In Furman v. Georgia (1972), justices _____ and _____ stated their view that the death
penalty is inherently “cruel and unusual punishment.”
a. White; Rehnquist
b. Warren; Stewart
c. Blackmun; Burger
d. Marshall; Brennan
Home Building & Loan Association v. Blaisdell involved a challenge to statute in
_____.
a. Michigan
b. Minnesota
c. Wisconsin
d. Missouri
The decision in Charles River Bridge Co. v. Warren Bridge Co. rejected the idea that
the Constitution protected _____.
a. implied contracts
b. paper money
c. federal contracts
d. state contracts
In Plessy v. Ferguson, Justice Harlan insisted that the Constitution _____.
a. tolerated racial distinctions in the law
b. required racial segregation
c. barred discrimination against women
d. was color blind
The fundamental threshold question that must be addressed in any lawsuit is that of
_____.
a. attainder
b. habeas corpus
c. justiciability
d. jurisdiction
The Supreme Court has held repeatedly that a warrantless search may be “reasonable”
within the meaning of the Fourth Amendment under _____.
a. the “good faith exception”
b. the doctrine of stare decisis
c. the “crime control” model
d. exigent circumstances
A treaty obligation entered into by the United States may be repealed _____.
a. only by Congress
b. by a state law
c. by an act of the president, assuming no objection from the Senate
d. by popular referendum authorized by Congress
The test from Lemon v. Kurtzman was strengthened in Agostini v. Felton.
a. TRUE
b. FALSE
What term from astronomy did Justice Douglas place at the center of his opinion in
Griswold v. Connecticut?
a. Eclipse
b. Planetary
c. Penumbra
d. Orbit
Under New York Times v. Sullivan (1964), a public official is barred from recovering
damages for the publication of libelous statements unless he or she can show that the
defendant’s statements were made with _____.
a. criminal negligence
b. actual malice
c. reckless abandon
d. latent hostility
The opinion of the Court in Ex parte Milligan was written by _____.
a. Chief Justice Chase
b. Chief Justice Waite
c. Justice Grier
d. Justice Davis
According to Justice Johnson in Gibbons v. Ogden, Congress’s power to regulate
commerce was _____.
a. concurrent
b. resulting
c. exclusive
d. joint
The 1973 War Powers Act was an attempt to _____.
a. enhance presidential war-making powers
b. increase congressional control over presidential war-making activities
c. limit congressional power in foreign policy
d. improve the ability of Congress to respond to a nuclear crisis
Search warrants in the federal court system are ordinarily issued by ______.
a. U.S. district judges
b. a law clerk
c. judges on the closest U.S. court of appeals
d. U.S. magistrate judges
The doctrine or principle of national supremacy is most closely identified with ______.
a. Roger B. Taney
b. Salmon Chase
c. John Marshall
d. Justice John Gibson
After determining that a real case or controversy exists, a federal court must ascertain
whether the parties to the litigation have _____.
a. jurisdiction
b. a cause of action
c. standing
d. an injunction
Gibbons v. Ogden involved a _____.
a. bank
b. lottery
c. steamboat
d. railroad
In Furman v. Georgia (1972), the Court held that the death penalty was unconstitutional
because _____.
a. it violated “evolving standards of decency”
b. it was applied selectively
c. it served no penal, deterrence, or retribution purposes more effectively than a less
severe punishment would
d. a sentencing mistake was without corrective devices
Which provision of the Bill of Rights has never been incorporated into the Fourteenth
Amendment?
a. Grand jury clause (Fifth Amendment)
b. Double jeopardy clause (Fifth Amendment)
c. Assistance of counsel clause (Sixth Amendment)
d. Cruel and unusual punishment clause (Eighth Amendment)
Congress’s power to tax is an example of _____.
a. an implied power
b. an enumerated power
c. an exclusive power
d. resulting power
In Baker v. Carr (1962), the Supreme Court invalidated a 1901 Tennessee law that
disproportionately drafted state legislative districts.
a. TRUE
b. FALSE
In Korematsu v. United States, Justice Murphy declared _____.
a. that the government’s policy was lawful
b. that the government’s policy was unfortunate but necessary
c. that the government’s policy was racist
d. that the Court should never have agreed to hear the case
Benjamin Gitlow was a member of _____.
a. the Communist Party
b. the Democratic Party
c. the Republican Party
d. the Socialist Party
Gonzales v. Raich concerned ______.
a. term limits for members of Congress
b. a California statute
c. a gun crime in Texas
d. federal taxes
An appeal from a ruling by the Court of Appeals of Veterans Claims is typically heard
by ______.
a. the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
b. the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
c. the Virginia Supreme Court
d. the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Munn v. Illinois involved _____.
a. butchers
b. grain warehouses
c. hotel workers
d. bakery employees
United States v. Carolene Products Co. involved _____.
a. a milk product
b. a textile product
c. an automotive product
d. a petroleum product
The holding in Santa Fe v. Doe is consistent with the holding in Abington v. Schempp.
a. TRUE
b. FALSE
An appeal in a patent case from a U.S. district court in New Jersey will typically be
heard by the U. S. Court of Appeals for the ______.
a. Third Circuit
b. Federal Circuit
c. Fifth Circuit
d. District of Columbia Circuit
What change in the Constitution was brought about as a result of reaction to Pollock v.
Farmers’ Loan and Trust Co?
a. Seventeenth Amendment
b. Eighteenth Amendment
c. Nineteenth Amendment
d. Sixteenth Amendment
Chief Justice/Justice______ wrote the Court’s opinion in Gonzales v. Carhart.
a. Roberts
b. Alito
c. Rehnquist
d. Kennedy
Article II enumerates specific powers granted to the president. These include the
authority to _____.
a. nominate federal judges
b. suspend writs of habeas corpus
c. withhold privileged communications
d. All of the above