______________________
Student Exam I.D. Number
TOURO COLLEGE
Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center
FINAL EXAMINATION
CLOSED BOOK
RETURN
DAY: MONDAY
LENGTH: 2 & 1/2 HOURS
Spring 2008
DATE: May 12, 2008
TIME: 9:30 a.m.
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW II
FINAL EXAMINATION
PROFESSOR EILEEN KAUFMAN
INSTRUCTIONS:
Do not use your name or social security number. Identify yourself by using the student exam
identification number which was distributed by the registrar’s office.
You must sign out at the close of the exam. Please bring all of your test papers up to the front of the
room. Please sign your name next to where it is printed on the page and write your student exam
identification number.
Special Instructions:
Part I consists of twenty (20) multiple choice questions, worth 2.5 points each. Answers to Part I must
be marked on the Scantron form. Be sure to record your Exam I.D. Number, and not your name on the
Scantron form. Part II consists of seven (7)questions worth a total of fifty (50) points. The point
allocation for each question is clearly marked. Plan your time accordingly. Part II must be answered
in the blue book. Be sure to read each question carefully before answering. Your answer must respond
directly and specifically to the question asked. Write legibly in ink and only on one side of each page in
the blue book.
Good Luck!
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Part I Multiple Choice (2.5 points each)
Select the best answer and write the letter of your choice on the Scantron form. Only enter your
answers when you are certain of the answers because erasures can lead to inaccurate grading.
1. If a right is deemed to be a fundamental constitutional right, which of the following is
true?
a.
b.
c.
d.
The state may not infringe that right.
A claim based on equal protection will be analyzed pursuant to strict scrutiny.
Any interference with the right will be deemed to be an infringement.
None of the above.
2. Which of the following is the primary source of fundamental constitutional
rights?
a.
b.
c.
d.
3.
The Ninth Amendment.
The penumbra of rights emanating from the Bill of Rights.
The due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
None of the above.
Plaintiff was denied a marriage license on the basis of a state statute that prohibits the
issuance of a marriage license to anyone who is under a court order to pay child support
and whose child support payments are in arrears. Plaintiff has challenged the statute as
unconstitutional. Which of the following is true?
a. Plaintiff can successfully challenge the statute on both due process and equal
protection grounds.
b. Plaintiff’s claim will be evaluated using the rational basis test.
c. Plaintiff’s claim will be rejected because the statute is supported by a compelling
governmental interest in protecting the welfare of children.
d. Plaintiff’s claim will be rejected because federal courts will not second-guess
decisions of the states when it comes to matters of domestic relations.
4. Which of the following challenges is likely to trigger strict scrutiny?
a. A challenge to a provision of the Social Security Act that results in the loss of
benefits when someone in receipt of social security child benefits marries.
b. A challenge to a provision of the tax code that results in an individual paying more
taxes upon marriage.
c. A challenge to a statute prohibiting incestuous marriages.
d. None of the above.
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5. In which of the following fact patterns will a biological father’s claim to the continued
care and custody of his child be successful?
a. When the father who had lived with his out-of-wedlock child and the child’s mother
automatically loses custody of the child upon the death of the child’s mother.
b. When the father is denied visitation based on a state statute that creates a
conclusive presumption that a child born to a married woman is the child of the
woman’s husband.
c. a & b
d. None of the above.
6.
Which of the following is true regarding a facial challenge to a state statute requiring
the immunization of children?
a.
A challenge will succeed because the statute violates parents’ rights to direct the
upbringing of their children.
b. A challenge will be evaluated using rational basis review.
c. The statute will be upheld because it is necessary to achieve a compelling
governmental purpose.
d. None of the above.
7. Which of the following is true regarding statutes authorizing grandparent visitation?
a. The Supreme Court has held that grandparent visitation statutes are
unconstitutional unless they require a showing of the parent’s unfitness.
b. The Supreme Court has held that grandparent visitation statutes are
unconstitutional if they authorize grandparent visitation over the objection of the
parent.
c. Whether or not a grandparent visitation statute is constitutional depends, in part, on
the breadth of the statute and whether it requires the court to give serious weight to
the wishes of the parent.
d. All of the above.
8. Which of the following statutes relating to abortion is likely to be upheld?
I. A statute requiring a 24 hour waiting period before an abortion can be performed.
II. A statute denying Medicaid funding for abortions.
III. A statute requiring spousal notification before an abortion can be performed.
a.
b.
c.
d.
I & II
I & III
II & III
I, II & III
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9. Which of the following is true regarding constitutional claims related to physicianassisted suicide?
The Supreme Court has held that state statutes that criminalize physician-assisted
suicide are constitutional.
II. The Supreme Court has held that state statutes that permit physician-assisted
suicide are unconstitutional.
III. The Supreme Court has held that the state’s interests in preserving life and
protecting the ethics and integrity of the medical profession support a ban on
physician-assisted suicide.
I.
a.
b.
c.
d.
I & II
I & III
II & III
I, II & III
10. In which of the following cases will strict scrutiny be used to evaluate the claim?
I. Plaintiff is denied permission to travel to Cuba.
II. Plaintiff, a recent arrival in the state, is denied free non-emergency medical care
based on a one year residency requirement.
III. Plaintiff, a resident of State B, is denied free non-emergency medical care in State A.
a.
b.
c.
d.
I only
II only
III only
I, II & III
11. The Constitution explicitly provides:
That the right to vote shall not be denied based on race, gender and age (18 or
older).
II. That the right to vote in federal elections shall not be denied based on inability to
pay a poll tax.
III. That all citizens have the right to vote for state legislators and state governors.
I.
a.
b.
c.
d.
I & II
I & III
II & III
I, II & III
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12. Which of the following is true regarding restrictions on the right to vote?
a. Property ownership requirements are unconstitutional in general elections.
b. Property ownership requirements may be constitutional in special interest
elections.
c. Felons can be disenfranchised.
d. All of the above.
13. Which of the following is true regarding when the state must waive a filing fee in order
to enable a person to gain access to the courts?
I. Whenever the person alleges that he/she is being deprived of a fundamental right.
II. When the person has been indicted for violating a criminal law and faces
incarceration.
III. When the person is challenging a denial of welfare benefits.
a.
b.
c.
d.
I & II
I, II & III
II only
None of the above.
14. Which of the following is true regarding procedural due process?
I. A negligent deprivation does not give rise to a procedural due process claim.
II. State law determines whether there is a protected property interest and what
procedures are required.
III.“Rights” are protected property interests but “privileges” are not.
a.
b.
c.
d.
I only
I & II
II only
I, II & III
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15. Which of the following presents a property or liberty interest sufficient to trigger due
process?
I.
A non-tenured professor at a state university is fired along with a published
statement explaining that he was fired for dishonesty.
II. An individual’s welfare benefits are terminated.
III. A student is suspended from school.
a.
b.
c.
d.
I & II
I & III
II & III
I, II, & III
16. Which of the following is true regarding Employment Division v. Smith, where the Court
rejected plaintiff’s claim that the denial of unemployment benefits based on his using
peyote violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment?
a. The Supreme Court overruled Sherbert v. Verner and held that all free exercise
challenges are evaluated using the rational basis test.
b. The Supreme Court distinguished Wisconsin v. Yoder (the case declaring
unconstitutional the conviction of an Amish parent for violating the mandatory
school attendance law) on the ground that that case involved a hybrid claim,
coupling a free exercise challenge with a fundamental right.
c. The case led to Congress passing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act which
legislatively overruled Employment Division v. Smith and has bbe upheld as applied
to state and local government.
d. All of the above.
17. Which of the following propositions is true?
a. A state program that offers scholarships to all students except those who pursue
degrees in devotional theology violates the Free Exercise Clause.
b. A state program that offers scholarships to all students including those who pursue
degrees in devotional theology violates the Establishment Clause.
c. A municipal policy that permits all community groups except religious groups to use
school facilities after school hours violates the free speech guarantee.
d. None of the above.
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18. Which of the following regulations will be subject to strict scrutiny?
I.
A regulation restricting the volume of loudspeakers used to amplify a concert in a
city park.
II. A regulation restricting judicial candidates for office from commenting on legal
issues that could come before the court.
III. An injunction preventing the publication of any more pictures of the abuse of Iraqi
prisoners.
a.
b.
c.
d.
I & II
I & III
II & III
I, II, & III
19. Which of the following is true regarding compelled speech?
There is no constitutional violation if the speech is determined to be government
speech.
II. The Court has held that a restriction on the ability of legal services lawyers to
challenge welfare restrictions violates the First Amendment.
III. The Court has held that the Solomon Amendment, which results in law schools
losing federal funding if they deny equal access to military recruiters on campus,
violates the free speech rights of law schools.
I.
a.
b.
c.
d.
I & II
I & III
II & III
I, II & III
20. Which of the following propositions regarding the First Amendment is accurate?
a. Subversive advocacy can be punished whenever the speaker intends to incite
imminent lawless action.
b. Statutes that prohibit viewing child pornography in the privacy of one’s own home
violate the First Amendment.
c. Statutes that prohibit all cross burning violate the First Amendment.
d. None of the above.
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Part II (50 points total)
1. a. Describe the 2 most important ways in which Planned Parenthood v. Casey reaffirmed
Roe v. Wade. (You will lose credit if you do not separately number your answers!) (4pts)
b. Describe the 3 most important ways in which Planned Parenthood v. Casey changed Roe
v. Wade. (You will lose credit if you do not separately number your answers!)(6 pts)
2. In Gonzales v. Carhart, the 2007 case upholding the validity of the Partial Birth Abortion
Ban Act, how did the Court explain upholding a ban on a type of pre-viability abortion that
did not include an exception to protect the woman’s health? (3 pts)
3. The laws of the State of Abbott have been interpreted to prohibit same sex marriage. The
statute has been challenged as unconstitutional.
a. What is the single strongest argument grounded in the Constitution that Abbott should
use in defending the prohibition of same sex marriage? Cite (or describe) cases that
supports this argument. (4 pts)
b. What is the single strongest argument grounded in the Constitution that plaintiffs
should use in challenging the prohibition of same sex marriage? Cite (or describe) cases
that supports this argument. (4 pts)
4. The Abbott school district requires all students to wear a designated uniform. Plaintiff has
brought a constitutional challenge, alleging that she cannot afford the cost of the uniform
and the requirement is preventing her child from attending school. How would the Court
analyze the claim? (8 pts)
5. In Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, the plaintiff argued that his continued confinement without a hearing
to contest his designation as an enemy combatant violated procedural due process. What
test did the Court use to analyze his claim and how did the Court apply each element of the
test. (6 pts)
6. An Abbott state legislator, who is himself a deeply religious man, displays a crucifix in his
legislative office. The legislator has many personal items in his office besides the crucifix. He
has photographs of his family displayed prominently on his desk, plaques on the walls
bearing many awards that he has received over the years, and photographs taken during
many of his official and non-official travels. One of his constituents visited the office, was
offended by the crucifix on the wall, and has brought a constitutional challenge.
a. How would justices who adhere to the accommodation theory of the Establishment
Clause analyze this claim? (3 pts)
b. State and apply the Lemon test to the claim. Be sure that your answer includes an
explanation of Justice O’Connor’s symbolic endorsement approach. (9 pts)
7. What is the test the Court uses to analyze restrictions on commercial speech? (3 pts)
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