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Chapter 7: Exam
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. In Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Co. (1886), the Supreme Court held that the word
“person” in the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment included
_______________.
a. blacks
b. women
c. corporations
d. the unborn
2. Which of the following cases is an example of the Equal Protection Clause being employed as a basis
for invalidating discriminatory business regulation?
a. Yick Wo v. Hopkins (1886)
b. Strauder v. West Virginia (1879)
c. Pollock v. Farmer’s Loan and Trust Co. (1895)
d. U.S. v. E.C. Knight Co. (1890)
3. In the modern era the Equal Protection Clause has been invoked successfully to challenge
discrimination against racial and ethnic minorities, as well as discrimination against
a. mentally retarded persons.
b. illegitimate children.
c. illegal aliens.
d. All of the above are true.
4. Under the “New Equal Protection,” the courts have used the Equal Protection Clause to scrutinize
closely any law or practice that discriminates among groups in their enjoyment of
a. fundamental rights.
b. private clubs.
c. government benefits.
d. tax exemptions.
5. If challenged in a court of law, a state law that requires a person to possess a license to practice
psychological counseling would be subject to
a. the rational basis test.
b. strict judicial scrutiny.
c. the compelling interest test.
d. the suspect classification doctrine.
6. The suspect classification doctrine originated in
a. English common law.
b. Korematsu v. United States (1944).
c. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896).
d. The Civil Rights Cases (1883).
7. Shortly before the Fourteenth Amendment was ratified, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866
which, among other things, protected the right of African Americans to
a. inherit, own, and convey property.
b. utilize privately owned places of public accommodation.
c. vote in state elections.
d. All of the above are true.
8. In the wake of the Civil War, many of the Southern states had adopted the so-called __________,
which denied basic economic rights to former slaves.
a. Jim Crow Laws
b. Grandfather Clauses
c. Black Codes
d. None of the above is true.
9. In adopting the Civil Rights Act of _____, Congress attempted to eradicate racial discrimination in
“places of public accommodation,” including hotels, taverns, restaurants, theaters, and “public
conveyances.”
a. 1866
b. 1870
c. 1871
d. 1875
148 Chapter 7: Equal Protection and the Antidiscrimination Principle
10. Also known as the _______________________, the Civil Rights Act of 1870 made it a federal crime
to conspire to “injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any citizen in the free exercise of any right
or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”
a. Jim Crow Law
b. Black Code
c. Ku Klux Klan Act
d. Reconstruction Act
11. In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court upheld a Louisiana law requiring racial segregation
a. in public schools.
b. on railroad cars.
c. in courtrooms.
d. in the state legislature.
12. When Congress passed the public accommodations provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it had
to rely primarily on its broad powers under
a. Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment.
b. the Supremacy Clause.
c. the Necessary and Proper Clause.
d. the Commerce Clause.
13. In McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950), the Supreme Court disallowed an attempt by the
University of Oklahoma
a. to segregate a black graduate student from his white colleagues.
b. to create a separate law school for blacks.
c. to require blacks to attend law schools in other states.
d. to close down a law school reserved to blacks only.
14. Before Brown v. Board of Education was reargued in 1953, Chief Justice __________ died and was
replaced by Earl Warren.
a. William Howard Taft
b. Charles Evans Hughes
c. Harlan F. Stone
d. Fred M. Vinson
Chapter 7: Equal Protection and the Antidiscrimination Principle 149
15. In a dramatic effort to resist the Supreme Court’s desegregation decisions, Arkansas governor
___________ called out the National Guard in 1957 to prevent nine black students from entering
Little Rock Central High School.
a. Lester Maddox
b. Charles Nelson Reilly
c. Orval Faubus
d. Ross Barnett
16. In Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center (1985), the Supreme Court struck down a zoning law which
had been applied to prohibit a home for ________ from operating in a residential neighborhood.
a. unwed mothers
b. mentally retarded persons
c. physically disabled persons
d. illegal aliens
17. In Shapiro v. Thompson (1969), the Supreme Court struck down state laws that imposed one-year
waiting periods on new residents seeking
a. divorces.
b. driver’s licenses.
c. welfare benefits.
d. to run for public office.
18. In Brown v. Board of Education (1955), the Supreme Court ordered desegregation of the Nation’s
public schools
a. “at once.”
b. “with all deliberate speed.”
c. “as soon as possible.”
d. “with due dispatch.”
19. Boling v. Sharpe (1954) involved a constitutional challenge to segregated public schools in
________________.
a. Washington, D.C.
b. Virginia
c. Mississippi
d. Tennessee
150 Chapter 7: Equal Protection and the Antidiscrimination Principle
20. The failure of the Equal Rights Amendment to win ratification left the adjudication of sex
discrimination claims largely in the domain of the
a. Thirteenth Amendment.
b. Fourteenth Amendment.
c. Nineteenth Amendment.
d. Twentieth Amendment.
21. In a famous dissenting opinion in 1896, Justice _________ asserted that “our Constitution is color
blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens.”
a. John Marshall
b. John M. Harlan (the elder)
c. Thurgood Marshall
d. John M. Harlan (the younger).
22. In reviewing a properly challenged attempt by government to classify persons on the basis of race, the
Supreme Court applies a standard of
a. strict scrutiny.
b. heightened scrutiny.
c. lowered scrutiny.
d. subtle scrutiny.
23. The Supreme Court is most likely to apply a standard of _____________ in ruling on the
constitutionality of a law that classifies persons on the basis of gender.
a. strict scrutiny
b. formal rationality
c. heightened scrutiny
d. substantive justice
24. Primary responsibility for implementing the requirements of Brown v. Board of Education was assigned
to
a. state governors.
b. state appellate courts.
c. federal district judges.
d. federal court of appeals judges.
Chapter 7: Equal Protection and the Antidiscrimination Principle 151
25. In City of Richmond v. Croson Company (1989) the Supreme Court
a. broadened the scope of federal affirmative action programs in the awarding of construction contracts.
b. declared state affirmative action programs in the area of professional school admissions
unconstitutional.
c. held that the issue of affirmative action in the field of private employment presents a political question
beyond the scope of judicial review.
d. placed significant limitations on nonfederal affirmative action programs in the awarding of government
contracts.
26. In Plyler v. Doe (1982), the Supreme Court struck down a Texas law that denied access to public
education to the children of illegal aliens by applying the ________________ test.
a. rational basis
b. intermediate scrutiny
c. strict scrutiny.
d. None of the above is true.
27. In a famous footnote to his opinion in ________________, Justice Harlan Fiske Stone stated that
“prejudice against discrete and insular minorities may be a special condition, which tends
seriously to curtail the operation of those political processes ordinarily to be relied upon to protect
minorities and … may call for a more searching judicial scrutiny.”
a. Korematsu v. United States (1944)
b. United States v. Carolene Products Company (1938)
c. Cleburne v. Cleburne Living Center (1985)
d. Romer v. Evans (1996)
28. Under strict judicial scrutiny, the ordinary presumption of constitutionality is reversed whereby the
___________ carries the burden of proof that the challenged policy is constitutional.
a. party challenging the policy
b. government
c. individual that disfavors the policy
d. None of the above is true.
29. Under the _______________, the government must show that a challenged policy bears a
“substantial” relationship to an “important” government interest.
a. rational basis test
b. heightened scrutiny test
c. strict scrutiny test
d. None of the above is true.
152 Chapter 7: Equal Protection and the Antidiscrimination Principle
30. The ___________ doctrine applies only to policies that overtly discriminate on the basis of race,
religion, or ethnicity.
a. suspect classification
b. vagueness
c. equal protection
d. None of the above is true.
31. Under ______________, a policy that is racially neutral on its face, is rationally related to a legitimate
governmental objective, but has a disparate impact on people of different races will be upheld
unless plaintiffs can show that it was adopted to serve a racially discriminatory purpose.
a. Buchanan v. Warley (1917)
b. The Civil Rights Cases (1883)
c. Washington v. Davis (1976)
d. None of the above is true.
32. In the wake of the Civil War, many of the southern states had adopted the Black Codes, which denied
basic economic rights to former slaves including the right to
a. inherit property.
b. own property.
c. convey property.
d. All the above are true.
33. In The Civil Rights Cases (1883), the Supreme Court ______________ the key provisions of the Civil
Rights Act of 1875, ruling that the Fourteenth Amendment limited congressional action to the
prohibition of official state-sponsored discrimination as distinct from discrimination practiced by
privately owned places of public accommodation.
a. upheld
b. invalidated
c. denied certiorari
d. None of the above is true.
34. The _______________ provided that citizens of all races have the same rights to make and enforce
contracts, to sue and give evidence in the courts, and to own, purchase, sell, rent, and inherit real and
personal property.
a. Civil Rights Act of 1871
b. Civil Rights Act of 1870
c. Civil Rights Act of 1875
Chapter 7: Equal Protection and the Antidiscrimination Principle 153
d. Civil Rights Act of 1866
35. The _____________ adopted in the aftermath of The Civil Rights Cases required segregation in
virtually every area of public life requiring blacks and whites to attend separate schools, use
separate parks, ride in separate railroad cars, and to be buried in separate cemeteries.
a. Jim Crow laws
b. black codes
c. separation laws
d. None of the above is true.
36. In _____________, the Supreme Court found that a newly created law school at the Texas College for
Negroes under the separate but equal doctrine was substantially inferior to the whites-only law
school at the University of Texas.
a. Sipuel v. Oklahoma Board of Regents (1948)
b. Sweatt v. Painter (1950)
c. McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950)
d. Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada (1938)
37. In ________________, the Supreme Court unanimously approved the use of court-ordered busing to
achieve the goal of desegregation.
a. Cooper v. Aaron (1958)
b. Alexander v. Holmes County (1969)
c. Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971)
d. Milliken v. Bradley (1974)
38. In _______________, the Supreme Court amplified its decision in Board of Education v. Dowell
(1991) by permitting a federal district court that for many years had supervised desegregation of
the DeKalb County, Georgia, schools to relinquish supervision over certain aspects of school
administration.
a. Milliken v. Bradley (1974)
b. Keyes v. Denver School District (1973)
c. Missouri v. Jenkins (1995)
d. Freeman v. Pitts (1992)
39. In _________________, the Supreme Court struck down the plans of public school districts in Seattle,
Washington and Louisville, Kentucky to create a degree of racial balance between whites and
nonwhites in their public high schools by basing student admissions in part on racial criteria.
a. Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (2007)
b. Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
c. DeFunis v. Odegaard (1974)
d. Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
40. In ___________, the Supreme Court struck down a provision of the Idaho Probate Code that required
probate judges to prefer males to females in appointing administrators of estates.
a. Weinberger v. Wiesenfeld (1975)
b. Frontiero v. Richardson (1973)
c. Reed v. Reed (1971)
d. Califano v. Goldfarb (1977)
41. In 1988 Justice Anthony Kennedy joined the Court after the retirement of Justice _____.
a. Stewart
b. Burger
c. Powell
d. None of the above is true.
42. In 1981 Justice________ was replaced on the Court by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.
a. Stewart
b. Burger
c. Powell
d. None of the above is true.
43. The 2003 affirmative action cases of Gratz v. Bollinger and Grutter v. Bollinger came to the Supreme
Court from which state?
a. Maine
b. Michigan
c. Minnesota
d. Missouri
Chapter 7: Equal Protection and the Antidiscrimination Principle 155
44. In________, the Supreme Court upheld an state law that prohibited women from practicing law.
a. Bradwell v. Illinois (1873)
b. Minor v. Happersett (1875)
c. Goesaert v. Cleary (1948)
d. None of the above is true.
45. In_________, the Supreme Court held that women had no constitutional right to vote.
a. Bradwell v. Illinois (1873)
b. Minor v. Happersett (1875)
c. Goesaert v. Cleary (1948)
d. None of the above is true.
46. In_____________, the Supreme Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bars sexual
harassment on the job.
a. Frontiero v. Richardson (1973)
b. Reed v. Reed (1971)
c. Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986)
d. None of the above is true.
47. In Frontiero v. Richardson (1973), the Supreme Court ruled that the Air Force violated the equal
protection component of the Fifth Amendment in requiring women, but not men, to demonstrate
that their spouses were in fact dependents for the purpose of receiving medical and dental
benefits.
a. Frontiero v. Richardson (1973)
b. Reed v. Reed (1971)
c. Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986)
d. None of the above is true.
48. Which justice wrote the opinion for the Court in Kahn v. Shevin (1974)?
a. Brenna
b. Douglas
c. Stewart
d. White
49. In which year did the United States military policy of “don’t ask don’t tell” officially came to an end?
156 Chapter 7: Equal Protection and the Antidiscrimination Principle
a. 1999
b. 2007
c. 2009
d. 2011
ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. Describe the constitutional debate surrounding the efforts by some state and local governments to
eradicate race and sex discrimination in the membership policies of certain social and civil clubs.
What has the Supreme Court said on the subject?
2. Over the years the U.S. Supreme Court has identified and applied three standards of review—
rational basis, heightened scrutiny, and strict scrutiny—in determining whether various legislative
classifications of persons violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Briefly
describe the distinguishing characteristics of each of these standards of review, including but not
limited to allocation of the burden of proof.
3. Does the general approach to equal protection analysis using three standards of review—rational
basis, heightened scrutiny, and strict scrutiny—make sense? Is it workable? Does it reflect a careful
and fair weighing of constitutional values, or is it arbitrary, artificial, and obsolete? Support your
conclusions.
4. Restate the Supreme Court’s decision and rationale in Brown v. Board of Education I (1954).
Identify and differentiate among the major stages in the Court’s attempt to implement the
requirements of this decision from Brown II (1955) through Missouri v. Jenkins (1995). To what
extent has the Supreme Court clearly and consistently articulated the requirements that must be
fulfilled by school systems in order to achieve full compliance with Brown v. Board of Education?
5. Recall and critique the Supreme Court’s decision in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin (2013).
What level of scrutiny did the Court call for in determining the constitutionality of affirmative
action policy in higher education? Did this ruling clarify constitutional affirmative action policy
in the United States?
6. Despite being somewhat similar in structure, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was far more
successful in guaranteeing equal protection of the law than the Civil Rights Act of 1875. To what
degree, if any, was the Supreme Court responsible for the difference in their effectiveness?
7. Recall and critique the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Virginia (1996). How did the
state argue its policy at VMI was not violative of the constitution and why was this rejected by
the majority in this case? What were the major legal arguments in Justice Scalia’s dissent?
