The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware.
Answer:
Members of Congress are absolutely immune from suit for statements made while on
the floor of either house.
Answer:
The Preamble and Articles of the U.S. Constitution reflect a social compact or contract
between two primary parties”the people and the government.
Answer:
In United States v. Virginia (1996), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Virginia Military
Institute (VMI)’s long-standing male-only admission policy.
Answer:
Through judicial review, the judiciary checks the president’s actions for
constitutionality.
Answer:
The Tenth Amendment provides that the powers not given to the federal government are
reserved to the states or to the people.
Answer:
The Framers intended for the federal government to have limited powers and the states
to have those powers not delegated to the federal government.
Answer:
State constitutions are the highest form of law for state law subjects.
Answer:
The strict constructionist approach to interpreting the Due Process Clause in the U.S.
Constitution looks to the original intent to assess what the authors of the due process
clause meant or intended by the term “liberty.”
Answer:
The separationist approach to the First Amendment religion clauses is an interpretation
of the religion clauses that maintains that it is appropriate for government to
accommodate or otherwise assist religious interests or organizations.
Answer:
The Constitution has been amended on two occasions in order to reverse a Supreme
Court decision.
Answer:
Treating individual liberties as the product of a negotiated contract is known as the
natural rights theory.
Answer:
No branch is completely independent in the performance of its functions.
Answer:
The Lemon test is a test used by courts to interpret the Establishment Clause.
Answer:
Originalism is an approach to interpreting the Constitution that allows courts to
consider changes in social, economic, and political forces.
Answer:
To sit on an Article III federal court, a person must be nominated by the President and
confirmed by the House of Representatives.
Answer:
For purposes of the Privileges and Immunities Clause of Article IV, a fundamental right
is defined as any right found in the Bill of Rights that is intended to protect the
individual from excessive behavior of his state.
Answer:
State constitutions are now viewed as an independent source of individual liberties.
Answer:
The decision to negotiate with a foreign nation is vested solely in the President and is
nonjusticiable.
Answer:
The Seventh Amendment’s right to a jury trial in civil cases has been incorporated
through the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause as a fundamental right.
Answer:
Congress alone possesses the authority to suspend habeas corpus.
Answer:
Congress may limit the President’s power to remove the Attorney General to good
cause.
Answer:
The right to privacy is expressly enumerated in the Bill of Rights.
Answer:
A state may not impose term limitations on its Representatives and Senators.
Answer:
The national government under the Articles of Confederation did not have the power to
directly tax citizens.
Answer:
Congress may delegate the adjudication of public rights to administrative agencies.
Answer:
References to the “state” or the “states” in the Fourteenth Amendment, by implication,
also include local governments, such as counties, cities, townships, and villages.
Answer:
In December 1785, James Madison introduced a bill authored by Thomas Jefferson to
the Virginia Assembly that included, among other things, a “Bill for Establishing
Religious Freedom.”
Answer:
The Twenty-Second Amendment, ratified in 1951 following President Franklin D.
Roosevelt’s four-term presidency, imposed term limits for the President.
Answer:
The Constitution creates three independent branches of government at the federal level,
each delegated certain powers that are held exclusively.
Answer:
Which of the following rights within the Bill of Rights officially has not been
incorporated and applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment?
A) The right to counsel
B) The right to a trial by jury in felony cases
C) The right to a grand jury indictment
D) The right against double jeopardy
Answer:
In which case did the Court uphold a law prohibiting polygamy as it applied to a
Mormon who allegedly had married a second wife?
A) Wisconsin v. Yoder
B) Employment Division v. Smith
C) Sherbert v. Verner
D) Reynolds v. United States
Answer:
Which theory of individual rights is reflected in the Supreme Court’s ruling in United
States v. Verdugo-Urquidez (addressing the issue of whether the Fourth Amendment’s
protections against unreasonable searches and seizures apply to foreign citizens who are
arrested and whose homes are searched by American agents in other countries)?
A) Natural Rights Theory
B) Compact Theory
C) Creationism Theory
D) Theory of alienability
Answer:
A legislative act that inflicts capital punishment upon named persons without a judicial
trial is called a(n):
A) Ex post facto law.
B) Bill of Attainder.
C) Act of Sedition.
D) Habeas Corpus.
Answer:
What document governed the United States prior to the ratification of the U.S.
Constitution?
A) Articles of Confederation
B) U.S. Code
C) Declaration of Independence
D) Contract with America
Answer:
Which constitutional amendment states that the “powers not delegated to the United
States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
respectively, or to the people”?
A) First Amendment
B) Fourth Amendment
C) Fifth Amendment
D) Tenth Amendment
Answer:
The test used to determine if Congress has provided an agency with sufficient guidance
in the performance of a delegated duty is called:
A) act of guidance.
B) delegation test.
C) intelligible principle.
D) agency assessment.
Answer:
In which U.S. Supreme Court case did the court find a valid delegation of authority to
the Secretary of the Interior because the statute ordered the secretary to consider various
factors?
A) Touby v. United States
B) Mistretta v. United States
C) Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Chadha
D) Arizona v. California
Answer:
Who possesses the authority to suspend habeas corpus?
A) Congress
B) President
C) Both A and B are required
D) Either A or B
Answer:
Assume that a state and the federal government hold concurrent jurisdiction over an
issue and furthermore, both have enacted statutes to regulate the subject. However, the
state statute is contrary to the federal law. The state law is:
A) valid.
B) invalid as preempted by the federal law under the Supremacy Clause.
C) invalid as preempted by the Necessary and Proper Clause.
D) invalid as violating the dormant Commerce Clause.
Answer:
An arrest must be based on evidence that would constitute:
A) suspicion.
B) probable cause.
C) proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
D) clear and convincing evidence.
Answer:
Which case gives Congress the most authority under the Commerce Clause?
A) U.S. v. Lopez
B) Wickard v. Filburn
C) U.S. v. Morrison
D) Gonzalez v. Raich
Answer:
Which of the following Chief Justices of the Supreme Court was responsible for writing
the majority opinion in Marbury v. Madison, wherein the power of judicial review was
announced?
A) Jay
B) Marshall
C) Warren
D) Rehnquist
Answer:
Which liberty is NOT specifically stated in the text of the first amendment?
A) freedom of speech
B) freedom of the press
C) freedom of association
D) freedom to petition government for redress of grievances
Answer:
The U.S. Supreme Court extended state immunity from liability under the federal
ADEA in:
A) Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents.
B) Board of Trustees of University of Alabama v. Garrett.
C) Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibb.
D) Chisholm v. Georgia.
Answer:
The rule providing that if a claim is public in nature and not private, Congress may
delegate its adjudication to a nonArticle III tribunal is called:
A) public rights doctrine.
B) public access doctrine.
C) non-delegation doctrine.
D) rule of adjudication.
Answer:
Plaintiff obtains a judgment in an Oklahoman court. All of the defendant’s property is
located in Nebraska. What constitutional provision provides Plaintiff with a remedy in
Nebraska?
A) Full Faith and Credit Clause
B) Interstate Commerce Clause
C) Interstate Rendition Clause
D) Equal Protection Clause
Answer:
What is the name of the publication for cases from the United States Courts of Appeals?
A) Supreme Court Reporter
B) Lawyer’s Edition
C) Federal Reporter
D) United States Reports
Answer:
Which constitutional amendment provides that the legislature of the state may empower
the governor to make a temporary senatorial appointment pending replacement by
election?
A) Amendment 15
B) Amendment 16
C) Amendment 17
D) Amendment 18
Answer:
Which of the following was NOT intended to protect against tyranny?
A) Separations of Power
B) Federalism
C) Checks and Balances
D) Single Federal Executive
Answer:
Match the term listed in Column 1 to its description in Column 2.
A) a means for attacking the constitutionality of the statute under which, or the
proceedings in which, the original conviction was obtained
B) the body empowered by the Constitution to elect the president and vice-president of
the United States
C) an agency whose head may be terminated by the president only for good cause
D) a theory that the Constitution vests all executive authority in the president of the
United States
E) the right of a governor under most state constitutions to veto individual
appropriations in an appropriation act rather than being compelled either to veto the act
as a whole or to sign it into law
F) an agreement with a foreign government, made by the president acting within his or
her executive powers
G) a model of executive authority that divides executive powers between multiple
executive officers who act independently of one another
H) an act of grace by the chief executive of the government relieving a person of the
legal consequences of a crime of which he or she has been convicted
I) exists when civilian government has been replaced with military government
J) a president’s refusal to expend congressionally appropriated funds
K) an agency whose head serves at the pleasure of the president
1. executive agreement
2. martial law
3. pardon
4. line item veto
5. impoundment
6. Electoral College
7. executive agency
8. independent agency
9. plural executive
10. writ of habeas corpus
11. unitary executive
Answer:
What is an act of grace by the chief executive of the government relieving a person of
the legal consequences of a crime of which he or she has been convicted?
A) commutation of sentence
B) pardon
C) reprieve
D) amnesty
Answer:
Each of the following cases involves a dispute surrounding the contract clause
EXCEPT:
A) Fletcher v. Peck.
B) Trustees of Dartmouth College v. Woodward.
C) Kelo v. City of New London.
D) Home Building & Loan Association v. Blaisdell.
Answer:
Which view of the Establishment Clause would allow greater interplay between
government and religion?
A) accommodationist view
B) separationist view
C) high-wall theory
D) conscientious theory
Answer:
What does the acronym ALJ mean?
A) Administrative Legal Judge
B) Administrative Law Judge
C) Administrative Legal Justice
D) Administrative Law Justice
Answer:
The federal income tax is authorized by:
A) Article XVI.
B) Article VI.
C) Article I.
D) None of the above.
Answer:
Each of the following contributed to the need for drafting a new Constitution in 1787
EXCEPT:
A) Shays Rebellion.
B) Fear of foreign invasion.
C) State competition over taxes.
D) U.S. government too strong.
Answer:
Under the strict scrutiny test, the government must prove that its policy is ________ to
promote a ________ governmental interest.
A) necessary/reasonable
B) reasonable/compelling
C) necessary/compelling
D) substantially related/compelling
Answer:
Which constitutional provision provides that a state’s judicial acts must be given the
same effect by the courts of all other states as they receive at home?
A) Full Faith and Credit Clause
B) Interstate Commerce Clause
C) Interstate Rendition Clause
D) Equal Protection Clause
Answer:
The U.S. Supreme Court held that all extensive regulation of foreign affairs by a state is
prohibited, either by implicit preemption or simply because the states lack the authority
to delve too deeply into international matters in:
A) Preston v. Ferrer.
B) Riegel v. Medtronic, Inc.
C) Crosby v. National Trade Council.
D) AT&T v. Concepcion.
Answer:
The War Powers Resolution is possibly unconstitutional because:
A) it is a legislative veto.
B) it encroaches upon executive authority.
C) it was not properly enacted.
D) both A and B are correct.
Answer:
John was elected to the House of Representatives. However, the House refused to seat
him due to allegations that he abused his wife ten years earlier. He filed suit in federal
court. The judge decided in his favor and in her opinion she cited statements made
during the Constitutional Convention and ratification debates in the states to support her
interpretation of the Qualifications Clause (which governs eligibility to be a member of
Congress). The judge’s interpretive method is best characterized as:
A) Originalist.
B) Textualist.
C) Modernist.
D) Literalist.
Answer:
The President may call both or one of the chambers of Congress into session from a
recess in ________ occasions.
Answer:
The Fifteenth Amendment provides that government cannot deny persons the right to
________ based on race, color, or previous servitude.
Answer:
Describe the different canons of statutory construction.
Answer:
The president has been delegated the authority to nominate federal judges and other
governmental officers, but the appointments are final only after confirmation by the
________.
Answer:
In Department of Transportation v. Association of American Railroads, the U.S.
Supreme Court held that Amtrak is more like a public entity than a private entity but
remanded the case back to the lower court to consider questions about how Amtrak’s
board is appointed and whether there are due process concerns with giving Amtrak
regulatory authority over its own industry. Conduct research involving the Amtrak
litigation and explain your position on the issues.
Answer:Answers will vary.
The appointments clause in Article II, Section 2, clause 2 of the U.S. Constitution is
clear that ambassadors, public ministers and consuls, and judges of the Supreme Court
must be ________ by the president and confirmed by Senate.
Answer:
The Fourth Amendment bars government from violating the right against ________
searches and seizures.
Answer:
In United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 904 (1974), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that
although a presidential ________ exists, it may be overcome by a specific need for
evidence in a criminal case.
Answer:
The Sixth Amendment right to counsel applies only to ________ stages of the
prosecution
Answer:
Article II, Section 1, provides for one president and one vice-president, each to serve
________ years.
Answer:
In 2010, the Supreme Court handed down Citizens United v. Federal Election
Commission, which struck down a campaign finance law as violating the ________
Amendment free speech rights of corporations.
Answer:
What is the source found in the U.S. Constitution for equal protection as applied to both
the federal and state governments?
Answer:
Obscenity is a form of ________ sexual expression.
Answer:
Which branch of the national government you think currently has the most power: the
legislative, executive, or judicial? Explain your position.
Answer:Answers will vary.
A reporter shield law protects reporters from being compelled to reveal their ________
news sources.
Answer:
The term legislative ________ refers to any process whereby Congress reviews, and
possibly reverses, an agency decision.
Answer:
What is the difference between a public forum and a nonpublic forum?
Answer: