Chapter 2: Constitutional Rights
1. The Declaration of Independence was adopted on July 4, 1776, by delegates of the 13 original colonies
meeting in Philadelphia.
2. A regulation made by a federal agency does not have the same effect as a law made by Congress.
3. The Fourteenth Amendment applied to all state governments the restrictions that had previously limited only
the powers of the federal government.
4. Political parties are organized by the government to select candidates for election to public office.
5. Almost universal access by anyone with a computer to the information contained on the Internet was
facilitated primarily through a program developed in the spare time of Tim Berners-Lee.
6. The decentralization of the Internet makes it nearly impossible to exercise legal control over it and what goes
7. The right of privacy is not specifically mentioned in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.
8. The Senate can block any action of the House, but the House cannot block any action of the Senate.
9. Either the Senate or the House of Representatives may impeach a civil officer of the United States but the
case may only be tried in the House of Representatives.
10. When the Constitution was declared effective and binding on March 4, 1789, only ____________________
states had ratified it.
C. 11
D. 13
11. The U.S. Constitution provided that persons may not be deprived of the following without due process of
law:
C. health, happiness, and prosperity
D. life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness
12. The Articles of Confederation _____.
A. created a stronger central government than the U.S. Constitution
B. was created before the Declaration of Independence
13. If convicted under due process of law, a criminal may be deprived of
A. liberty, by imprisonment.
B. property, by fine or order to make restitution.
14. States may regulate _____.?
A. interstate commerce
B. foreign commerce
15. Under the Constitution, members of Congress are elected on the basis of
A. population of the state.
B. existence as a state.
16. Under the Constitution, our federal government is a
C. democracy, tainted by special interests.
D. pure democracy.
17. Which of the following areas of law is primarily a concern and responsibility of individual state
governments?
C. import and export law
D. military and national defense law
18. The first step in amending the U.S. Constitution is _____.
A. by a two-thirds majority vote in both the Senate and the House.
B. in a convention called for by the legislatures of two thirds of the states.
19. Which of the following acts protects the privacy of an employee’s e-mails at work?
A. Communications Decency Act
B. Telecommunications Act
20. Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery?
C. Fourteenth
D. none of the above
21. For a proposed amendment to become a valid part of the U.S. Constitution it must be _____
A. ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states.
B. ratified by conventions in three-fourths of the states.
22. Which of the following cases did not have a role in evolving a standard for what was and was not obscene?
A. Roth v. United States
B. Miller v. California
23. Roland and Vivian prefer to practice religion privately in their home with family and a few close friends.
What protects Roland and Vivian’s religious freedom?
A. Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
B. Preamble to the U.S. Constitution
24. Which document placed strict term limits on a state’s representatives to the Congress?
C. U.S. Constitution
D. none of the above
25. Which of these documents is not considered a basis of the U.S. Bill of Rights?
A. Magna Carta
B. Petition of Rights of 1628
26. Personal, natural rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution are known as
C. peripheral rights.
D. due process rights.
27. The three branches of the U.S. government are
A. President, Congress, and Supreme Court.
B. President, House of Representatives, and Senate.
28. The Nineteenth Amendment clarified the voting rights of what group of U.S. citizens?
C. 18 year olds
D. all of these
29. While listening to a national newscast, Masami learned that the Vice President of the United States was
being impeached for bribing some of the members of the House of Representatives. The legislative body that
would have the sole power to conduct the impeachment trial to follow is the ____________________.
30. Bonnie and her friends are concerned that their community’s outlying areas may be used as a nuclear waste
dumping ground. They decide to organize a public protest on the steps of one of the county buildings. On the
day of the protest, the police arrive but make no arrests because Bonnie and her friends are allowed to
“peaceably assemble” under the ____________________ Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
31. The groundwork for the Internet was laid in the late 1960s during the Cold War by the U.S. Department of
____________________.
32. The major Internet-related Constitutional issues involves the First Amendment right of __________.
33. A right vital to the protection of all the others, the right of ____________________ was, nonetheless, only
legitimized by a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1960s.
34. Ira and Ingrid own some property located where the local extension of an interstate highway is to be built.
The couple receives notification that the government will seize the property for public purposes and compensate
them at 95 percent of the market value of the property. Fair compensation for private property taken by the
35. The division and appropriation of U.S. governmental powers between its various branches is known as
____________________.
36. All U.S. citizens need to understand that, although representatives make day-to-day governmental decisions,
the sovereign power ultimately resides with the ____________________.
37. Four of the original 13 states were reluctant to ratify the U.S. Constitution because they felt the Constitution
38. After devastating flooding in the Midwest, the Missouri River changed its course and formed a new channel
several miles west of its old bed. Because the Missouri River forms part of the boundary line between Kansas
and Missouri, the state of Missouri is claiming all of the land between the old and the new beds of the river.
Who has jurisdiction over this controversy?
39. Describe how the language and transmission protocol for the World Wide Web developed by Berners-Lee
reflected his attitude towards information storage and retrieval.
Information storage and paths of retrieval were greatly decentralized so as to make it nearly impossible for a
40. Margo is a 20-year-old college student who was recently arrested for shoplifting. Shortly after her arrest, she
was not subjected to any unusual or cruel treatment or punishment. The next morning, the judge set her bail at
$2,000; her brother posted her bail, and Margo was released. Because Margo could not afford her own attorney,
one was appointed to represent her at her court date approximately one month later. When Margo appeared in
court, she admitted the crime. Because this was her first criminal offense, the judge probated her sentence and
allowed her to perform community service instead of jail time. In examining Margo’s arrest and involvement
with the criminal legal process, discuss what fundamental legal concepts worked toward her benefit. Also
identify any constitutional amendments that benefited her in this situation.
Answers will vary. Margo benefited from due process of law in that her bail was not excessive and was in
41. Gun control advocates in the United States strongly object to the fact that guns and weapons of mass
destruction seem so readily available to U.S. citizens. Some of these advocates would prefer to totally prohibit
the sale of any type of weapon believing that weapons are not necessary in a modern, technological society.
Other gun-control advocates believe weapons should be available, but endorse stricter laws limiting the
availability and sale of such weapons. In examining the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, what
would those opposed to such gun control use to support their belief that Americans should be able to purchase
and use guns and other weapons?
Answers will vary. The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution (the Bill of Rights) were adopted to