Study Guide – Final Exam
1. What is the exclusionary rule? What USSC decisions are relevant to the
exclusionary rule? What provision(s) of the Constitution is (are) relevant to
the exclusionary rule?
2. Explain the significance of the Miranda warnings in the process of a criminal
investigation.
3. Discuss potential conflicts that may exist between the 1st Amendment’s
provision of freedom of the press and the 6th Amendment’s guarantee to an
impartial jury trial.
4. List and explain at least five “criminal due process” protections found in the
Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
5. Identify and discuss case law (USSC decisions) relating to the following:
searches and seizures, self-incrimination, and right to counsel.
6. List and discuss the three responses of blacks to the imposition of
segregation.
7. Explain Martin Luther King’s nonviolent direct action and its impact on the civil
rights movement.
8. Explain why the USSC believed that the 14 th Amendment’s Equal Protection
Clause failed to provide a constitutional basis for Congress’ positive civil
rights agenda in the late 19th century. Discuss the constitutional provision
that the USSC used to uphold congressional legislation in the mid-20th
century.
9. List the major civil rights statutes passed by Congress and discuss the major
provisions of these acts.
10. Discuss the significance of PLESSY V FERGUSON and of BROWN V BOARD OF
EDUCATION by contrasting the facts, decisions, and legacies of the cases.
11. What is the current law with respect to affirmative action in admissions
policies of universities? [What is the significance of the federal court’s
decisions in BAKKE V UC, DAVIS and HOPWOOD V TEXAS?]
12. Identify the following:
 Emancipation Proclamation
 Jim Crowism
 equality of opportunity
 equality of results
 de jure segregation
 de facto segregation
 affirmative action
 set-aside program
 reverse discrimination
 comparable worth
 glass ceiling
 14th Amendment
 18th Amendment
 19th Amendment
 DRED SCOTT V SANFORD
 CIVIL RIGHTS CASES of 1883
 PLESSY V FERGUSON
 BROWN V BOARD OF EDUCATION
 SWANN V CHARLOTTE-MECHLENBURG
 BAKKE V UC, DAVIS
 HOPWOOD V TEXAS
**SPECIAL NOTE: Be prepared to answer possible questions on the exam
regarding the role of any of the institutions discussed in the photocopied
articles with respect to the death penalty and affirmative action issues. For
example,
Discuss the role of Congress (alternatively president, bureaucracies, courts,
public opinion, interest groups, or federalism) in developing policy with
respect to the death penalty and affirmative action issues.