GIDEON V WAINWRIGHT, ESCOBEDO V ILLINOIS, and MIRANDA V ARIZONA are landmark
cases of the 1960s which
a. reduced the rights of the accused.
b. strengthened the rights of the accused.
c. increased the power of law enforcement officials.
d. addressed inequities in law enforcement practices based on race.
Which legal restriction on the manner in which law enforcement officials obtain evidence
was originally applied only to federal criminal cases, but was extended to state cases
in MAPP V OHIO?
a. the cautionary rule.
b. the prevention rule.
c. the exclusionary rule.
d. the inclusionary rule.
The 8th Amendment says that “________ bail shall not be required.”
a. temporary b. exceptional c. excessive d. prohibitive
Opponents of the death penalty argue that it
a. requires the judge to act as God.
b. demands unquestionable evidence against the accused.
c. violates the constitutional prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishment.”
d. metes out an irreversible sentence.
Many people who support the death penalty believe that justice
a. is best served when it is administered quickly and emphatically.
b. demands strong retribution for heinous crimes.
c. has become soft on today’s criminals.
d. needs to be refined.
In FURMAN V GEORGIA, the USSC ruled that capital punishment, as imposed by the state
law, violated the 8th and 14th Amendment prohibitions against
a. fair trial and equal protection of the laws.
b. cruel and unusual punishments and equal protection of the laws.
c. due process clause and right to counsel.
d. cruel and unusual punishments and due process of law.
The death penalty has been challenged on which of the following grounds?
a. the inequity in the ability of accused persons to pay for legal counsel
b. racial bias in the application of the punishment
c. gender bias in the application of the punishment
d. age bias in the application of the punishment
Limits on the conduct of police and prosecutors include no
a. questions of individuals until they are taken into custody (arrested).
b. search without an arrest warrant.
c. unreasonable or unwarranted searches or seizures.
d. all of the above.
The exclusionary rule is a policy
a. forbidding the admission of illegally seized evidence.
b. which prohibits the arresting officer from serving as a character witness at a
hearing or a trial.
c. which prohibits the detention of a suspect for more than 48 hours without formal
charges being filed.
d. none of the above.
Suppose the police take a suspect into custody for questioning. Which of the following
would hold?
1. The suspect is entitled to have an attorney present during questioning.
2. The suspect has the right to refuse to answer questions.
3. If the police release the suspect without filing criminal charges, they are prevented
from taking the person into custody later.
4. If the suspect confesses to the crime, even after he has been read his Miranda
rights, the state cannot use the confession to prosecute the suspect.
5. The suspect is entitled to a court-appointed attorney at the state’s expense if he
cannot afford to pay for his own legal counsel.
a. all of the above b. 1 and 2 c. 1, 2, and 4 d. 1, 2, and 5
In which of the following scenarios would evidence seized by the police during a search
be excluded (suppressed) from criminal trial? In other words, in which scenario
would the exclusionary rule apply?
a. The police go to the home of a school guidance counselor after receiving several
complaints from parents about the behavior of the man with respect to their
children. The police charge him with indecency with a child upon finding, in his
home, photographs of naked children. The man gave the police permission to
search his residence, but the police failed to obtain a search warrant.
b. The police search the trunk of a woman’s car after presenting a warrant in good
faith, but the warrant is “technically” flawed. The police find heroin in the trunk
and charge the woman with possession of a controlled substance with intent to
sell.
c. Without obtaining a search warrant, the police search a closet in a man’s
apartment after the man’s neighbor informs them that the man has illegal guns
stored there. The police find the remains of a missing woman and charge the
man with murder.
d. The exclusionary rule would apply in all of these scenarios [the evidence would
be suppressed in each case].
In which of the following scenarios would the respective statement (confession) be
inadmissible in a criminal trial?
a. A man walks into a police station and confesses that he is a serial killer.
b. The police arrive at the scene of a fatal car crash and find a man lying on the
ground next to the passenger side of one of the vehicles. They ask the man
where the driver is and responds, “I was driving and I am drunk.” They charge
the man with DWI and vehicular manslaughter since the driver of the other car
was dead on the scene.
c. The police receive an anonymous phone tip about a man keeping large amounts
of cash in his apartment. The police stake out the man’s apartment and decide
that he is likely the same man videotaped by a bank’s security cameras during a
recent robbery. Outside his apartment, the police ask the man where he got all
the money he’s been spending lately. He tells them he got it from the bank he
robbed. The police arrest him and charge him with armed robbery.
d. The statements in each of these scenarios would be inadmissible because the
police failed to administer the suspects’ Miranda warnings.
Which of the following was not one of the provisions found in the original Constitution in
1787 regarding slavery?
a. Slaves were to be counted as 3/5 of a person.
b. Authorities must train and educate new slaves.
c. It prohibited any federal restriction on the importation of slaves until 1808.
d. It guaranteed the return of escaped slaves to their owners.
The Supreme Court rulings in 1883 that declared all federal civil rights laws prohibiting
discrimination by private individuals to be unconstitutional are known as the
a. Discriminatory Laws.
b. Laws of 1883.
c. Rights of All Decisions.
d. Civil Rights Cases.
De jure segregation means racial segregation
a. that has been eliminated by a state grand jury.
b. that is based on cultural differences.
c. of French immigrants prior to the 20th century.
d. that occurs because of laws or government decisions.
In 1896, the Supreme Court ruled in PLESSY V FERGUSON that
a. African-Americans are NOT defined as persons under the Constitution.
b. the government has the power to force all people to treat each other as equals.
c. schools may not practice any type of racial segregation.
d. separation of races is not a violation of the 14th Amendment's "equal protection of
the laws" clause.
In PLESSY V FERGUSON, the USSC upheld
a. voting rights for freed slaves.
b. Funding for public housing.
c. State laws requiring segregation.
d. Federal laws requiring segregation.
In PLESSY V FERGUSON, which of the following legal doctrines did the USSC find to be
consistent with the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause?
a. Jim Crowism
b. separate-but-equal
c. color blindness
d. separate accommodations rule
In the BROWN case, the USSC did not order immediate national desegregation; rather it
required state and local authorities to proceed
a. before being ordered to do so by federal officials.
b. without any further interference from national officials.
c. with “all deliberate speed.”
d. in a manner that would conform to local, county, and state “vantage points.”
The South Carolina case, SWANN V CHARLOTTE-MECHLENBURG (1971), upheld
a. the elimination of Jim Crow laws in public schools.
b. supervision by federal officials in local elections.
c. equal opportunity employment in all educational levels.
d. court-ordered busing of pupils to achieve racial balance.
According to Dye, while the early goal of the civil rights movement was to eliminate
discrimination practiced by governments, the latter focus moved to
a. community discrimination.
b. educational discrimination.
c. employment discrimination.
d. private discrimination.
According to Dye, the 1960s legislation that ranks with the Emancipation Proclamation,
the 14th Amendment, and the BROWN case as one of the most important steps
toward full equality for African-Americans is the
a. Civil Rights Act of 1964.
b. Voting Rights Act of 1965.
c. Civil Rights Act of 1968.
d. Equal Rights Amendment of 1972.
Which of the following is NOT a provision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act?
a. unlawful to discriminate in any public accommodation
b. end discrimination in all programs receiving federal aid
c. established the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
d. guarantee voting rights for all adult citizens
The last major civil rights problem addressed by the Congress in the 1968 Civil Rights
Act was discrimination in
a. education.
b. employment.
c. sale and rental of housing.
d. registering and voting in state and national elections.
Any program, whether enacted by a government or by a private organization, whose
goal is to overcome the results of past unequal treatment of minorities and/or
women by giving members of these groups preferential treatment in admissions,
hiring, promotions, or other aspects of life is called
a. positive action.
b. affirmative action.
c. preferential treatment.
d. special accommodations.
A provision of some affirmative action programs in which specific numbers or
percentages of positions are open only to minorities and/or women is a
a. proportional representation. b. quorum. c. quota. d. plurality.
Established by the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the agency responsible for monitoring
affirmative action programs in private employment is the
a. Quality Quota Council.
b. Equal Quota of Employees Commission.
c. Equal Quorum of Employing Agencies.
d. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The current position of the federal courts on the issue of affirmative action (as it applies
to The University of Texas Law School’s admission program) is that
a. quota systems are an acceptable means to achieve racial equality.
b. The university may set aside a certain number of admission slots for minority
applicants.
c. The university may not take race into consideration in its admission practices.
d. None of these.
Why did the U.S. Supreme Court declare unconstitutional the provisions of the Civil
Rights Acts of 1865-1877 which made discrimination against blacks by private
actors (hotel/motel keepers, restaurant owners, and other providers of public
accommodations, etc.) illegal?
a. The 14th Amendment was not to be ratified by the States for another 100 years.
b. The members of the Supreme Court were segregationists and believed that such
discrimination preserved the supremacy of the white race.
c. The members of the Supreme Court believed that the 14th Amendment only gave
Congress the authority to prevent discrimination by the States in their official
(governmental) acts.
d. None of these.
Which provision of the Constitution did the Supreme Court use in cases in the 1960s to
uphold congressional efforts to prohibit discrimination by private actors?
a. the Supremacy Clause b. the necessary and proper clause
c. the interstate commerce clause d. the General Welfare clause
Which of the following is generally true of social regulatory politics?
1. Single-issue interest groups tend to promote uncompromising, absolutist positions
on social regulatory issues.
2. Courts have a tendency to decide cases in favor of individual liberties at the
expense of broader community values.
3. Presidents generally play an important role in the formation of substantive social
regulatory policies.
4. Congress has a tendency to pass legislation supporting broader community
values at the expense of individual liberties.
5. The fact of federalism in the American political system makes the enforcement of
social regulatory policies more predictable and consistent.
a. 1, 2, and 3
b. 1, 2, and 4
c. 1, 2, 4, and 5
d. 1, 3, and 5