The Bill of Rights and Civil Liberties #1
1) Which of the following arguments represents the best reason why a bill of rights was added to
the Constitution?
a) The Federalists felt that the central government would not protect the citizens.
b) The Anti-Federalists believed that the masses needed to know what their rights were.
c) Ratification of the Constitution including a bill of rights was supported by both the
Federalists and Anti-Federalists.
d) Key states insisted on a bill of rights prior to approving the Constitution.
e) The Anti-Federalists felt that the Constitution alone protected citizens from abuses of the
central government.
2) Which of the following decisions made by Chief Justice John Marshall’s Court established the
principle that the Bill of Rights only applied to the federal government?
a) Marbury v. Madison (1803)
b) McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
c) Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
d) Barron v. Baltimore (1833)
e) Fletcher v. Peck (1810)
3) The Supreme Court decision Gitlow v. New York established the principle that
a) There was no relationship between the Fourteenth Amendment and the Bill of Rights
b) Free speech was not protected by the Bill of Rights in state cases
c) Incorporation of the Bill of Rights in state cases was allowed
d) There was an indirect relationship between the Fourteenth Amendment and the Bill of
Rights
e) Judicial review could take place in state cases by the Supreme Court
4) The establishment clause of the First Amendment speaks of
a) An officially sanctioned nonsectarian religion for the United States
b) A wall of separation between church and state
c) Government not being able to accommodate religion in public places
d) Government agencies creating watchdog committees to prevent religious infringement in
the schools
e) The passage of the equal access law
5) Which of the following Supreme Court cases established the ‘clear and present danger’
doctrine?
a) Schenck v. United States (1919)
b) Texas v. Johnson (1989)
c) Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)
d) Abrams v. New York (1919)
e) Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)
6) The terms prior review and prior restraint refer to which of the following constitutional
principles?
a) Freedom of the press
b) Freedom of speech
c) Freedom of assembly
d) Due process
e) Freedom to petition one’s grievances
7) The Lemon test is used to determine if
a) There is unfair government interference regarding free speech
b) The government is acting properly in due process cases
c) There are illegal tactics used by PACs
d) Death penalty convictions are fair and reasonable
e) Legislation that deals with religion creates illegal government interference
8) The principle established by the Supreme Court in the case of Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) states
that
a) Schools can act in loco parentis
b) Student rights did not stop at the schoolhouse gates
c) Principals have the right to censor student publications
d) Student symbolic speech may be censored by school officials even if it does not create a
disruption
e) Principals have the right to suspend students without a hearing
9) The principle established in the Supreme Court case of Texas v. Johnson (1989) was based on
a) Religious speech
b) Active speech
c) Symbolic speech
d) Fighting words
e) Government accommodation of speech
10) Critics of the Brady Bill and the 1994 Crime Bill point to which of the following principles?
a) The due process guarantees of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments
b) It should be the responsibility of Congress to regulate guns
c) Property rights of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments
d) The right to bear arms section of the Second Amendment
e) The cruel and unusual punishment provision of the Eighth Amendment
11) In the case of Mapp v. Ohio (1961) the Supreme Court established
a) The exclusionary rule of evidence
b) The fighting words doctrine
c) The bad tendency doctrine
d) The prurient interest principle
e) The stop and frisk rule of evidence
12) Which of the following cases used the Ninth Amendment as a constitutional argument?
a) Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
b) Collins v. Smith (1978)
c) Cox v. New Hampshire (1941)
d) Engle v. Vitale (1962)
e) Roe v. Wade (1973)
13) All the following steps are part of procedural due process except
a) Habeas corpus
b) Formal indictment
c) Speedy trial
d) Right to an attorney
e) A jury made up of different ethnic groups
14) The intent of the decision made in Miranda v. Arizona (1966) was
a) The guarantee to accused persons that law enforcement agencies videotape confessions
b) To tie the hands of the police after they arrest a suspect
c) To allow the federal government to tighten its criminal laws
d) To allow state governments to obtain confessions more easily
e) To guarantee due process rights of the accused
15) The ‘right to die’ is an implicit right found in which part of the Constitution?
a) The elastic clause
b) The due process clause
c) The Fourteenth Amendment
d) The Ninth Amendment
e) The Fifth Amendment
ANSWERS
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
9)
10)
11)
12)
13)
14)
15)
D
D
C
B
A
A
E
B
C
D
A
E
E
E
D