919 for a. speaking in favor of isolationism. b. advocating the overthrow of the government. c. planning a violent insurrection. d. mailing draft-resistance circulars to young men. e. planting a bomb in the Capital
answer
d
question
In the early 1920s, the Supreme Court upheld the conviction of Charles T. Schenck under the Espionage Act because a. he was an illegal alien. b. he had published documents that were vital to national security. c. his actions presented a clear and present danger. d. his actions threatened the security of the nation. e. he had not intentionally inspired lawlessness.
answer
c
question
The English jurist William Blackstone believed that freedom of the press should be characterized by a. freedom from prior restraint. b. freedom from libel. c. freedom from slander. d. the clear-and-present danger test. e. the bad tendency test
answer
a
question
The Supreme Court justice who compared unpopular political speech to falsely shouting fire in a theater was a. Louis Brandeis. b. Felix Frankfurter. c. William Rehnquist. d. Warren Burger. e. Oliver Wendell Holmes
answer
e
question
When eleven communists were convicted under the Smith Act of 1940, the Supreme Court a. found the act unconstitutional. b. approved the act but vacated the sentences. c. upheld the convictions. d. remanded the case for retrial. e. handed down a rare decision which featured a 4-4 vote split among the justices
answer
c
question
When Clarence Brandenburg vacated the street at a Ku Klux Klan cross-burning rally as ordered but threatened to reoccupy it later, the Supreme Court a. upheld his conviction. b. overturned his conviction. c. upheld his acquittal. d. overturned his acquittal. e. refused to give his case further consideration
answer
b
question
When U.S. Nazis sought to parade in Skokie, Illinois, where many Jews lived, the courts a. found them a clear and present danger. b. upheld their right to parade peacefully. c. refused to rule one way or another. d. allowed the police full discretion. e. allowed their arrests and convictions
answer
b
question
In 1992, the Supreme Court overturned a Minnesota statute involving the display of odious symbols. The Court ruled that the display is a. protected by the Constitution. b. protected by the Constitution but could be punished as a hate crime. c. not protected by the Constitution. d. not protected by the Constitution and could be punished as a hate crime. e. not protected by the Constitution and could be punished as incitement
answer
a
question
The right of free expression, although not absolute, enjoys a higher status than the other rights granted by the U.S. Constitution. This is known as the doctrine of a. prior restraint. b. existential priority. c. neutrality and clarity. d. least means. e. preferred position
answer
e
question
Written defamation of character is known as a. slander. b. obscenity. c. incitement. d. political falsehood. e. libel
answer
e
question
Slander differs from libel in that it refers to a. oral statements. b. written statements. c. public officials. d. private individuals. e. administrative hierarchies
answer
a
question
If you, as a private individual, are harmed grievously by the statements of someone who can also prove that the statements were true, you a. can sue that person for libel. b. can collect damages if you demonstrate malice. c. cannot collect damages from that person. d. can collect for slander, but not libel. e. can collect for libel, but not for slander.
answer
c
question
If you, as a public figure are harmed grievously by the written statements of someone who cannot prove that they were true, you a. can sue the person for libel. b. can collect damages if you demonstrate malice. c. cannot sue the person d. can collect damages for slander, but not libel. e. can collect damages for libel, but not for slander.
answer
b
question
Justice Potter Stewart's oft-quoted dictum on hard-core as opposed tosoft-core pornography was a. "I know it when I see it." b. "Different strokes for different folks." c. "It won't play in Peoria." d. "One man's meat is another man's poison." e. "What could go wrong?
answer
a
question
Which Justice argued obscenity is a form of speech that is, or should be, protected by the First Amendment? a. Hugo Black b. Thurgood Marshall c. Potter Stewart d. Warren Burger e. Fred Vinson
answer
a
question
The 1973 Supreme Court definition of obscenity denies free-speech protection to materials or activities that a. depict sexuality in a way that is degrading to its subjects. b. promote violence against women or children. c. lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. d. present a clear and present danger to community standards of decency. e. do not appeal to the prurient interest.
answer
c
question
A local statute forbidding adult movie theaters from being located near churches, schools, or parks was a. upheld as a limit on free expression. b. upheld as a regulation of land use. c. overturned as contravening free speech. d. overturned as overly vague and broad. e. overturned for violating the principle of content neutrality
answer
b
question
Protection under the Supreme Court's definition of obscenity is given to a. books and magazines only. b. books, magazines, and films only. c. almost any form of visual or auditory communication, including nude dancing. d. almost any form of visual or auditory communication, with the exception of nude dancing and live sex. e. films, but not books and magazines
answer
c
question
An Indianapolis ordinance defining pornography as the "graphic, sexually explicit subordination of women" was held by the Supreme Court to be a. in keeping with the Court's stance on symbolic speech. b. in violation of the First Amendment. c. an interference with the adult right of privacy. d. the legislation of constitutional feminism. e. constitutional
answer
b
question
In a 2002 case, the Supreme Court struck down a portion of a 1996 law related to child pornography because the case at hand involved a. the internet. b. imported magazines. c. virtual, or computer simulated images. d. a child psychology book. e. newspaper articles.
answer
c
question
Symbolic speech, as defined by the text, is a. speech that relies on a written message. b. speech that cannot be interpreted as insulting. c. speech that relies on an oral message. d. an act that destroys something sacred. e. an act that conveys a political message
answer
e
question
When the House and the Senate recently considered a law making it a federal crime to burn the American flag, a. it failed in both houses by large majorities. b. it failed in both houses by a narrow margin. c. it passed in both houses by a narrow margin. d. it passed in both houses by large majorities. e. it failed to make it out of committee
answer
d
question
One form of symbolic speech permitted by the Supreme Court is a. draft-card burning. b. political assassination. c. pipe-bombing of public facilities. d. spitting at a politician. e. flag burning.
answer
e
question
If people have a right to speak and publish, do corporations, interest groups, and children have the same right? a. Yes, although there are some exceptions. b. Yes, without exception. c. No, although there are some exceptions. d. No, without exception. e. The issue has yet to be decided by the High Court
answer
a
question
When the Supreme Court was asked to consider constitutional challenges to restrictions on speech in the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law of 2002 it a. refused to hear the case. b. accepted the case but refused to issue a ruling. c. accepted the case and struck down provisions in the law. d. accepted the case and upheld the restrictions in question. e. accepted the case and ruled in favor of the complaining organizations
answer
d
question
Each of the following groups has recently been regarded by the Supreme Court as a "person" enjoying rights of free expression except a. the First National Bank of Boston. b. the Hazelwood High School student newspaper. c. Massachusetts Citizens for Life. d. the Pacific Gas and Electric Company. e. a and d
answer
b
question
The Supreme Court denied the Hazelwood High School student newspaper the right to print certain stories, using the argument that a. young people do not have First Amendment protection against libel. b. the exercise of free expression by students is in violation of state educational codes. c. schools that allow free expression by students can legally be denied federal funding. d. incitement is never protected speech, even if it originates in a school newspaper. e. the exercise of free expression by students cannot impede the educational mission of the school.
answer
e
question
The two clauses of the First Amendment that deal with religion are concerned with a. free exercise and establishment. b. prohibition and free exercise. c. separation and prohibition. d. prohibition and free exercise. e. separation and free exercise
answer
a
