UNIT 5 EXAMINATION
Answer each of the questions below. They are based on the material which appeared in Unit 5.
The number of points allocated to each question is indicated in brackets after the question.
1. A public school teacher was fired by the school board after she wrote a letter to a local
newspaper about the low starting salary she received, based on the district’s failure to
credit her prior teaching service in other districts. The teacher brought a law suit in
federal court claiming the district unconstitutionally violated her Free Speech rights
under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution by retaliating against her for
contacting the paper. The federal district court correctly dismissed her case. Which of
the following most likely accounts for the court’s decision? (a) the First Amendment may
never apply to a teacher’s expression (b) the teacher’s expression was not a matter of
public concern (c) federal courts may only adjudicate valid First Amendment claims (d)
letters to newspapers can never be protected by the First Amendment since they are not
speech within the meaning of the First Amendment (e) none of the above could account
for the decision. [7]
2. A teacher’s employment at a private secondary school was terminated one hour after she
complained to the academy’s board of directors about the lack of equipment in her
science lab. She brought a lawsuit in the federal district court where she prevailed on the
ground that she was unlawfully fired for exercising her protected First Amendment Free
Speech rights. The academy appealed and obtained a reversal of the district court’s
decision in the United States Court of Appeals on the ground that the teacher’s rights
were not violated. What was the most likely reason for the Court of Appeals’s reversal?
(a) there was no causal connection between her speech and her termination (b) the
board’s motivation for terminating the teacher was based on legitimate educational
concerns (c) the teacher was not entitled to First Amendment protections on the facts
of the case (d) the court balanced the interests of the school under Mt. Healthy and
concluded they rested decidedly with the academy. [7]
3. A teacher employed by a public school district in Texas was terminated after she
complained at a PTA meeting that the school board’s budgetary allocation for textbooks
between the elementary and secondary schools of the district, was unfair to the
elementary students. The teacher in question was a resident of the district and a tenured
employee. Assume that her comments to the PTA were an actual motivation for her
dismissal. Which of the following question(s) would resolve the case, if she brought a
claim in federal district court seeking reinstatement and alleging that her First
Amendment Free Speech rights were violated by the school board? (a) Were the
comments to the PTA the sole basis for her dismissal? (b) Would she have been fired
anyway for legitimate performance based reasons (c) was the PTA a private, rather than a
governmental organization? (d) a, b & c are correct (e) only a & b are correct (f) only b
& c are correct. [7]
4. Which statement comes closest to representing the United States Supreme Court’s
holding in the Givhan’s case? (a) speech is protected by the First Amendment only when
it is made in a public, rather than privately with one’s public employer-supervisor (b)
speech made by public employees is protected by the First Amendment, even when it is
uninvited and disruptive to the workplace (c) all speech is protected by the First
Amendment, even when it is made by a public employee to his public supervisor (d)
speech is protected by the First Amendment when it is made by the public employee
to his public supervisor, but only if it involves a matter of public concern (e) none of
the above. [7]
5. Which alternative best explains the Supreme Court’s decision in Beilan? (a) the
employee’s hostility to the employer’s questions demonstrated his unfitness for the job
(b) the employer’s action following the employee’s refusal to answer questions
relevant to his employment did not violate any First Amendment freedom enjoyed
by the employee (c) questions about one’s political activity are per se unconstitutional
(d) none of the above are correct. [7]
6. Which alternative(s) explain the result in Board of Regents v. Roth? (a) a contract of
employment is incompatible with tenure status (b) constitutional due process of law is not
required before terminating an employee, where there is no state created property interest
in continued employment (c) a mere unilateral expectancy of continued employment is
insufficient to compel constitutional due process to apply prior to termination of
employment (d) a, b & c explain the result (e) b & c explain the result (f) a & c explain
the result. [8]
7.
Which, if any of these statements are most likely true? (a) tenure can only be created by
a state statute authorizing the conditions under which tenure may be granted (b) tenure
may be created by rules established locally, leading to common expectations as to the
conditions under which it may occur (c) if an employee is tenured, the employee is
entitled to receive notice of charges and an opportunity to refute them, prior to being
terminated (d) a, b & c are true (e) a & b are true (f) b & c are true. [8]
8. Which alternative best explains “stigma” in the constitutional due process sense of the
word? (a) any termination of employment “stigmatizes” an employee, since s/he will be
unlikely to obtain employment in the future (b) where the conduct associated with a
public employee’s termination are serious and relate to such things as dishonesty or
criminal conduct, notice and a hearing is required in connection with that discharge,
at least when the grounds of the termination are shared with third parties (c) where
a public school employee commits a crime on the job, that information may never be
shared with third parties under any circumstances (d) none of the above. [7]
9. Which alternative is consistent with the Supreme Court’s holding in Harrah? (a)
regulating educational requirements for teachers is rationally related to the role
played by teachers (b) tenured teachers may not be compelled to continue their
education as a condition of continued employment (c) a teacher’s substantive due process
entitlement to tenure supersedes mere failures to obtain course credits mandated by a
school board (d) a, b and c are consistent with the result (e) a & c are consistent the result
(f) b & c are consistent with the result. [7]
10. Which statement comes closest to representing what the Loudermill court was saying
relative to the constitution’s due process requirements for tenured employees? (a) a posttermination hearing if held close enough in time to the dismissal is almost always
adequate to protect the employees property and liberty interests (b) there is a
constitutional right to be represented by an attorney at all hearings connected with the
termination of a tenured employee (c) dangerous employees may always be terminated
summarily, regardless of due process considerations (d) a pre-termination hearing will
almost always be required, even where the state provides elaborate post-termination
review of tenured employees’ dismissals. [7]
11. Which statement(s) are correct about the Supreme Court’s decision in Wieman? (a) the
court condemned criminal investigations into employee’s backgrounds once a convicted
person had “served his time.” (b) it condemned guilt by mere association as antidemocratic (c) it declared all loyalty oaths as unconstitutional (d) it recognized freedom
of expression as an important value in First Amendment jurisprudence (e) a, b & c are
correct (f) a & d are correct (g) b & d are correct. [7]
12. Which of the following rules promulgated by a public school district would likely be
declared as unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court under Connell? (a) using
a questionnaire about an applicant’s religious beliefs as a screening device for hiring
teachers (b) using a questionnaire about an applicant’s beliefs on social issues as a
screening device for granting teachers tenure (c) using a questionnaire about an
applicant’s beliefs on political issues as a screening device for promoting teachers to
administrative positions (d) all of the above (e) none of the above. [7]
13. Which public school district policy or policies would most likely be declared as
unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court? (a) a requirement that pregnant
teacher give notice to the board of education of her expected delivery date (b) a
requirement that a pregnant teacher give notice of her intent to return to work after
delivery (c) a rule that a teacher who delivered a baby may return to work at the start of
the next full semester after her child rearing leave (d) none of the above (e) all of the
above. [7]
14. Which statement(s) are accurate respecting the Supreme Court’s holding in LaFleur? (a)
mandatory pregnancy leaves within designated time frames prior to the expected delivery
date violate the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (b) Cleveland’s
pregnancy policies violated teacher’s substantive due process rights to reproductive
freedom of choice (c) Cleveland’s pregnancy policies created an unlawful presumption
about a pregnant teacher’s ability to teach (d) a, b & c are correct (e) a & c are correct (f)
b & c are correct. [7]