MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
Question 1
A state statute prohibits the killing of any animal “in a manner which causes excessive pain or
torment of said animal.” Jim is prosecuted for violating the statute by strangling a chicken as
part of a religious ritual in which he participated. Jim defends on the grounds that the state
statute as applied in his case unconstitutionally interferes with her free exercise of religion.
Which of the following may the court NOT consider in determining the constitutionality of the
statute?
A. Whether the statute is necessary to protect a compelling state interest.
B. Whether the religious belief which requires the strangling of a chicken is reasonable.
C. Whether the religious ritual involving the strangling of chicken has been practiced for a
long period of time.
D. Whether Jim has a sincerely held religious belief that requires the strangling of a chicken.
Question 2
The Satanic Temple insisted that the municipality of Sagebrush permit it to place at its own cost
a seven-foot, permanent statue of Satan, in a park near the group’s headquarters. The statute,
which had been commissioned by the group, had won national and worldwide recognition and
celebrity status. In previous years, the City had allowed private citizens to donate permanent
monuments that were placed in various city parks. The City, however, denied the group’s request
without comment.
In a constitutional challenge to the City’s decision in First Amendment grounds, the court is
likely to render judgment:
A. For the City, because the display of a permanent statue in a public park is a form of
Government expression not subject to the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
B. For the City, because the display of a religious-type figure would necessarily violate the
Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
C. For the private group, because by allowing the donation of other permanent monuments
the City created an open forum.
D. For the private group, because a park is a traditional public forum for expression.
Question 3
As part of a plan to encourage broad-based support for the space program, Congress passed a bill
that provided for the funding of a program to: “inform any extraterrestrial aliens who might be
listening in outer space of the ‘American Way of Religion.’” A $10 million appropriation
provided that any religious group whose membership exceeded 500 members in the United
States was permitted to prepare a five-minute presentation. The bill provided further, the federal
government would pay for the recording of the presentations and the broadcast of them into
space. The President signed the bill and it became law. In a court challenge to the provision will
a court likely find the religious broadcasts to be constitutional?
A. Yes, because the power to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several
states implies that commerce with outer space is included as well.
B. Yes, because the commerce power is not limited by the First Amendment prohibitions.
C. No, because the First Amendment prohibits government involvement with religion
without a compelling state interest.
D. No, because the broadcasts are a waste of money and exceed the spending powers of
Congress.
Question 4
The Central City zoning ordinance contains provisions restricting places of “drag and adult
entertainment” to two specified city blocks within the commercial center of the city. A provision
of the ordinance defines “drag and adult entertainment” as “live or filmed nudity, depiction of
gender impersonation exposition in sexual context, real or simulated, of an indecent nature.”
Sam proposes to operate an adult entertainment establishment outside the two-block area zoned
for such establishments but within the commercial center of Central City. When his application
for permission to do so is rejected solely because it is inconsistent with provisions of the zoning
ordinance, he sues the appropriate officials of Central City, seeking to enjoin them from
enforcing the adult entertainment provisions of the ordinance against him. He asserts that these
provisions of the ordinance violate the First Amendment as made applicable to Central City by
the Fourteenth Amendment.
In this case, the court hearing Sam’s request for an injunction would probably hold that the adult
entertainment provisions of the Central City zoning ordinance are:
A. Constitutional, because they do not prohibit adult entertainment everywhere in King City,
and the city has a substantial interest in keeping the major part of its commercial center
free of uses it considers harmful to that area.
B. Constitutional, because adult entertainment of the kind described in these provisions of
the Central City ordinance is not protected by the free speech guarantee of the First and
Fourteenth Amendments.
C. Unconstitutional, because they prohibit in the commercial area of the city adult
entertainment that is not “obscene” within the meaning of the First and Fourteenth
Amendments.
D. Unconstitutional, because zoning ordinances that restrict freedom of speech may be
justified only by a substantial interest in preserving the quality of a community’s
residential neighborhoods.
Question 5
A young man intensely disliked his neighbors. In recent weeks he had participated in several
rallies that blamed current economic problems on minorities and an uncontrolled influx of
immigrants. One night, intending to frighten them, he spray-painted their house with a swastika
and threats to eliminate them. The man was arrested and prosecuted under a state law providing
that “any person who threatens violence against another person with the intent to cause that
person to fear for his or her life or safety may be imprisoned for up to five years.” In defense, the
man claimed that he did not intend to kill his neighbors, but only to scare them so that they
would move away.
Can the man constitutionally be convicted under this law?
A. No, because his communication was racially motivated and thus violated the protections
of the Fifteenth Amendment.
B. No, because he was only communicating his views and had not commenced any overt
action against the neighbors.
C. Yes, because his communication was a threat by which he intended to intimidate his
neighbors.
D. Yes, because he was engaged in trespass when he painted the words on his neighbors’
house.
Question 6
An organization calling itself Make America Grand Again (“MAGA”) was handing out leaflets
at a county fair, advertising a commercial country and western music concert scheduled at the
fairgrounds two weeks after the county fair was due to end. The fair manager approached a
MAGA organizer and politely asked him to stop distributing leaflets because it was in
contravention of the fair’s rules, which permitted distribution of leaflets and advertisements only
at designated times and places. When the promoter refused to stop, the manager summoned a
county police officer. In the officer’s presence, the manager again told the organizer to stop
handing out the leaflets. The promoter ignored the manager again and continued to hand out
leaflets. At that point he was arrested for criminal trespass. At trial, the promoter defended
against the charges by claiming a violation of his First Amendment rights.
Which of the following, if true, is most damaging to the promoter’s First Amendment claims?
A. The place where the promoter distributed leaflets was private property leased to county
for holding the fair.
B. The county fair’s clear prohibition of all leafleting or other solicitations on fair property,
except at designated places and hours was a reasonable time, place, and manner
restriction.
C. The means of communication were printed leaflets rather than oral speech.
D. The message on the leaflets promoted a commercial event.
Question 7
In the wake of the suicide of two high school students who were the subject of disparaging
remarks on several shared social media sites, the Florida Bay School District passed a district
order that provided that any student that posts or causes to be posted any disparaging remarks
about another student or any indecent or provocative statement on Facebook, Twitter or any
other social or shared media sites shall be suspended for not less than 30 days and will be
ineligible to participate in any extracurricular activity sponsored by the district.
In a court challenge brought by the parents of a student suspended for calling a fellow classmate
a “dork,” in a post on his Facebook account, a court is likely to find:
A. In favor of the school district because a school is an authoritarian nonpublic forum.
B. In favor of the school district because it has a compelling interest in protecting the
children.
C. In favor of the parents because the order is vague.
D. In favor of the parents because the school has no right to impose restrictions on what
students do outside the boundaries of the school premises.
Question 8
A California statute makes it a felony for anyone in the corridors or on the grounds of any
building in which a court may be in session, to make a speech or carry a sign intended to
improperly influence judicial proceedings. During a murder trial, a friend of the defendant was
arrested under the statute for carrying a small but visible sign in the corridors of the courthouse
bearing the message: “Free the defendant or the judge will die.”
Can the friend constitutionally be convicted under the statute?
A. No, because the statute could apply to others whose speech is constitutionally protected.
B. No, unless she personally intended to harm the judge and there was a risk that the threat
would be carried out.
C. Yes, if there was a clear and present danger that the judge would be influenced by the
sign.
D. Yes, because courthouse corridors are not traditionally linked to free speech.
Question 9
In the wake of a tide of so called “book banning laws,” Congress enacted the Children’s Internet
Protection Act (CIPA) to address a much-publicized problem regarding the availability of
internet pornography in public libraries. The statute provided that libraries may not receive
federal assistance to provide internet access unless they install software to block obscene or
indecent material as well as child pornography to prevent minors from obtaining access.
The statute is likely to be held constitutional because:
A. The Congress has wide latitude to attach conditions to the receipt of federal assistance in
order to further its policy objectives.
B. Obscene or indecent material and child pornography are not protected by the First
Amendment.
C. Libraries are not persons and therefore have no First Amendment rights.
D. Congress may induce the recipient to engage in activities that would themselves be
unconstitutional.
Question 10
Each year, the votes for the American Music Awards are tallied by the accounting firm of
Reeves and Cooper and sent to the president of the Music Awards Committee, who under strict
secrecy has the winner of each category of music placed in an envelope to be opened only the
day of the award ceremony by the award presenter. The ceremony is nationally televised and
generates millions of dollars in television advertising.
In 2022, the letter to the President was inadvertently delivered to the small office of The Kappa
Theta Sigma sorority, which has a small office in the same building as the Awards Committee’s
President. Joni Fallen, a member of the sorority finds the sealed envelope and opens it before
she realizes to whom it was addressed. Recognizing the significance of the information, she
copies it before resealing it and directing it to the Awards President. She then e-mails a copy of
the list to her sorority sister, Jane Russell, who is an assistant editor on a local newspaper. Jane
sees it as a scoop and indicates that she intends to publish the list the next day. The Awards
Committee brings an action for a restraining order to enjoin the publication until after the
Awards ceremony scheduled for the next week.
The court should:
A. Deny the Committee’s request because the right of the press to publish truthful
information is absolute.
B. Deny the Committee’s request because the misplacement of the information was due to
the Awards Committee’s or its agent’s own negligence.
C. Deny the Committee’s request because the misplacement of the information was due to
the Post Office’s negligence.
D. Grant the Committee’s request because the information was obtained and used in an
illegal and unauthorized fashion.
Question 11
A state statute makes it unlawful to willfully cause or permit the life or health of a child under
the age of 18 to be endangered, or to willfully cause or permit a child to be placed in
circumstances that endanger the child’s life or health. A local prosecutor brought charges against
parents who brought their child to their church’s religious service in which venomous snakes
were passed around to members of the congregation, including children as young as five years
old. The parents were convicted.
Which of the following best describes the likely result if the parents appeal their convictions on
constitutional grounds?
A. Their convictions will be upheld because the parents lack standing to challenge the
statute on “free exercise of religion” grounds.
B. The convictions will be upheld because the law is a neutral and of general applicable
prohibition of socially harmful conduct.
C. Their convictions will be reversed if it can be shown that the practice was based on a
sincerely held religious belief.
D. Their convictions will be reversed because the freedom to engage in conduct connected
with one’s religion is absolutely protected under the First and Fourteenth Amendment.
Question 12
The City passed an ordinance banning repetitive solicitation of money in the City’s airport
terminals. A religious organization that has as a major tenet of its beliefs the requirement that it
solicit donations so that it can distribute the words of its founder, brings an action to declare the
ordinance unconstitutional.
How is the Court likely to rule?
A. For the city, because it is acting in a proprietary capacity and airports have historically
been made unavailable for speech activity.
B. For the city, because the city has a legitimate right to protect the privacy rights of people
accessing public transportation.
C. For the religious organization, because transportation facilities have historically been
available for speech generally.
D. For the religious organization, if it can prove that its beliefs are sincere.
Question 13
A state study indicated that an inordinately high percentage of homeless people in the state were
afflicted by alcoholism or addicted to illegal drugs. Based on the study the legislature decided to
levy a special tax, with all proceeds marked for rehabilitation services for the homeless.
However, the legislators determined that direct taxes on alcoholic beverages would be resented
by the farm-oriented citizenry. Lobbyists from the state’s grape and barley growers, who produce
the key ingredients in wine and beer, also objected to anything that would diminish the
industries’ markets. There were no breweries or distilleries and few wine bottling facilities
within the state. Thus, a tax was eventually passed requiring newspapers and magazines of
general circulation published in the state to be taxed at a rate of 20% on all advertising space sold
for beer, wine or distilled spirits and wine promotions.
A high proportion of the advertising revenue of a particular small newspaper within the state has
always come from beer and wine ads. The publisher of the small paper filed suit to have the tax
declared unconstitutional. If the tax is declared unconstitutional, it will most likely be because:
A. The tax is discriminatory.
B. The tax infringes on freedom of the press.
C. The tax violates the religious rights of religions that use alcoholic beverages in its
religious rituals.
D. A tax may never be constitutionally imposed on a newspaper of general circulation.
Question 14
A state passed a law requiring that anyone holding himself out to be a private investigator in the
state must be licensed by the state. Licensure requirements included a thorough background
check into the person’s criminal record and mental health. It also required passing a test on
ethical obligations of a private investigator. Finally, the investigator was required to sign a twopart oath. Part one was a loyalty oath, which stated: “I solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will be
loyal to the United States and to the state and will uphold their Constitutions.” Part two stated: “I
solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am not a member of any organization that advocates illegal
acts, nor will I become a member of any such organization while I am a licensed investigator in
this state. “
An experienced investigator with a master’s degree in criminal justice administration applied for
a private investigator’s license. He easily passed both background checks, but he refused to take
the oaths, claiming that they inhibited his freedoms of speech and association as guaranteed by
the United States Constitution. The state professional licensure board denied him a private
investigator’s license solely on the basis of his refusal to take the oaths. The investigator sued in
federal court to require the state to grant him a license and to strike down the oath requirements
in the licensure statute.
The court is likely to find that:
A.
B.
C.
D.
Both the loyalty oath and the membership oath are constitutional.
The loyalty oath is constitutional, but the membership oath is not.
The membership oath is constitutional, but the loyalty oath is not.
Both oaths are unconstitutional.
Question 15
The state of Romick enacted a statute providing for the closure of the official state records of
arrest and prosecution of all persons acquitted of a crime by a court or against whom criminal
charges were filed and subsequently dropped or dismissed. The purpose of this statute is to
protect these persons from further publicity or embarrassment relating to those state proceedings.
However, this statute does not prohibit the publication of such information that is in the
possession of private persons.
A prominent businessman in Noel City in Romick was arrested and charged with rape. Prior to
trial, the prosecutor announced that new information indicated that the charges should be
dropped. He then dropped the charges without further explanation, and the records relating
thereto were closed to the public pursuant to the Romick statute.
The Noel City Times conducted an investigation to determine why the businessman was not
prosecuted but was refused access to the closed official state records. In an effort to determine
whether the law enforcement agencies involved were properly doing their duty, the Times filed
suit against appropriate state officials to force opening of the records and to invalidate the statute
on constitutional grounds.
Which of the following would be most helpful to the state in defending the constitutionality of
this statute?
A. The argument that the state may seal official records owned by the state on any basis its
legislature chooses.
B. The argument that the rights of the press are no greater than those of citizens generally.
C. The fact that the statute only prohibits public access to these official state records and
does not prohibit the publication of information they contain that is in the possession of
private persons.
D. The fact that the statute treats in an identical manner the arrest and prosecution records of
all persons who have been acquitted of a crime by a court or against whom criminal
charges were filed and subsequently dropped or dismissed.
Question 16
A newly enacted criminal statute provides, in its entirety, “No person shall utter to another
person in a public place any annoying, disturbing or unwelcome language.” Smith followed an
elderly woman for three blocks down a public street, yelling in her ear offensive four-letter
words. The woman repeatedly asked Smith to leave her alone, but he refused.
In the subsequent prosecution of Smith will:
A. Prevail because the average user of a public street would think his speech/action here was
amusing and ridiculous rather than “annoying.”
B. Prevail because speech of the sort described here may not be punished by the state
because of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
C. Prevail because though his conduct may be punished by the state, it may not do so under
this statute because it is vague.
D. Not prevail because the right to personal liberty and privacy are paramount.
Question 17
A public university has a rule that any speaker that speaks at its open forum is prohibited from
knowingly making false statements of fact as part of any presentation or lecture. At a lecture, a
speaker claims that he has a PhD from Caltech and has written several articles on quantum
mechanics. In fact, the speaker never graduated from college and has not written any articles.
In an action challenging an order banning the speaker from speaking at the university on any
subject, which of the following arguments would be the least accurate:
A. A designated public forum is not created because the university allows only selective
access for individual speakers.
B. The university’s determination as to what is compatible with its educational mission is
entitled to deference even when the university creates a limited public forum for some
speech.
C. False statements are not protected by the First Amendment.
D. The ban does not infringe on the speaker’s constitutional right to speak because there are
ample other venues for him to speak.
Question 18
The State of Orange requires all retail gasoline stations to post the per gallon price of fuel in
large numerals in front of each retail gasoline station or face a one-cent-per-gallon-sold penalty
for failure to do so. In a challenge to the constitutionality of the law on free speech grounds, the
state is:
A. Likely to prevail if it can show that it has a substantial and real interest to protect.
B. Likely to prevail because the requirement to show gasoline prices does not involve free
speech rights.
C. Not likely to prevail because the requirement constitutes impermissible compelled
speech.
D. Not likely to prevail because the gasoline station is a private forum.
Question 19
Several employees of the City Waterworks Department were discharged after they decided to cut
up their city identification cards at a rally at the state capital in protest of the city’s decision to
furlough them and cut their pay by five per cent. The discharge was based on a city ordinance
that provides for adverse employment actions, including dismissal, to be taken for the intentional
destruction of city signs and placards, including identification badges or cards. The Waterworks
employees contend that any punishment over the nominal cost to replace the ID cards violated
their First Amendment free speech rights.
Which of the following is the best argument supporting the constitutionality of the city’s action:
A. The City’s action was based solely on a restriction on conduct.
B. The City’s action was based on a content neutral restriction of conduct involving the
destruction of government property..
C. The actions of the City Waterworks’ employees were merely expressive conduct entitled
to only a rational basis review.
D. The City Waterworks’ employees had specific notice that their actions would lead to
dismissal.
Question 20
City enacted an ordinance banning from its public sidewalks all machines dispensing
publications consisting wholly of commercial advertisements. The ordinance was enacted
because of a concern about the adverse aesthetic effects of litter from publications distributed on
the public sidewalks and streets. However, City continued to allow machines dispensing other
types of publications on the public sidewalks. As a result of the City ordinance, 30 of the 300
sidewalk machines that were dispensing publications in City were removed.
Is this City ordinance constitutional?
A. Yes, because regulations of commercial speech are subject only to the requirement that
they be rationally related to a legitimate state goal, and that requirement is satisfied here.
B. Yes, because City has a compelling interest in protecting the aesthetics of its sidewalks
and streets, and such a ban is necessary to vindicate this interest.
C. No, because it does not constitute the least restrictive means with which to protect the
aesthetics of City’s sidewalks and streets.
D. No, because the classification in the ordinance does not directly advance the
governmental interest asserted by the City, and the means are more extensive than
necessary to serve the interest of preserving the aesthetics of its sidewalks and streets.
Question 21
A state law makes it a crime punishable by fine and as much as six months in jail to encourage or
solicit the illegal use of any of a list of drugs whose use is specifically banned by the state.
Marijuana is one of the drugs specifically banned.
A local blogger is hit with a $250 fine after he posts a series of articles that extoll the virtues of
marijuana over alcohol. If the blogger challenges the fine in court on First Amendment grounds,
how is the court likely to rule?
A. Rule for the state because bloggers have no First Amendment rights.
B. Rule for the state because it has a compelling interest in protecting the public from the
proliferation of harmful drugs.
C. Rule for the blogger only if he can prove that his statements are true.
D. Rule for the blogger because the law is void because it is overbroad.
Question 22
A small town in rural Idaho prides itself on its “wholesome family-friendly way of life.” In
keeping with its stated family values, the city council passed a series of ordinances prohibiting
the sale or distribution of any obscene, lewd, or lascivious book and pamphlets within the city
limits. The ordinance further describes obscenity in detail as the graphic and explicit depiction
of sexual conduct that displays anatomically recognizable genital parts of a male or female.
In an action to ban the sale of comic books that explicitly depict the sexual conquests of GI Joe, a
court is likely to rule:
A. In favor of the city because there is no literary value in a comic book and therefore no
First Amendment rights are violated.
B. In favor of the city because the ban would have little impact on any free speech rights
because the city is small and the material can be sold elsewhere.
C. In favor of the seller unless it could be shown that a reasonable person applying local
social standards would find the material lacked any serious redeeming artistic, literary,
political, or scientific value.
D. In favor of the seller unless it could be shown that a reasonable person applying national
social standards would find the material lacked any serious redeeming artistic, literary,
political, or scientific value.
Question 23
Every Thursday the Veterans Administration (VA), which maintains a 20-acre enclosed
complex, opens up the northern part of the facility’s parking lot to local farm growers to sell their
products in an open area farmers’ market. The farmers are allowed to post small signs
designating the name of the farm, the type of produce, and any putative benefits. A local organic
farmer is removed from the event by VA staff members for posting an inappropriate sign that
stated: “The government is conspiring to poison poor people with tainted produce.”
In a court action challenging the constitutionality of the VA’s restrictions, a court is likely to:
A. Rule for the organic farmer because the First Amendment guarantees nondiscriminatory
access to publicly owned and controlled areas of communication regardless of the
primary purpose for which the area is dedicated.
B. Rule for the organic farmer because, by allowing some farmers to post signs the VA
effectively created a designated public forum with the guarantee of nondiscriminatory
access to protected speech.
C. Rule for the VA because the VA parking lot is a nonpublic forum that did not lose its
character by the limited access granted to farmers.
D. Rule for the VA because the organic farmer’s statement is patently false and is not
entitled to First Amendment protection.
Question 24
A state law required vacant public-school buildings to be sold at auction to the highest bidder. A
church in a city located in the state wanted to acquire larger facilities for its school. The city's
school board proposed a new state law that would authorize it to sell a vacant public-school
building, at a price below its fair market value, to the church for use as its school.
Would the new law be constitutional?
A. No, because a statute specially authorizing the sale of the building without competitive
bidding would violate the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.
B. No, because the transfer of the building to the church under these circumstances would
constitute an establishment of religion prohibited by the 1st and 14th Amendment.
C. Yes, because surplus government property is not subject to the limitations imposed by
the establishment clause as incorporated into the 14th amendment.
D. Yes, because the law would not primarily or substantially support the religious activities
of the church.
Question 25
A speaker at a rally in a public park argued that paper money was unconstitutional because
Article 1 gave Congress the power only to "coin" money. The speaker ended his speech by
setting fire to a pile of one-dollar bills. Although the fire was promptly extinguished and there
had been no risk that it would spread, the speaker was convicted of violating a local ordinance
against starting an open fire in a public place without a permit from the fire department. The
speaker has challenged the conviction on constitutional grounds.
How should the court rule?
A. The ordinance is constitutional, because it is narrowly tailored to further a significant
government interest that is unrelated to the suppression of free expression, and
individuals have other ways of communicating their messages.
B. The ordinance is constitutional because it regulates conduct rather than speech.
C. The ordinance is unconstitutional as applied because the absence of a fire risk
demonstrates that the prosecution was a pretext for government censorship.
D. The ordinance is unconstitutional because it is overbroad.
END OF EXAMINATION