Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
Chapter 2: The First Amendment
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Laws that indirectly limit the freedom of speech while achieving other
substantial government objectives are called ______.
a. content-based restrictions
b. content-neutral restrictions
c. time, place, and manner restrictions
d. both content-based restrictions and content-neutral restrictions
e. both content-neutral restrictions and time, place, and manner restrictions
2. Courts find content-based restrictions of speech constitutional if they ______.
a. pass intermediate scrutiny
b. are both rational and reasonable
c. are a form of symbolic speech
d. pass strict scrutiny
e. do not violate due process
3. The First Amendment prohibits abridgements of the freedom of speech and
the press by ______.
a. Congress only
b. the federal executive branch only
c. the federal government only
d. federal, state, and local legislatures only
e. all levels and branches of government
4. Instrumentalists argue that the First Amendment advances all of the following
goals except ______.
a. truth
b. checking government abuse
c. obscenity
d. self-governance
e. self–fulfillment
5. Prior restraints on speech are ______.
a. the least intrusive means to regulate speech
b. presumptively unconstitutional
c. rarely constitutional
d. presumptively unconstitutional and rarely constitutional
e. all of these
6. Content-neutral regulations are also called ______.
a. time, place, and manner regulations
b. majoritarian regulations
c. balancing regulations
d. purposive regulations
e. truth, equity, and fairness regulations
7. Under strict scrutiny, a law is constitutional only if it ______.
a. is reasonable and rational
b. is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest
c. advances an important public interest and falls within the powers of
government
d. none of these
e. never passes strict scrutiny
8. In Near v. Minnesota, the Supreme Court ruled that ______.
a. prior restraints pose a serious threat of censorship
b. laws that punish past actions by banning future publications are a form of prior
restraint
c. prior restraint is justified when media criticize government officials
d. prior restraints pose a serious threat of censorship as well as that laws that
punish past actions by banning future publications are a form of prior restraint
e. prior restraints are never constitutional
9. In New York Times v. United States, the Supreme Court said that ______.
a. government bears an extremely heavy burden of proof to justify prior restraints
b. prior restraints are constitutional when speech tends to harm important
government interests
c. prior restraints are constitutional whenever government disfavors speech
d. government bears an extremely heavy burden of proof to justify prior restraints
and prior restraints are constitutional when speech tends to harm important
government interests
e. prior restraints are constitutional when speech tends to harm important
government interests and prior restraints are constitutional whenever government
disfavors speech
10. If the First Amendment stands as a nearly complete ban on prior restraints,
they nonetheless may be constitutional to prevent ______.
a. obscenity
b. incitements of violence
c. interference with ongoing military operations in times of war
d. incitements to overthrow the government
e. all of these
11. In First Amendment jurisprudence, original intent means the ______.
a. perceived purpose of the constitutional framers
b. purpose of any individual’s comments
c. outcome of a Supreme Court ruling on free speech
Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
d. none of these
12. The Supreme Court generally interprets freedom of speech and freedom of
the press ______.
a. to provide greater protection for freedom of speech
b. by defining the press as a speaker
c. by combining the two terms into freedom of expression
d. by defining all forms and formats of media as full members of the free press
13. To guide its application of the First Amendment, the Supreme Court relies on
______.
a. original intent, textual interpretation, ad hoc balancing, and categorical
balancing
b. novel ideas introduced during oral argument
c. public opinion
d. original intent, strict scrutiny, and hyperbole
14. Prior review ______.
a. is part of the final editing process of a newspaper
b. enables government to stop publications before they reach the public
C. is the examination of the facts during a jury trial
d. provides checks and balances to avoid errors in judicial decisions
15. Laws of general application ______.
a. do not apply to the media
b. apply to the media in the same way as other businesses
c. violate the First Amendment when applied to media because they directly
infringe the freedoms of speech and of the press
d. none of these
16. When the Supreme Court reviews the constitutionality of laws, it applies
______.
a. rational review, minimum scrutiny, or the compelling interest test
b. rational review, intermediate review, or facial review
c. rational review, intermediate review, or strict scrutiny
d. the rule of law
17. In reviewing the constitutionality of laws, the Supreme Court has established
that an important government interest is ______.
a. a significant but not compelling interest
b. an interest of the highest order
c. sufficient to justify content-based regulations of speech
d. necessary to impose laws of general application
18. To determine the constitutionality of government actions, the Supreme Court
employs ______.
a. one test to treat all laws equally
b. different tests to allow the Court to reach its desired outcomes
c. one test for all laws that directly or indirectly affect the freedom of speech
d. different tests to respond to the different impacts of government actions on
constitutionally protected rights and freedoms
19. The Supreme Court has said that, under the First Amendment, political
speech is ______.
a. not a part of the protected freedom of speech
b. at the core of the protected freedom of speech
c. not a distinct category of speech
Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
d. always protected from any form of regulation
20. In several recent decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that state or
federal limits on campaign spending ______.
a. directly advance the Constitution’s express protection of free and fair elections
b. are essential to protect elections from corruption
c. advance the core purpose of the First Amendment
d. unconstitutionally restrict the freedom of speech protected by the First
Amendment
21. The legal protection of anonymous speakers online and offline is ______.
a. determined in the United States by balancing the rights of anonymous
speakers against other important values
b. absolute and certain
c. consistent around the world
d. the most protected form of speech in the United States
22. In the area of government speech, the U.S. Supreme Court has ______.
a. said the First Amendment clearly establishes absolute protection of the
freedom of speech of individual government speakers
b. found the First Amendment does not deal expressly with government speech
or speakers
c. held that the government has unlimited control over all the speech of its
agencies and employees
d. established clear and consistent precedents when regulation of government
speech and speakers is constitutional
23. Traditional public forums include ______.
a. all online spaces (such as chat rooms) and all public properties
b. any government property that is not involved with national security
Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
c. public property designed and historically used for public gathering and
association
d. public property designed for other purposes but available for public use
24. When government funds activities that involve expression, it ______.
a. always creates a public forum
b. never creates a public forum
c. may not discriminate on the basis of the content of expression if it creates a
public forum
d. may always discriminate on the basis of the content of expression
25. In Reed v. Town of Gilbert, the Supreme Court held that laws ______.
a. that refer to categories of speech are content neutral
b. are never facially unconstitutional
c. that distinguish treatment based on the message are content-based
d. prohibiting live music after 7 p.m. are overbroad
1. A traditional public forum is closed to nongovernment users to protect the core
purpose of the property.
2. Textualists believe that interpretation of the Constitution should be guided
entirely by its own language without reference to history or contemporary issues.
3. The First Amendment came first in the Bill of Rights because the framers
believed it was the most important and core right of the people.
4. The First Amendment stands as a nearly absolute ban to prior restraint.
5. Government regulations that target the content of speech because of
government disfavor with the ideas expressed are called content-neutral.
6. Through its self-delegated power to interpret and apply the U.S. Constitution,
the U.S. Supreme Court determined that the First Amendment limits the power of
state legislatures as well as Congress.
7. Justices who rely on original intent to determine the correct meaning and
application of the First Amendment argue that the framers understood and left a
clear record of the meaning of the freedom of speech and of the press.
8. Ad hoc balancing is used to determine the proper awards or penalties when
judges make equity rulings.
9. The U.S. Supreme Court consistently has interpreted the free press clause of
the First Amendment to confer special privileges and responsibilities on the
press.
10. The crime of sedition punishes truthful criticism of government.
11. The U.S. Supreme Court has said that prior restraint is sometimes necessary
to counterbalance the power of large media corporations to drown out alternate
voices and different ideas.
12. John Milton said that the open exchange of ideas in an unfettered
marketplace will allow convincing falsehoods to overcome the truth.
13. The social contract is part of the First Amendment that requires the people to
act responsibly in exchange for their freedoms.
14. Throughout history, the U.S. Supreme Court has relied heavily on natural
rights theory to guide its First Amendment interpretations because this theory
provides clear boundaries to personal liberties.
15. Functionalists, or instrumentalists, believe that the First Amendment protects
the freedom of speech and of the press only because these freedoms advance
important societal goals, such as democracy.
16. A classical prior restraint imposes broad government power to review and
select acceptable content before ideas are published.
17. Court injunctions that stop publication are always unconstitutional prior
restraints.
18. The government bears an exceptionally heavy burden of proof to justify any
prior restraint because prior restraints are inherently likely to distort the
marketplace of ideas and to punish ideas that government disfavors.
19. Content-based laws must pass intermediate scrutiny to be constitutional.
20. Because content-based laws pose a greater risk to the freedom of speech
and of the press than do content-neutral laws, the U.S. Supreme Court uses a
more lenient test to determine when content-neutral laws are constitutional.
21. Private property that is used by the public is called a traditional public forum.
22. Originalists believe that interpretation of the Constitution should be guided by
the actual text of the document.
23. The First Amendment protection for freedom of expression means prior
restraints by government are constitutional only as a last resort to meet a
compelling need.
24. Both content-based and viewpoint-based regulations target speech because
of government disfavor with the ideas expressed.
25. The First Amendment does not limit the power of state or local legislatures.
26. In ad hoc balancing, courts employ strict rules of statutory interpretation.
27. Truthful criticism of government was punished under sedition laws.
28. The First Amendment is a nearly complete ban to prior restraints.
29. To be constitutional under strict scrutiny review, a law must reasonably
advance an important government interest.
30. Content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions must pass strict scrutiny
in order to be constitutional.
1. Discuss the role of public forums with regard to free speech. Be sure to define
the different categories of forums and explain why they exist.
2. What was the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Near v. Minnesota (the
Saturday Press case)?
3. After New York Times v. United States, is prior restraint of media ever possible
in the United States? Explain briefly.
Instructor Resource
Trager, The Law of Journalism and Mass Communication 6e
CQ Press, 2018
4. Using principles and Supreme Court decisions you have learned in the first
two chapters of the text, briefly explain why the governor of Missouri’s
emergency executive order banning night-time protests likely would be found
constitutional even if it restricts the protesters’ rights of freedom of speech and
assembly.
5. Explain briefly the decision and reasoning of two Supreme Court rulings that
establish but limit the control of government over government employee speech.
6. Use the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Reed v. Town of Gilbert to discuss the
distinction made between content-based and content-neutral regulations of
speech.