14
Civil Liberties
Multiple–Choice Questions
1. Which constitutional provisions ensure the protection of civil liberties?
a. Article I and the Fourteenth Amendment
b. the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment
c. Article II and the Bill of Rights
d. the Bill of Rights and the Sixteenth Amendment
Topic: The Basis for Our Civil Liberties
Learning Objective: LO 14.1: Trace the roots of civil liberties in the original
Constitution and their subsequent development in the Bill of Rights.
Page Reference: 416
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
2. The __________ allows for the trial of enemy combatants before military
commissions.
a. Sixth Amendment
b. Fourth Amendment
c. USA PATRIOT Act
d. Military Commissions Act
Topic: The Basis for Our Civil Liberties
Learning Objective: LO 14.1: Trace the roots of civil liberties in the original
Constitution and their subsequent development in the Bill of Rights.
Page Reference: 417
467
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
3. Which clause prevents the national government from sanctioning an official
religion?
a. establishment
b. free exercise
c. full faith and credit
d. equal protection
Topic: First Amendment Freedoms
Learning Objective: LO 14.2: Describe the First Amendment freedoms and the
limitations on them.
Page Reference: 419, 421
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
4. What was the Supreme Court’s main purpose in adopting the exclusionary rule?
a. to allow for regulation of content on the Internet
b. to allow journalists to withhold information from grand juries
c. to protect individuals against self-incrimination
d. to remove any incentive for police misconduct
Topic: Rights of Criminal Suspects
Learning Objective: LO 14.6: Analyze the constitutional rights of criminal
suspects.
Page Reference: 433
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
5. Under the “undue burden” test, the Supreme Court has allowed __________.
a. government funding of religious charities
b. states to require women to wait 24 hours before having an abortion
c. evidence contrary to the Miranda guidelines to be used in criminal cases
d. the federal government to hold suspected terrorists indefinitely
Topic: Privacy Rights
468
Learning Objective: LO 14.5: Assess the kinds of behavior that may be covered
by a constitutional right to privacy.
Page Reference: 431
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
6. In Miller v. California, the U.S. Supreme Court held that material must have
a deficit of meaningful artistic, literary, political, or scientific worth to be
considered __________.
a. obscene
b. hate speech
c. fighting words
d. a prior restraint
Topic: First Amendment Freedoms
Learning Objective: LO 14.2: Describe the First Amendment freedoms and the
limitations on them.
Page Reference: 425
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
7. Selective incorporation makes the protections of the Bill of Rights applicable to
the states through which of the following amendments?
a. Fourth
b. Fifth
c. Sixth
d. Fourteenth
Topic: The Basis for Our Civil Liberties
Learning Objective: LO 14.1: Trace the roots of civil liberties in the original
Constitution and their subsequent development in the Bill of Rights.
Page Reference: 418
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
8. Which of the following is a consequence of selective incorporation?
a. It has led to restrictions on the right to bear arms.
b. It has given greater power to state governments.
c. It has given greater power to the national government.
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d. It has led to restrictions on freedom of speech.
Topic: The Basis for Our Civil Liberties
Learning Objective: LO 14.1: Trace the roots of civil liberties in the original
Constitution and their subsequent development in the Bill of Rights.
Page Reference: 419
Skill Level: Analyze It
Difficulty Level: Difficult
9. A false written statement is considered to be __________, while utterances that
have the power to provoke individuals to acts of violence are considered
__________.
a. defamation; slander
b. slander; libel
c. libel; defamation
d. libel; fighting words
Topic: First Amendment Freedoms
Learning Objective: LO 14.2: Describe the First Amendment freedoms and the
limitations on them.
Page Reference: 425
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
10. Which amendment protects the right to bear arms?
a. First
b. Second
c. Third
d. Fourth
Topic: The Basis for Our Civil Liberties
Learning Objective: LO 14.1: Trace the roots of civil liberties in the original
Constitution and their subsequent development in the Bill of Rights.
Page Reference: 419
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
470
11. The Constitution protects against search of an individual’s person, home, or
vehicle without __________.
a. due process
b. permission
c. a warrant
d. compensation
Topic: Rights of Criminal Suspects
Learning Objective: LO 14.6: Analyze the constitutional rights of criminal
suspects.
Page Reference: 431 – 432
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
12. How is an impartial jury defined?
a. as one that represents a fair cross section of the community
b. as one that reflects the defendant’s race
c. as one that contains an equal number of men and women
d. as one that is agreed to by both the defendant’s attorney and the prosecutor
Topic: Rights of Criminal Suspects
Learning Objective: LO 14.6: Analyze the constitutional rights of criminal
suspects.
Page Reference: 435
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
13. What did the National Research Council conclude in its examination of the death
penalty?
a. that the death penalty has no impact on the incidence of violent crime
b. that the costs associated with the death penalty outweigh the benefits
c. that the death penalty has a small, but significant deterrent effect
d. that the studies examining the death penalty’s deterrent effect are flawed
Topic: Protecting Our Civil Liberties in an Age of Terror: Whose Responsibility?
Learning Objective: LO 14.7: Evaluate the roles of institutions and the people in
protecting civil liberties.
471
Page Reference: 437
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
14. What did Mapp v. Ohio find to be unconstitutional?
a. illegally obtained evidence
b. segregated education
c. discrimination against homosexuals
d. imprisonment without a trial
Topic: Rights of Criminal Suspects
Learning Objective: LO 14.6: Analyze the constitutional rights of criminal
suspects.
Page Reference: 433
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
15. A Christmas tree and nativity scene is displayed at the statehouse. Which Supreme
Court justice would most likely object to this as a violation of the establishment
clause?
a. Justice Thomas
b. Justice Scalia
c. former Chief Justice Rehnquist
d. former Justice O’Connor
Topic: First Amendment Freedoms
Learning Objective: LO 14.2: Describe the First Amendment freedoms and the
limitations on them.
Page Reference: 421 – 422
Skill Level: Apply What You Know
Difficulty Level: Difficult
16. Obscenity and fighting words are examples of which of the following?
a. hate speech
b. slander
c. unprotected speech
d. protected speech
Topic: First Amendment Freedoms
Learning Objective: LO 14.2: Describe the First Amendment freedoms and the
limitations on them.
Page Reference: 425
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
17. Which of the following is a right specified in the original Constitution?
a. trial by jury in the national courts
b. freedom of speech
c. right to bear arms
d. freedom of assembly
Topic: The Basis for Our Civil Liberties
Learning Objective: LO 14.1: Trace the roots of civil liberties in the original
Constitution and their subsequent development in the Bill of Rights.
Page Reference: 417
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
18. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan held that there must be proof of which of the
following to find libel against a public figure?
a. property loss
b. actual malice
c. a written record
d. actual harm
Topic: First Amendment Freedoms
Learning Objective: LO 14.2: Describe the First Amendment freedoms and the
limitations on them.
Page Reference: 425
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
19. High school is one of only two places where which of the following is
constitutional?
a. prayer
b. free speech
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c. prior restraint
d. civil disobedience
Topic: First Amendment Freedoms
Learning Objective: LO 14.2: Describe the First Amendment freedoms and the
limitations on them.
Page Reference: 424
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
20. Where are due process rights located in the Constitution?
a. in the First and Fifth Amendments
b. in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments
c. in the Fifth and Ninth Amendments
d. in the Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Amendments
Topic: Due Process Rights
Learning Objective: LO 14.4: Distinguish between procedural and substantive
due process.
Page Reference: 429
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
21. Over the course of the early 2000s, the Supreme Court ruled that detainees have a
right to which of the following?
a. due process
b. the assistance of counsel
c. equal protection
d. habeas corpus
Topic: The Basis for Our Civil Liberties
Learning Objective: LO 14.1: Trace the roots of civil liberties in the original
Constitution and their subsequent development in the Bill of Rights.
Page Reference: 417
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
474
22. Under the __________ test, the First Amendment forbids government practices
that a reasonable observer would view as supporting religion.
a. nonpreferentialist
b. strict separation
c. Lemon
d. endorsement
Topic: First Amendment Freedoms
Learning Objective: LO 14.2: Describe the First Amendment freedoms and the
limitations on them.
Page Reference: 421
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
23. In Employment Division v. Smith, the Supreme Court altered the interpretation of
which of the following?
a. the exclusionary rule
b. the due process clause
c. the free exercise clause
d. the incorporation doctrine
Topic: First Amendment Freedoms
Learning Objective: LO 14.2: Describe the First Amendment freedoms and the
limitations on them.
Page Reference: 423
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
24. Approximately __________ percent of adults in the United States identify
themselves as Christian.
a. 37
b. 55
c. 79
d. 90
Topic: First Amendment Freedoms
475
Learning Objective: LO 14.2: Describe the First Amendment freedoms and the
limitations on them.
Page Reference: 422
Skill Level: Remember the Facts
Difficulty Level: Easy
25. Miranda rights include the right to which of the following?
a. due process
b. a jury trial
c. freedom from search and seizure
d. counsel
Topic: Rights of Criminal Suspects
Learning Objective: LO 14.6: Analyze the constitutional rights of criminal
suspects.
Page Reference: 434
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
26. The USA PATRIOT Act enhances the government’s ability to do which of the
following?
a. examine private records
b. take personal property
c. imprison citizens without trial
d. indict foreign enemies
Topic: Protecting Our Civil Liberties in an Age of Terror: Whose Responsibility?
Learning Objective: LO 14.7: Evaluate the roles of institutions and the people in
protecting civil liberties.
Page Reference: 440
Skill Level: Understand the Concepts
Difficulty Level: Moderate
27. Which Supreme Court case applied the exclusionary rule to the states?
a. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan
b. Mapp v. Ohio
c. Wolf v. Colorado
d. Gideon v. Wainwright
476