Justice _____ wrote in Schenck v. U.S. (1919) that “[t]he most stringent protection of
free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theater, and causing a
panic.”
a. Edward T. Sandford
b. Louis D. Brandeis
c. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
d. Stephen J. Field
In Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), the Supreme Court _____.
a. struck down a state law that making it a crime to engage in homosexual sodomy
b. upheld a state law as applied to homosexual sodomy
c. upheld a state law as applied to heterosexual sodomy
d. struck down a state law prohibiting single-sex marriages
Sneak-and-peak search warrants are authorized by _____.
a. the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
b. the Crime Control Act
c. the Patriot Act
d. the Authorization for Use of Military Force
In Colorado Republican Federal Campaign Committee v. Federal Elections
Commission (1996), the Supreme Court _____.
a. upheld limitations on party expenditures in Senate races
b. sustained the constitutionality of spending limits on congressional elections
c. declared unconstitutional limitations on political parties’ campaign expenditures
made in conjunction with a candidate’s campaign committee
d. declared unconstitutional limitations on political parties’ campaign expenditures
made independently of a candidate’s campaign committee
McCreary County v. ACLU involved _____.
a. prayer in public schools
b. a Christmas tree in a county courthouse
c. a display containing the Ten Commandments
d. None of the above
In Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), Chief Justice/Justice _____ wrote, “The Constitution
makers knew the need for change and provided for it. Amendments . . . can be
submitted to the people . . . for ratification. That method of change was good enough for
our Fathers, and being somewhat old-fashioned I must add that it is good enough for
me.”
a. William O. Douglas
b. Earl Warren
c. Felix Frankfurter
d. Hugo Black
According to the Constitution, indirect taxes are to be levied according to the rule of
_____.
a. fairness
b. apportionment
c. uniformity
d. population
Ex parte Milligan arose as a result of _____.
a. World War II
b. the Vietnam War
c. the invasion of Afghanistan by the United States
d. the Civil War
Whom did President Reagan first nominate to replace Justice Lewis Powell?
a. Harry Blackmun
b. Robert Bork
c. John Paul Stevens
d. Stephen Breyer
According to Supreme Court doctrine, which of the following statements, if any, is
true?
a. A president is immune from a civil lawsuit that arises out of his unofficial conduct
that occurred prior to him becoming president.
b. A president is entitled to absolute immunity from damages liability predicated on his
official acts.
c. A president may never be subject to a criminal investigation or civil action so long as
he is “in office.”
d. None of the above statements is true.
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
Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights involved _____.
a. the Solomon Amendment
b. the Fourth Amendment
c. the taxing power
d. the Hyde Amendment
In _____, the Supreme Court reversed an obscenity conviction where a man had been
prosecuted after police found obscene films in his home.
a. Roth v. U.S. (1957)
b. Alberts v. California (1957)
c. Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure v. Massachusetts (1966)
d. Stanley v. Georgia (1969)
In Lochner v. New York, Justice Peckham spoke of _____.
a. the contract clause
b. liberty of contract
c. the public interest
d. the Fifteenth Amendment
United States v. United States District Court involved _____.
a. electronic surveillance
b. presidential power
c. Title III of the Crime Control Act of 1968
d. All of the above
President Nixon claimed that he should not have to comply with a subpoena demanding
that he provide certain tape recordings to a federal district court because the subpoena
violated ______.
a. his right against self-incrimination
b. his right to confrontation
c. executive privilege
d. due process
Which of the following is not usually included within the list of Ashwander Rules?
a. The Court will not formulate a rule of law broader than the facts of the case require.
b. If possible, the Court will dispose of a case on nonconstitutional grounds.
c. The Court will not pass upon the validity of a statute on complaint of one who fails to
show injury to person or property.
d. Whenever possible, the Court will protect an individual’s constitutional rights.
The majority opinion in Cooley v. The Board of Wardens of the Port of Philadelphia
was written by _____.
a. Justice Curtis
b. Chief Justice Taney
c. Chief Justice Marshall
d. Justice Johnson
In _____ the Supreme Court rejected the president’s inherent power to authorize
military tribunals to try civilians where civilian courts were open and fully operating.
a. Goldwater v. Carter (1979)
b. Ex Parte Milligan (1868)
c. Myers v. United States (1926)
d. Ex Parte Merryman (1861)
Through 2010, how many African Americans have sat on the Supreme Court?
a. One
b. Two
c. Three
d. Four
The _____ theory holds that the president’s constitutional power extends to anything not
expressly forbidden, so long as it serves the public interest and does not conflict with
existing legislation.
a. literalist/limiting
b. constitutional
c. stewardship
d. originalist
In National League of Cities v. Usery (1976), the Court struck down a 1974 amendment
to the Fair Labor Standards Act that extended the federal minimum wage to _____.
a. children
b. illegal aliens
c. state and local government employees
d. None of the above
In Texas v. Johnson (1989), many Supreme Court observers were surprised that justices
_____ and _____ joined the majority.
a. Scalia; Kennedy
b. O”Connor; Kennedy
c. Souter; Scalia
d. O”Connor; Scalia
In California Democratic Party v. Jones, the party preferred _____.
a. a blanket primary
b. a nonpartisan primary
c. a closed primary
d. None of the above
The Supreme Court is least likely to sustain the exercise of executive authority when
the president is acting _____.
a. as commander in chief
b. on the basis of power delegated by Congress
c. in the negotiation of a treaty
d. without statutory authority in the negotiation of domestic policy
The _____ Amendment provides that that accused ‘shall enjoy the right” to a jury trial
in criminal cases. The _____ Amendment guarantees a jury trial in civil cases “where
the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars.”
a. Fifth; Fifth
b. Sixth; Sixth
c. Fifth, Sixth
d. Sixth; Seventh
Which justice is most clearly identified with the view that government may
accommodate religious practices?
a. Hugo Black
b. Robert Jackson
c. William Brennan
d. Willam Rehnquist
Who nominated Anthony Kennedy to the Supreme Court?
a. Ronald Reagan
b. Bill Clinton
c. George W. Bush
d. Richard Nixon
The Supreme Court struck down public school’sponsored Bible readings and prayers in
_____.
a. Abington v. Schempp (1963)
b. Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
c. Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
d. Everson v. Board of Education (1947)
In Nixon v. United States (1993), the Supreme Court held that _____.
a. Nixon’s claim of absolute privilege was invalid
b. Nixon’s impeachment, conviction, and removal was unconstitutional
c. Nixon’s conviction and removal by the Senate was a political question, and thus
nonjusticiable
d. None of the above
In _____, the Supreme Court specifically held that the right of privacy “is broad enough
to encompass a woman’s decision whether . . . to terminate her pregnancy.”
a. Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
b. Maher v. Roe (1977)
c. Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)
d. Roe v. Wade (1973)
McCulloch v. Maryland concerns a ______.
a. telegraph line
b. bridge
c. bank
d. railroad
Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment grants Congress the authority to legislate in the
field of _____.
a. eminent domain
b. criminal law
c. civil rights
d. international relations