Chapter 4: Exam
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. In his original draft of the Bill of Rights, _________________ proposed that state as well as federal
establishments of religion be prohibited.
a. Thomas Jefferson
b. Alexander Hamilton
c. James Madison
d. John Jay
2. The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment was definitively applied to the states in
a. Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940).
b. Everson v. Board of Education (1947).
c. Zorach v. Clauson (1952).
d. Walz v. Tax Commission (1970).
3. The term “religion” comes from the Latin religare, which means
a. to regulate.
b. to revere.
c. to restrain.
d. to restructure.
4. In Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940), the Supreme Court struck down a state law that prohibited
_____________ for any religious or charitable cause without prior approval of a state agency.
a. public meetings
b. door-to-door solicitation
c. tax exemptions
d. None of the above is true.
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5. In Employment Division v. Smith (1990), the Supreme Court rejected a claim by _________________
that their ritualistic use of peyote constituted free exercise of religion.
a. Rastafarians
b. Native Americans
c. Satanists
d. Buddhists
6. In Lynch v. Donnelly (1984), the Supreme Court ____________ a city-sponsored Christmas nativity
scene as a violation of the Establishment Clause.
a. upheld
b. struck down
c. refused to review
d. None of the above is true.
7. In Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940), the Supreme Court upheld a local school board
requirement that all public school students participate in a daily __________ program.
a. Bible reading
b. flag salute
c. military training
d. “released time”
8. “Live Free or Die” is the state motto of ________________.
a. Massachusetts
b. Rhode Island
c. Vermont
d. New Hampshire
9. In Goldman v. Weinberger (1986), the Supreme Court upheld an Air Force dress code requirement
against the challenge of a(an) _______ who was disciplined for wearing _______ while in
uniform.
a. Rastafarian; dreadlocks
b. Sikh; a turban
c. Satanist; a pentagram
d. Orthodox Jew; a yarmulke
10. Our legal traditions recognize government as parens patriae, meaning literally
a. “parent of the country.”
b. “in the place of the parents.”
c. “king of kings.”
d. “founding fathers.”
11. The phrase “a wall of separation between church and state” can be traced to the writings of
_______________.
a. Thomas Paine
b. Thomas Jefferson
c. Henry David Thoreau
d. John Adams
12. According to the test delineated in Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), to survive an Establishment Clause
challenge, a law or practice must
a. have a secular purpose.
b. not have the principal effect of inhibiting or advancing religion.
c. avoid excessive government entanglement with religion.
d. All of the above are true.
13. What was the first case in which the Supreme Court applied the Establishment Clause to the states via
the Fourteenth Amendment?
a. Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
b. Sherbert v. Verner (1963)
c. Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
d. Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
14. In Board of Education v. Allen (1968), the Supreme Court upheld a New York statute requiring local
public school districts to _____________ to students in private and parochial schools.
a. provide transportation
b. provide tuition tax credits
c. lend certain textbooks
d. provide civics lessons
15. In 1985, Justice ____________ wrote an opinion dissenting from the entire thrust of the modern
Supreme Court’s Establishment Clause jurisprudence.
a. Harry Blackmun
b. John P. Stevens
c. Byron White
d. William Brennan
16. Justice _________________ was the lone dissenter in Engel v. Vitale, the famous school prayer
decision of 1962.
a. Felix Frankfurter
b. Potter Stewart
c. Thurgood Marshall
d. Earl Warren
17. In Epperson v. Arkansas (1968), the Supreme Court asserted that a state could not prevent its teachers
from discussing the theory of ____________.
a. creationism
b. evolution
c. social Darwinism
d. racial superiority
18. In ___________________, the Supreme Court held that private educational institutions that practiced
racial discrimination could be denied their federal income tax exemptions by the Internal
Revenue Service.
a. Mueller v. Allen (1983)
b. Bob Jones University v. United States (1983)
c. Widmar v. Vincent (1981)
d. Lynch v. Donnelly (1984)
19. In Zorach v. Clauson (1952), Justice ________________ wrote: “We are a people whose institutions
presuppose a Supreme Being.”
a. William O. Douglas
b. Robert Jackson
c. Felix Frankfurter
d. Hugo Black
20. The “__________” theory articulated in Everson v. Board of Education (1947) has, for the most part,
been maintained by the Supreme Court.
a. strict neutrality
b. cultural diversity
c. child benefit
d. None of the above is true.
21. Which of the following has been held by the Supreme Court to violate the Establishment Clause of the
First Amendment?
a. The provision of legislative chaplains at state expense
b. The public display of a city-owned crèche
c. A crèche prominently displayed on the grand staircase inside a county courthouse
d. An arrangement featuring a Christmas tree and a Hanukkah Menora placed just outside a city-county
building
22. To pass the Lemon test, a law must, among other things, have a
a. negative impact on organized religion.
b. pro-religious slant.
c. secular legislative purpose.
d. tendency to promote and advance the expression of religious beliefs.
23. In Everson v. Board of Education, New Jersey’s reimbursement of parents for costs incurred in
transporting their children by bus to and from parochial schools was
a. held constitutional under the “student benefit” theory.
b. invalidated as a violation of the principle of separation of church and state.
c. held not to present an establishment clause question.
d. held to constitute excessive entanglement between government and religion.
24. In Employment Division v. Smith (1990) the Court rejected Smith’s claim that the free exercise of religion
included his
a. ritualistic use of peyote.
b. right to practice polygamy.
c. burning of the Bible as a form of protest against Christian fundamentalism.
d. choice not to disclose his social security number to his employer.
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25. Which of the following members of the Supreme Court was most clearly identified with the view that
governmental policies should accommodate religious practices?
a. Hugo Black
b. Robert Jackson
c. William Brennan
d. Warren Burger
26. At the time the Bill of Rights was ratified in 1791, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and
____________continued to recognize the Congregational Church as the official, state-sponsored
religious denomination.
a. South Carolina
b. North Carolina
c. New Hampshire
d. none of the above
27. In Davis v. Beason (1890), Justice ___________ stated that “the term ‘religion’ has reference to one’s
view of his relations to his Creator, and to the obligations they impose of reverence for His being
and character, and obedience to His will.”
a. Salmon P. Chase
b. John Marshall Harlan
c. William Day
d. Stephen J. Field
28. In _____________, the Court unanimously struck down a Maryland constitutional provision requiring
persons seeking public office to take an oath declaring their belief in God.
a. McDaniel v. Paty (1978)
b. Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)
c. Brown v. Pena (1977)
d. Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
29. In _______________, the Court struck down a state law that prohibited door–to-door solicitation for
any religious or charitable cause without prior approval of a state agency.
a. McDaniel v. Paty (1978)
b. Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)
c. Brown v. Pena (1977)
d. Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
30. In _____________, the Supreme Court held that police could not prohibit members of the Jehovah’s
Witnesses from peaceable and orderly proselytizing on Sundays merely because other citizens
complained.
a. Douglas v. City of Jeanette (1943)
b. Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)
c. Brown v. Pena (1977)
d. Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
31. In ______________, a case involving members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Supreme Court held
unconstitutional a city council’s denial of a permit to the Jehovah’s Witnesses to use the city park
for a public meeting.
a. Brown v. Pena (1977)
b. Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940)
c. Niemotko v. Maryland (1951)
d. None of the above is true.
32. In ____________, the Supreme Court upheld application of the federal antipolygamy statute to a
Mormon who claimed it was his religious duty to have several wives.
a. Douglas v. City of Jeanette (1943)
b. Reynolds v. United States (1879)
c. Torcaso v. Watkins (1961)
d. None of the above is true.
33. Chief Justice ____________ once wrote, “…as a law of the organization of society under the
exclusive dominion of the United States, it is provided that plural marriages shall not be allowed.
Can a man excuse his practices to the contrary because of his religious belief? To permit this
would be to make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land, and in
effect to permit every citizen to become a law unto himself. Government could exist only in name
under such circumstances.”
a. Morrison R. Waite
b. Melville Fuller
c. Edward Douglass White
d. None of the above is true.
84 Chapter 4: Religious Liberty and Church–State Relations
34. In _____________, the Supreme Court said that freedom of religion is a fundamental right that could
be abridged only if necessary to protect a compelling government interest.
a. Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Division (1987)
b. Thomas v. Review Board (1981)
c. Sherbert v. Verner (1963)
d. None of the above is true.
35. In _______________, the Supreme Court upheld an Air Force dress code requirement against the
challenge of an Orthodox Jew who was disciplined for wearing a yarmulke while in uniform.
Stressing the need for discipline and uniformity in the military, the Court rejected the challenge.
a. Rostker v. Goldberg (1981)
b. Goldman v. Weinberger (1986)
c. United States v. Bland (1931)
d. None of the above is true.
36. In ______________, the Supreme Court upheld a child labor law that prohibited boys under the age of
12 and girls under the age of 18 from selling newspapers on the street against an attack based on
the Free Exercise Clause.
a. Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)
b. Minnesota v. Hershberger (1990)
c. Meyer v. Nebraska (1923)
d. Prince v. Massachusetts (1944)
37. The Supreme Court has adopted _____________ metaphor of a “wall of separation between church
and state” as capturing the essential meaning of the Establishment Clause.
a. James Madison’s
b. Thomas Jefferson’s
c. Alexander Hamilton’s
d. None of the above is true.
38. In ______________, the Supreme Court upheld a New York statute requiring local public school
districts to lend textbooks on secular subjects to students in private and parochial schools based
on the child benefit theory.
a. Board of Education v. Allen (1968)
b. Meek v. Pittenger (1975)
c. Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
d. None of the above is true.
39. In ___________________, the Supreme Court held that if a school permits after-hours activities
concerning moral or character development, it cannot prohibit activities even if they involve
religious instruction of elementary school students.
a. Board of Education v. Mergens (1990)
b. Widmar v. Vincent (1981)
c. Good News Club v. Milford Central School (2001)
d. None of the above is true.
40. The Supreme Court declared the Religious Freedom Restoration Act unconstitutional in which of these
cases?
a. Reynolds v. United States (1879)
b. Employment Division v. Smith (1990)
c. City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)
d. Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita (2006)
41. Negative public reaction to the Court’s decision in which case convinced a majority in Congress to
pass the Religious Freedom Restoration Act?
a. Reynolds v. United States (1879)
b. Employment Division v. Smith (1990)
c. City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)
d. Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita (2006)
42. In________________________, the federal government was barred from enforcing the Controlled
Substances Act because doing so would offend RFRA.
a. Reynolds v. United States (1879)
b. Employment Division v. Smith (1990)
c. City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)
d. Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita (2006)
43. In ______________, the Court upheld a state policy under which public school students who received
parental permission left campus to attend religious services while other students attended study
hall.
a. Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
b. Board of Education v. Allen (1968)
c. Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
d. Zorach v. Clauson (1952)
44. In ____________, the Supreme Court upheld a New York statute requiring local public school
districts to lend textbooks on secular subjects to students in private and parochial schools.
a. Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
b. Board of Education v. Allen (1968)
c. Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
d. Zorach v. Clauson (1952)
45. In ___________, the Court struck down a New York City program that used federal funds to
supplement the salaries of public school teachers who taught remedial courses on the premises of
religious schools.
a. Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
b. Aguilar v. Felton (1985)
c. City of Boerne v. Flores (1997)
d. Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita (2006)
46. In ___________, the Court held unconstitutional the practice of inviting a member of the clergy to
deliver a nonsectarian prayer at a public school graduation ceremony.
a. Stone v. Graham (1980)
b. Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)
c. Lee v. Weisman (1992)
d. Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000)
47. In ___________, the Court split 5 to 4 in striking down a public high school’s policy of allowing
students to elect a chaplain to deliver invocations before football games.
a. Stone v. Graham (1980)
b. Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)
c. Lee v. Weisman (1992)
d. Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000)
48. Which Justice wrote the Court’s opinion in Walz v. Tax Commission (1970)?
a. Warren E. Burger
b. William O. Douglas
c. John Paul Stevens
d. Hugo Black
49. Which Justice wrote the Court’s opinion in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris (2002)?
a. Clarence Thomas
b. William Rehnquist
c. John Paul Stevens
d. Stephen Breyer
ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. Discuss the controversy over the compulsory flag salute, focusing specifically on the Supreme
Court’s decisions in Minersville v. Gobitis (1940) and West Virginia v. Barnette (1943). What do
these cases tell us about the nature of Supreme Court decision making?
2. Compare and contrast the Supreme Court’s decisions in Abington School District v. Schempp
(1963) and Marsh v. Chambers (1983). Are these decisions logically compatible?
3. Outline the arguments, pro and con, on the issue of whether tax exemptions for churches
constitute a violation of the Establishment Clause. What has the Supreme Court said on the
subject?
4. Many students of the Supreme Court have recognized the fundamental tension between the
Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment as interpreted by the justices
since the 1940s. How can freedom of religion be protected while simultaneously adhering to the
principle of separation of church and state?
5. Some observers conclude that, on balance, the Court has been successful in defining the appropriate
relationship between government and religion, while at the same time protecting freedom of
conscience and belief. Others argue that the Court has failed to provide an adequate answer to this
difficult question. Based on your examination of cases and related materials on the Religion Clauses
88 Chapter 4: Religious Liberty and Church–State Relations
of the First Amendment, evaluate the Supreme Court’s performance in this area. Have the Justices
helped to clarify and resolve key issues in this area, or have they compounded the problems and
added to the confusion? Support your conclusions with selective references to assigned reading.
6. The Supreme Court has ruled on several occasions and in a number of contexts that religious
exercises officially conducted or authorized in public schools violate the establishment clause of the
First Amendment. The Court has also held, in a variety of settings within and outside the public
schools, that government may accommodate certain religious traditions and practices. How has the
Court reconciled its decisions in the establishment clause area? Has the Court achieved consistency
in applying establishment clause principles? Has it been altogether inconsistent? Has it provided
intelligible guidelines for legislators, school boards, and other public officials to follow in
formulating public policy regarding church-state relations? Discuss.
7. What justifications has the Supreme Court given for holding (a) that prayer in public schools is
unconstitutional, but (b) that legislative chaplains and nativity scenes provided at public expense are
not in violation of the Constitution? Can these separate lines of decision making be reconciled, or
are they basically inconsistent? Support your conclusions.
8. Briefly restate the three-pronged “Lemon test” and indicate its significance as a rationale by which
the Supreme Court has attempted to draw the constitutional separation between church and state. In
light of such cases as Marsh v. Chambers and Lee v. Weisman, what are the shortcomings of the
“Lemon test?”
9. Analyze and evaluate the U.S. Supreme Court’s effort over the past half-century to define the
appropriate relationship between religion and government with specific reference to the
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment as applied to the states through the Fourteenth
Amendment. Has the Court developed workable constitutional doctrine in this area? Has the Court
done more to clarify or to confuse issues of public policy in the ongoing debate over church-state
relations? Rely specifically, but selectively, on assigned cases, and support your conclusions.
10. Trace the Supreme Court’s use of the Child Benefit Theory beginning in Everson v. Board of
Education (1947). What are the major pillars of this theory and how has the Court made use of it
over the years? Finally, in your opinion, is the Child Benefit Theory consistent with the
Establishment Clause? Why or why not?