Which of the following is not one of the five legitimate uses of force (“Rules of
Engagement”)?
a. effectuate an arrest
b. prevent escape
c. overcome resistance
d. overcome objections
Perhaps one of the most fundamental constitutional rights of prisoners is:
a. access to the courts
b. freedom of religion
c. due process in disciplinary hearings
d. freedom of speech
Sentencing guidelines have reduced:
a. racial disparity.
b. ethnic disparity.
c. death sentences.
d. sentence disparity.
In Illinois v. Wardlow, the Supreme Court ruled that unexplained flight from the police:
a. is a constitutional right.
b. does not, by itself, create reasonable suspicion
c. in itself establishes reasonable suspicion.
d. indicates, without exception, wrongdoing and establishes probable cause.
Asset forfeiture is unconstitutional if:
a. the owner of a residence or vehicle is unaware of its illegal use.
b. the forfeiture is “grossly disproportionate” to the offense .
c. forfeiture is accompanied by a loss of liberty in violation of double jeopardy.
d. the government converts the assets for public use.
The Star Chamber was:
a. the old Supreme Court chamber located in the U.S. Capitol.
b. an English court that tried people in secret with no regard to due process.
c. a group of highly revered lawyers who drafted the Sixth Amendment.
d. an 1880s theatrical group that taught the public the true meaning of “due process.”
The Espionage Act, passed by Congress in 1917:
a. empowered the President to expel “dangerous aliens.”
b. made it illegal to interfere with recruiting or drafting soldiers or any act that
adversely affected military morale.
c. made it illegal to write or speak “with the intent to defame” the government.
d. made it illegal to provide material support to terrorist organizations.
The Supreme Court ruled that cities may not prohibit yard signs in:
a. Prewitt v. State of Arizona ex rel. Eyman (1969).
b. Procunier v. Martinez (1974).
c. City of Ladue v. Gilleo (1994).
d. Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union (1997).
Primary information sources:
a. are easier for nonlawyers to understand and work with.
b. are merely analysis and synthesis of information.
c. include legal encyclopedias.
d. include appellate court decisions at the state and federal level.
Traditionally, law has been taught through:
a. the Socratic method.
b. studying case law.
c. reading general statutes.
d. analyzing scenario-based case studies.
Which of the following is not one of the three levels of court function in both state and
federal courts?
a. trial courts
b. appellate courts
c. circuit courts
d. courts of last resort
In Wilson v. Seiter, the Supreme Court ruled that prisoners must not only prove prison
conditions are objectively cruel and unusual but also show that they exist because of
officials’:
a. culpable negligence
b. deliberate indifference
c. criminal negligence
d. willful disregard of the conditions.
The percentage of cases submitted to the Supreme Court which are summarily denied,
having no justices expressing an interest in them is approximately:
a. 30%
b. 50%
c. 70%
d. 90%
The Great Compromise was:
a. another term for the Constitution.
b. the foundation of the Bill of Rights.
c. the agreement that gave each state an equal vote in the Senate and a proportionate
vote in the House.
d. the purchasing agreement made for most of the Indian land west of the Mississippi
River.
The Thirteenth Amendment:
a. deals with the right to due process of law.
b. abolished slavery.
c. established prohibition.
d. guarantees equal protection.
The number of women who have served on the Supreme Court through 2010 is:
a. zero
b. one
c. three
d. four
People who are arrested have the right to all of the following, except:
a. make a phone call.
b. know the charges against them.
c. appear before a magistrate without undue delay.
d. a reasonable expectation of privacy.
Defendants cannot be sentenced to life without parole for a non-homicide crime if,
when they committed the crime, they were below the age of:
a. 15
b. 16
c. 17
d. 18
Federal lawsuits against police are filed under Title 42 of U.S. Code, Section 1983Civil
Action for Deprivation of ______________.
a. Equal Protection
b. Due Process
c. Civil Rights
d. Human Rights
Marx regarded punishment as a way to:
a. provide social solidarity.
b. control the lower class.
c. limit the power and influence of the upper class.
d. exact revenge.
A situation in which racial minorities are treated more harshly at some points and in
some places in the criminal justice system, but no differently than whites at other points
and in other places best describes:
a. pure discrimination.
b. systematic discrimination.
c. contextual discrimination.
d. discretionary discrimination.
In Colgrove v. Battin, the Supreme Court upheld juries comprised of _____ members in
federal civil trials.
a. 6
b. 8
c. 10
d. 12
The Supreme Court held that Congress had the authority to establish a national bank in:
a. United States v. Darby
b. Bowers v. Hardwick
c. Olmstead v. United States
d. McCulloch v. Maryland
Which of the following is not a primary information source?
a. raw data or the original information.
b. the U.S. Constitution.
c. U.S. Reports.
d. treatises and legal texts.
Judicial review refers to:
a. a quarterly review of the Supreme Court by Congress.
b. the rating system that allows American citizens to express their level of satisfaction
regarding Supreme Court rulings.
c. the methodology used by a president in selecting a justice for appointment to the
Supreme Court.
d. the power of the Supreme Court to analyze the constitutionality of decisions of other
government entities and lower courts.
Which of the following holds that only the provisions of the Bill of Rights that are
fundamental to the American legal system are applied to the states through the due
process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?
a. The incorporation doctrine
b. The equal justice clause
c. The selective preemption doctrine
d. The civil liberties proclamation
The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence stated that a government’s
right to rule is based upon:
a. the obligation of the wealthy to provide for those less fortunate.
b. permission from the people who are governed.
c. the need for a strong centralized government on American soil.
d. the Magna Carta’s guarantee that rulers shall not place themselves above the law.
The only other court or legislative body that can overrule a Supreme Court decision is:
a. another federal court having original jurisdiction.
b. the lower court to which the case was remanded.
c. Congress, with a three-fourths vote in the House and a two-thirds vote in the Senate.
d. no other body may overrule the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Magna Carta was created:
a. to ensure that states maintained power apart from the national government.
b. to outline colonists’ complaints against the British crown.
c. in England to guarantee that the king could not put himself above the law.
d. by British Parliament in protest of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.
The _______ Amendment has never been subjected to Supreme Court review.
a. Third
b. Seventh
c. Ninth
d. Tenth
Police actions that would “shock the conscience” were found to violate due process in:
a. Miranda v. Arizona.
b. Rochin v. California.
c. In re Gault.
d. Katz v. United States.
For which of the following does Title III require a warrant?
a. Electronic surveillance (wiretap)
b. Recording phone conversations with consent of one of the two parties to the
conversation.
c. Using a pen register to obtain the numbers dialed from a telephone.
d. Randomly intercepting cordless and cellular phone conversations.
The ____________ of a case is the precise statement of the decision reached by a court.
The First Amendment provision that prohibits the government from creating a national
church is the ____________ clause.
List the six sections suggested for how to brief a case.
A petition is a written statement from the Court.
The United States operates its juvenile justice system under the parens patriae model
where juveniles have no constitutional rights during adjudication.
Powers retained by the states are known as ________ powers.
Each state has its own federal circuit court of appeals.
Police officers are allowed, without reasonable suspicion of any criminal acts, to
approach and detain citizens for _____________ purposes.
The Constitution did not abolish slavery, an error that was rectified in the Bill of Rights.
The property around a home or dwelling directly associated with use of that property is
called the____________.
One should never infer anything from the decisions made in a judicial opinion.
The Massachusetts Body of Liberties (1641) provided a right to bail and prohibited
cruel and inhumane punishment.
Basic legal research skills are as important as any of the more traditional job-related
skills you pursue in the field of criminal justice.
In the Brown decision, the Supreme Court ruled that “separate but equal” _______ were
illegal.
The Sixth Amendment right to counsel is violated if police intentionally create a
situation likely to result in an incriminating statement when that right has not been
waived.