Chapter 1: Exam
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. Paraphrasing ________________, the Declaration of Independence (1776) declares the “unalienable”
rights of man to be “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
a. Thomas Hobbes
b. Jean-Jacques Rousseau
c. John Locke
d. Adam Smith
2. The Framers of the Constitution were heavily influenced by the theory of __________, in which rights
are seen as inherently belonging to individuals.
a. divine right
b. inherent powers
c. primogeniture
d. natural rights
3. Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution provides that “Treason against the United States, shall consist
only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them
________________.”
a. Information
b. Munitions or Plans of War
c. Aid and Comfort
d. None of the above is true.
4. To protect citizens against unwarranted prosecution for treason, the Constitution specifies that “No
person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same Overt
act, or on _______ in open Court.”
a. Indictment
b. Conviction
c. Confession
d. None of the above is true.
5. The writ of __________________ enables a court of law to review a custodial situation and order the
release of an individual who is found to have been illegally held in custody.
a. certiorari
b. assistance
c. mandamus
d. None of the above is true.
6. A (an) _________________ is a legislative act that imposes punishment upon a person without benefit
of a trial in a court of law.
a. corpus delecti
b. bill of attainder
c. writ of prohibition
d. None of the above is true.
7. Historically, the ________ Clause was an important source of litigation in the federal courts. In modern
times, it is seldom interpreted to impose significant limits on the states in the field of economic
regulation.
a. Commerce
b. Full Faith and Credit
c. Contracts
d. Ninth Amendment
8. In The Federalist No. 84, _________________ argued that because the Constitution provided for
limited government through enumerated powers, a Bill of Rights was unnecessary.
a. John Jay
b. John Adams
c. Alexander Hamilton
d. None of the above is true.
9. The Second Amendment refers to the keeping and bearing of arms in the context of
a. a well- regulated militia.
b. personal safety and protection.
c. a rebellion or invasion.
d. None of the above is true.
10. The _____________ Amendment prohibits military authorities from quartering troops in citizens’
homes without their consent.
a. Second
b. Third
c. Fourth
d. None of the above is true.
11. The Fifth Amendment requires the federal government to obtain a (an) ______________ from a
_______________ before trying someone for a felony.
a. indictment; grand jury
b. conviction; petit jury
c. warrant; judge or magistrate
d. subpoena; judge or magistrate
12. The Fifth Amendment protects people against arbitrary use of __________, the power of government
to take private property for public use.
a. sovereign immunity
b. the writ of attachment
c. fee simple
d. eminent domain
13. The Seventh Amendment guarantees the right to a jury trial in federal civil suits “at common law”
where the amount at issue exceeds
a. twenty dollars.
b. one hundred dollars.
c. one thousand dollars.
d. one million dollars.
14. In its most generic sense, __________ refers to the exercise of governmental power under the rule of
law with due regard for the rights and interests of individuals.
a. eminent domain
b. sovereignty
c. civil liberty
d. due process
15. The ratification of the __________ Amendment in ____ provided an opportunity for the Supreme
Court to reconsider the relationship between the Bill of Rights and state and local governments.
a. Eleventh; 1798
b. Twelfth; 1804
c. Fourteenth; 1868
d. Sixteenth; 1913
16. The process of selective incorporation of the Bill of Rights into the Fourteenth Amendment began in
1897 in
a. Hurtado v. California.
b. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. Chicago.
c. The Slaughterhouse Cases.
d. Twining v. New Jersey.
17. In Palko v. Connecticut (1937) the Supreme Court refused to incorporate the _________ Clause of the
Fifth Amendment into the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
a. Due Process
b. Public Use
c. Double Jeopardy
d. Just Compensation
18. In 1848, a delegation of women, including the famous suffragist ________, met at Seneca Falls, New
York to address the “social, civil, and religious conditions and rights of woman.”
a. Elizabeth Cady Stanton
b. Sarah Miles Standish
c. Elizabeth Jane Parker
d. Sarah Baker Worthington
19. Like the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, the Fifteenth Amendment was an outgrowth of
a. the Civil War.
b. the Industrial Revolution.
c. Shays’ Rebellion.
d. the Spanish-American War.
20. Although formally granted the right to vote by the Fifteenth Amendment, many Black Americans
were still effectively disenfranchised by practices such as
a. literacy tests.
b. white primaries.
c. poll taxes.
d. All of the above are true.
21. In 1970, Congress passed a measure lowering the voting age from twenty-one to eighteen in both state
and federal elections. The Supreme Court, however, declared this measure unconstitutional in
a. Oregon v. Mitchell.
b. Massachusetts v. Laird.
c. Kissinger v. Halperin.
d. Texas v. Johnson.
22. In Breedlove v. Suttles (1937), the Supreme Court ruled that __________, in and of themselves, did
not violate the Fourteenth or Fifteenth Amendments.
a. poll taxes
b. literacy tests
c. white primaries
d. grandfather clauses
23. The Supreme Court refused to entertain a claim brought on behalf of Joshua DeShaney against a
publicly funded social agency because, in the stated view of the majority, no _________ was
demonstrated.
a. knowledge by social workers of the violent tendencies of Joshua’s father
b. indication of previous injury to Joshua
c. inattention by social workers
d. required element of state action
24. Reference to enumerated rights is found in the _______ Amendment.
a. Ninth
b. Tenth
c. Seventh
d. Second
25. The two aspects of constitutional rights include _________ and ________.
a. liberty; privacy
b. equality; privacy
c. liberty; equality
d. None of the above is true.
26._____________ of the Constitution provides that “The Trial of all Crimes, except in Cases of
Impeachment, shall be by Jury; and such Trial shall be held in the State where the said Crimes
shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the Trial shall be at such
Place or Places as the Congress may by Law have directed.”
a. Article III, Section 1
b. Article III, Section 2
c. Article III, Section 3
d. None of the above is true.
27. In ________________, the Supreme Court upheld the treason conviction of a German-American who
sheltered one of the Nazi saboteurs.
a. Haupt v. United States (1947)
b. Cramer v. United States (1945)
c. Ex Parte Bollman (1807)
d. none of the above
28. ___________ enables a court to review a custodial situation and order the release of an individual
who is found to have been illegally incarcerated.
a. The Writ of Mandamus
b. Bills of Attainder
c. The Writ of Habeas Corpus
d. Ex Post Facto laws
29. In ________________, the Court invalidated a law that prohibited members of the Communist Party
from serving as officers in trade unions, saying that Congress had inflicted punishment on “easily
ascertainable members of a group.”
a. United States v. Brown (1965)
b. American Communications Association v. Douds (1950)
c. United States v. Lovett (1946)
d. Nixon v. Administrator of General Services (1977)
30. The ________ Amendment protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press, often referred to
jointly as freedom of expression.
a. First
b. Second
c. Third
d. Fourth
31. The Supreme Court decided in ______________, that the Second Amendment protects a personal
right to keep and bear arms.
a. Lewis v. United States (1980)
b. District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)
c. United States v. Miller (1939)
d. United States v. Cruikshank (1875)
32. In _______________, the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Warren expanded the scope of Fourth
Amendment protection to include wiretapping, an important tool of modern law enforcement.
a. Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
b. Katz v. United States (1967)
c. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
d. none of the above
33. In _____________, the Supreme Court said that the Seventh Amendment does not provide the right to
a jury trial where Congress “has created a ‘private’ right that is so closely integrated into a public
regulatory scheme as to be a matter appropriate for agency resolution with limited involvement
by the Article III judiciary.”
a. Colgrove v. Battin (1973)
b. Curtis v. Loether (1974)
c. Stack v. Boyle (1951)
d. Thomas v. Union Carbide (1985)
34. In _____________, a case involving the prosecution of an organized crime figure, the Supreme Court
said that the Eighth Amendment does not require that defendants be released on bail, only that, if
the court grants bail, it must not be “excessive.”
a. Trop v. Dulles (1958)
b. Stack v. Boyle (1951)
c. United States v. Salerno (1987)
d. none of the above
35. The ______ Amendment was included in the Bill of Rights as a solution to a problem raised by James
Madison—namely, that the specification of particular liberties might suggest that individuals
possessed only those specified.
a. Seventh
b. Eighth
c. Ninth
d. Tenth
36. In Jones v. Alfred H. Mayer Company (1968), the Supreme Court invoked the ______________
Amendment in a decision upholding a provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
a. Thirteenth
b. Fourteenth
c. Fifteenth
d. Sixteenth
37. The Privileges and Immunities Clause of ____________, provides: “The Citizens of each State shall
be entitled to all privileges and Immunities of Citizens in the several States.”
a. Article IV, Section 1
b. Article IV, Section 2
c. Article IV, Section 3
d. Article IV, Section 4
38. In ____________, the Supreme Court ruled that the Privileges or Immunities Clause did not prohibit a
state from denying a woman a license to practice law.
a. Twining v. New Jersey (1908)
b. Minor v. Happersett (1875)
c. Bradwell v. Illinois (1873)
d. none of the above
39. The narrow view of the Equal Protection Clause adopted in Plessy v. Ferguson was repudiated by the
Supreme Court in _______________, where the Court invalidated compulsory racial segregation
in public schools, and in a series of subsequent decisions in which the Court struck down other
types of Jim Crow laws.
a. Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
b. Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
c. The Civil Rights Cases (1883)
d. Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)
40. The Supreme Court has adopted the doctrine of _____________ as a method of deciding whether
certain provisions of the Bill of Rights are applicable to the States.
a. total incorporation
b. selective incorporation
c. incorporation plus
d. None of the above is true.
41. As of December 2013, the provisions of the Bill of Rights that had not been absorbed into the
Fourteenth Amendment include the
a. Third and Seventh Amendments.
b. Fifth Amendment grand jury clause.
c. Eighth Amendment prohibitions against “excessive fines” and “excessive bail.”
d. All of the above are true.
42. The Fifteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-Fourth, and Twenty-Sixth Amendments focus on the
____________, which is arguably the most essential right in a democracy.
a. right to run for elected office
b. right to trial by jury
c. right to vote
d. right to bear arms
43. When a law or policy impinges on a right explicitly protected by the Constitution, such as the right to
vote, it is subjected to ________ judicial scrutiny by the Supreme Court, also known as the
compelling government interest test.
a. minimal
b. intermediate
c. strict
d. None of the above is true.
44. The Bill of Rights were collectively ratified and added to the Constitution in _____.
a. 1776
b. 1789
c. 1791
d. 1803
45. A civil suit begins when one party, the ______, files suit against another party, the _____.
a. defendant; plaintiff
b. plaintiff; defendant
c. state; plaintiff
d. none of the above
46. According to your text, approximately how many “cert petitions” come to the Supreme Court each
year?
a. 100
b. 1,000
c. 5,000
d. 10,000
47. When the Chief Justice is voting in the minority, opinion assignment falls to the _________who is
voting in the majority.
a. senior justice
b. junior justice
c. median justice
d. None of the above is true.
48. In____________, Chief Justice John Marshall observed “that the crime of treason should not be
extended by construction to doubtful cases.”
a. Marbury v. Madison (1803)
b. Ex Parte Bollman (1807)
c. Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
d. Cramer v. United States (1945)
49. In ____________, the Supreme Court reversed the treason conviction of a German immigrant accused
of giving aid and comfort to two Nazi saboteurs who infiltrated the United States.
a. Marbury v. Madison (1803)
b. Ex Parte Bollman (1807)
c. Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
d. Cramer v. United States (1945)
50. In__________, the Court ruled that “religious test for public office unconstitutionally invades the
appellant’s freedom of belief and religion and therefore cannot be enforced against him.”
a. Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
b. Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)
c. McDaniel v. Paty (1978)
d. Ex Parte Milligan (1866)
51. In ___________, the Court invalidated a Tennessee statute barring priests and ministers from serving
as delegates to state constitutional conventions.
a. Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
b. Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)
c. McDaniel v. Paty (1978)
d. Ex Parte Milligan (1866)
52. In__________, the Supreme Court held that only Congress can suspend the writ of habeas corpus.
12 Chapter 1: Constitutional Sources of Civil Rights and Liberties
a. Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
b. Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)
c. McDaniel v. Paty (1978)
d. Ex Parte Milligan (1866)
53. According to your textbook, Under which Chief Justice did the Supreme Court broaden the scope of
federal habeas corpus review of state criminal convictions by permitting prisoners to raise issues
in federal court that they did not raise in their state appeals?
a. Earl Warren
b. Warren Burger
c. William Rehnquist
d. John Roberts
54. In__________, the Supreme Court held that the ex post facto clauses applied to criminal but not to
civil laws.
a. Calder v. Bull (1798)
b. Marbury v. Madison (1803)
c. Fletcher v. Peck (1810)
d. Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
55. In_____________, a narrowly divided Court held, in an opinion by Justice Alito, that “the Second
Amendment right is fully applicable to the States.”
a. United States v. Miller (1939)
b. Lewis v. United States (1980)
c. District of Columbia v. Heller (2008)
d. McDonald v. Chicago (2010)
ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. Describe the debate between the Federalists and the Antifederalists over the omission of a
bill of rights from the original Constitution.
2. Explain the Fourteenth Amendment state action doctrine. How did this doctrine figure into
the Supreme Court’s decision in DeShaney v. Winnebago Social Services (1989)?
3. Discuss the origins and development of the doctrine of selective incorporation of the Bill of
Rights. What rationale has the Court articulated for determining whether a provision of the
Chapter 1: Constitutional Sources of Civil Rights and Liberties 13
Bill of Rights should be made applicable to the states? Is this rationale clear? Convincing?
Discuss.
4. What standards do courts employ in judging the constitutionality of laws that are alleged to
infringe “fundamental rights”? Explain the approach taken by courts in such cases.
5. Specifically, what does the “right to keep and bear arms” include? Address the argument
made by some that the exercise of the right is limited to service in a “well regulated militia”?
6. Is the Ninth Amendment, in and of itself, a sufficient basis for the judicial invalidation of
legislation?
7. Citing relevant cases, explain the distinction between substantive and procedural due
process.
8. The only crime the Framers saw necessary to include in the original Constitution was
treason. Discuss the reasoning for its inclusion. Also, include in your response Supreme
Court decisions in this area of constitutional law.
9. In your opinion, which provision of the Bill of Rights is the most important to individual
citizens? Which was of greatest concern to the Founders? Has the Supreme Court shown
preference for some provisions as opposed to others?
10. In your interpretation, does the Fourth Amendment protect American citizen’s teleological
communications such as emails, phone calls, and text messages or can the government access
these records without violating individual search and seizure protections?