UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Unit 2 Practice Questions – Civil Liberties and Civil Rights
1. The Supreme Court struck down the use of racial
quotas for affirmative action in which of the
following cases?
(A) Texas v. Johnson
(B) Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
(C) Mapp v. Ohio
(D) Baker v. Carr
(E) Griswold v. Connecticut
2. Most criminal cases are settled through:
(A) pauper's petitions
(B) judicial tribunals
(C) plea bargaining
(D) trial by a judge
(E) trial by jury
3. To prevent abuse of police power, the Fourth
Amendment requires that no court may issue
________ unless probable cause exists to believe
that a crime has occurred or is about to occur.
(A) an exclusionary rule
(B) a writ of habeas corpus
(C) a prior restraint
(D) a search warrant
(E) an injunction
4. The incorporation doctrine involves:
(A) the use of judicial review by state courts
(B) the government's power to regulate
corporations
(C) the procedures for creating a city government
(D) application of the Bill of Rights to the states
(E) the interpretation of the commerce clause
5. The decision in Roe v. Wade (1973) was justified
by the Supreme Court largely on the grounds of:
(A) new advances in medical technology
(B) the right of privacy implied in the Bill of Rights
(C) our constitutional right to life
(D) the free exercise clause of the First
Amendment
(E) the freedom of religion clause of the First
Amendment
6. In Gitlow v. New York (1925), the decision that
states could not abridge the freedoms of
expression protected by the First Amendment was
based on the due process clause of:
(A) Tenth Amendment
(B) Fifth Amendment
(C) Fourteenth Amendment
(D) the New York State Constitution
(E) First Amendment
7. In the case of New York Times v. Sullivan (1964),
the Supreme Court ruled that:
(A) the Pentagon Papers could be subjected to prior
restraint
(B) statements made about political figures are
libelous only if made with malice and reckless
disregard for the truth
(C) statements made about political figures,
however malicious, can never be deemed
libelous.
(D) government officials cannot sue newspapers for
libel
(E) the publication of the Pentagon Papers could be
legally prevented as a matter of national
security
8. The establishment clause concerns:
(A) assembly
(B) petition
(C) press
(D) religion
(E) speech
9. In the 1963 case of _______________, the Supreme
Court ruled that defendants in all felony cases had a
right to counsel, and if they could not afford to hire
a lawyer, one must be provided.
(A) Engel v. Vitale
(B) National Bar Association v. United States
(C) Abbington v. Schempp
(D) Gideon v. Wainwright
(E) Mapp v. Ohio
10. In the past century, the Fourteenth Amendment has
been used to:
(A) require that states abide by all provisions of the
Bill of Rights
(B) extend the right to vote to women and 18-yearolds
(C) gradually apply the Bill of Rights to the states
(D) limit the national government's ability to
interfere in matters affecting individual states
(E) allow state governments to interfere in national
affairs
11. The courts have used __________ to prevent
illegally seized evidence from being introduced into
the courtroom.
(A) the Miranda rule
(B) prior restraint
(C) search warrants
(D) probable cause
(E) the exclusionary rule
12. In the 1992 case of Planned Parenthood v. Casey,
the Supreme Court ruled that abortion:
(A) restrictions could be imposed by states if they
did not involve "undue burdens" on the women
seeking abortions
(B) could not be restricted or regulated
(C) must be funded by state governments when
the mother cannot afford it
(D) could be completely outlawed by individual
states
(E) funding by any level of government was
unconstitutional
13. The Fifth Amendment protects citizens against
which of the following?
I. Illegal Search and Seizure
II. Testifying against oneself
III. Double Jeopardy
IV. Taking of one’s property without just
compensation
V. Denial of Due Process of law
(A) I and II
(B) I, II and III
(C) II only
(D) II and IV
(E) II, III, IV, and V
14. Which of the following is NOT specifically stated in
the Bill of Rights?
(A) freedom of speech
(B) right to privacy
(C) protection against double jeopardy
(D) right to bear arms
(E) protection against cruel and unusual
punishment
15. The abridgment of citizens' freedom to worship, or
not to worship, as they please is prohibited by the:
(A) Second Amendment
(B) extradition clause
(C) free exercise clause
(D) establishment clause
(E) take care clause
16. All the following criteria represent procedures used
for evaluating the legitimacy of affirmative action
programs EXCEPT:
(A) a scrutiny test based on racial classification
(B) affirmative action programs based strictly on
quotas
(C) states taking action based on evidence that
past discriminatory practice existed
(D) affirmative action remedies must be specific
(E) affirmative action programs must be narrowly
tailored
17. In the case of _____________, the Supreme Court
ruled that segregation of races by law was
constitutional so long as the facilities that were
separate were also equal.
(A) Brown v. Board of Education
(B) Plessy v. Ferguson
(C) Dred Scott v. Sandford
(D) Craig v. Boren
(E) Amos v. Alabama
18. The Fourteenth Amendment explicitly forbids the
states from denying:
(A) equal protection of the laws
(B) the right to travel
(C) privacy
(D) the pursuit of happiness
(E) the right to vote
19. A shield law:
(A) protects certain religious practices not covered
by Supreme Court rulings
(B) prevents the courts from closing criminal trials
to the press
(C) prevents reporters from disclosing secret
government information
(D) gives judges the right to issue a gag order
(E) protects reporters from having to reveal their
sources
20. The Miranda Rule:
(A) has made police interrogations easier
(B) was based on the probable cause clause of the
Fourth Amendment
(C) was openly welcomed by police departments
throughout the country
(D) has been strengthened by the Court in recent
years
(E) has required all police officers to inform accused
persons of their rights
21. Which of the following civil liberties contained within
the Bill of Rights have been applied to the states?
I. Right to bear arms
II. No unreasonable search and seizures
III. Freedom of speech
IV. Free exercise clause
(A) I only
(B) I and II only
(C) I and III only
(D) I, II, and III only
(E) I, II, III, and IV
22. Prior restraint refers to:
(A) the force used in search and seizure situations
(B) government actions that prevent the
publication of material in print media
(C) injunctions issued against strikers
(D) slander
(E) reading of one’s rights to a suspect before
questioning
23. The Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of
Education was based on the legal argument that
segregation violated the _____________
Amendment.
(A) First
(B) Equal Rights
(C) Fourteenth
(D) Twenty-sixth
(E) Nineteenth
24. The Supreme Court has allowed all of these
EXCEPT:
(A) released time for public school students attending off-campus religious instruction
(B) children of Jehovah's Witnesses to not salute
the flag in school
(C) nativity displays on public property if the
displays include secular objects
(D) polygamy
(E) Amish to not send their children to school past
the 8th grade
25. The Civil Rights Act of 1964:
(A) ended discrimination in the purchase or rental
of housing
(B) ended the white primary
(C) guaranteed equal access to hotels,
restaurants, and other public accommodations
(D) guaranteed minority groups the right to vote
(E) established the first affirmative action
programs
26. The ___________ is the final interpreter of the
content and scope of Americans' civil liberties.
(A) president
(B) Constitution
(C) Supreme Court
(D) Congress
(E) American Civil Liberties Union
27. In Texas v. Johnson (1989), the Supreme Court
gave 1st Amendment protection to:
(A) television broadcasting
(B) obscenity
(C) symbolic speech
(D) commercial speech
(E) "fighting words"
28. One consequence of the Voting Rights Act of 1965
was:
(A) a dramatic increase in the number of African
Americans registered to vote
(B) decreased involvement of federal officials in
state election procedures
(C) an end to racial discrimination in employment
(D) increased access of blacks to public
accommodations
(E) an increase in segregation
29. All of these were ways of disenfranchising African
Americans EXCEPT:
(A) poll taxes
(B) grandfather clauses
(C) congressional legislation
(D) physical threats
(E) literacy tests
30. The writ of habeas corpus is a protection against:
(A) quartering of troops in homes
(B) laws that ban possession of firearms
(C) the establishment of religion
(D) cruel and unusual punishment
(E) arbitrary or unfair imprisonment
31. Jim Crow laws:
(A) were enacted by Southern whites in the late
Nineteenth century to segregate African
Americans from whites
(B) justified slavery and set codes for slaves'
behavior
(C) sought to end segregation and bring the races
into closer contact with one another
(D) established slavery and contract law regulating
the slave trade
(E) were enforced by the Northern army in the
South in the Reconstruction Era
32. Which of the following are true about the
constitutionality guaranteed rights of criminal
defendants?
I. They have a right to legal counsel, and if they
cannot afford adequate counsel the government
will provide them with an attorney
II. They have a right to a trial free from press
coverage
III. They have the right to a trial by jury
IV. They have a right to subpoena witnesses to
appear in court
(A) I and II
(B) I and III
(C) I, II, and IV
(D) II and IV
(E) I, III, and IV
33. 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 being used by interest
groups
(D) death penalty convictions are fair and
reasonable
(E) legislation that deals with religion creates
illegal government interference
34. Which of the following basic liberties was NOT
protected by the Constitution before the adoption
of the Bill of Rights?
(A) there can be no religious test for holding
elected office
(B) legal representation in non-capital cases
(C) bill of attainder
(D) neither Congress nor the states could enact ex
post facto laws
(E) habeas corpus was protected
35. Although it is well established that obscene
materials are not protected under the First
Amendment, the problem the Supreme Court has
faced is:
(A) establishing community standards
(B) preventing the publication of such materials
(C) defining what obscenity is
(D) closing establishments that distribute such
materials near schools
(E) expanding rulings on obscenity to include
violence
36. The “wall of separation” doctrine refers to the:
(A) division between levels of government
(B) unique powers possessed by each branch of
government
(C) division of church and state
(D) barrier between legislative chambers
(E) differentiation of municipal powers from
county powers
37. Civil Liberties are:
(A) freedoms that are not specified in the
Constitution or in statutory laws, but make up
the “unwritten Constitution”
(B) the rights to vote and participate in the
political process in a democracy
(C) laws that provide and set limits on one's
freedoms
(D) citizens' rights to equal treatment under the
law
(E) individual legal and constitutional protections
against the government
38. Which of the following cases established the
principle that when speech directly interferes with
an important governmental function like maintaining
order, then that speech may be suppressed?
(A) Tinker v. Des Moines
(B) Texas v. Johnson
(C) Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire
(D) Abrams v. New York
(E) Schenck v. United States
39. A provision in the Constitution that has been used to
expand federal power over the states is:
(A) the police power
(B) the reserved power clause
(C) the due process clause of the Fourteenth
Amendment
(D) establishment of republican governments by the
states
(E) separation of powers
40. Libel and slander most closely come into conflict
with the constitutional guarantee of:
(A) due process
(B) free speech
(C) equal protection under the law
(D) a fair trial
(E) the right to an attorney
41. Which of the following cases did the Supreme Court
enforce the use of the exclusionary rule in state
trials?
(A) Near v. Minnesota
(B) Miranda v. Arizona
(C) Miller v. California
(D) Mapp v. Ohio
(E) Gregg v. Georgia
42. The right to assemble extends to groups in all of the
following situations EXCEPT:
(A) a hate group such as the Ku Klux Klan holding a
rally
(B) right-to-life advocates attempting to prevent
access to abortion clinics
(C) students holding an antiwar demonstration on a
university campus
(D) a religious group holding a public prayer
meeting
(E) a labor union starting a picket line
43. What is the difference between de facto and de
jure segregation?
(A) de facto segregation is illegal
(B) de jure segregation is legal
(C) de jure segregation is legal based on Supreme
Court decisions
(D) de jure segregation is supported by all
Americans
(E) de facto segregation cannot be stopped by
legislation
44. Which clause in the Constitution was interpreted
by the activist court of the 1960s to allow
Congress the power to pass laws combating
discrimination?
(A) the necessary and proper clause
(B) the congressional rights clause
(C) the full faith and credit clause
(D) the establishment clause
(E) the commerce clause
45. All of the following are constitutional protections
for people accused of a crime EXCEPT:
(A) writ of habeas corpus
(B) freedom from unreasonable search and seizure
(C) freedom to petition
(D) right to confront witnesses
(E) no double jeopardy