American Govt Chapters 14, 4, and 5

Question 1

In Bush v. Gore (2000),

a. a majority of justices ruled that the manual recount in Florida violated the equal protection clause.
b. the most conservative justices sided with George W. Bush.
c. Justice John Paul Stevens argued that the Florida high court had acted properly in ordering a recount.
d. the justices did not uphold the decision of the Florida Supreme Court.
e. All these answers are correct.

Answer 1

E. All of these answers are correct

Question 2

“Senatorial courtesy” refers to

a. the custom of allowing a senator from the same state as a Supreme Court-approved nominee to perform the swearing-in of that justice.
b. the right of the Senate Judiciary Committee to approve of all Supreme Court justice nominees.
c. the custom by which a senator from the state in which a lower-court vacancy has arisen should be consulted on the choice of the nominee if the senator is of the same party as the president.
d. the practice of seeking approval from the chairmen of the Senate Judiciary Committee by a president before nominating a Supreme Court justice.
e. the informal blessing that the Senate Judiciary Committee bestows on lower-court federal judgeship nominees.

Answer 2

C. The custom by which a senator from the state in which a lower-court vacancy has arisen should be consulted on the choice of the nominee if the senator is of the same party as the president.

Question 3

Who was the first female Supreme Court justice in the United States?

a. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
b. Sandra Day O’Connor
c. Jeanne Kirkpatrick
d. Kay Bailey Hutchison
e. Nancy Kassebaum

Answer 3

B. Sandra Day O’Connor

Question 4

Who was the first African American Supreme Court justice in the United States?

a. Clarence Thomas
b. Antonin Scalia
c. Thurgood Marshall
d. Louis Brandeis
e. Felix Frankfurter

Answer 4

C . Thurgood Marshall

Question 5

Which of the following statements is true?

a. A large majority of cases involve issues of statutory and administrative law.
b. A large majority of cases involve issues of constitutional law.
c. Statutory law is derived from administrative law.
d. Administrative law is set by legislatures instead of government agencies.
e. Most cases are state cases and involve issues of constitutional law.

Answer 5

A. A large majority of cases involve issues of statutory and administrative law

Question 6

The president that made 30% and 25%, respectively, of his federal judge appointees from women and minority groups was

a. Ronald Reagan.
b. George H. W. Bush.
c. George W. Bush.
d. Bill Clinton.
e. Richard Nixon.

Answer 6

D. Bill Clinton

Question 7

The American legal system is based on the ________ tradition.

a. Irish
b. French
c. English
d. Italian
e. Greek

Answer 7

C. English

Question 8

Which of the following does NOT act as a constraint on federal judges?

a. U.S. Constitution
b. statutory law
c. precedent
d. political preferences of judges
e. All of the answers are correct except political preference of judges

Answer 8

D. Political preferences of judges

Question 9

Which of the following decisions suggests that the Supreme Court justices are attentive to public opinion?

a. voluntary school prayer in the public schools
b. desegregation of public schools with “all deliberate speed”
c. police informing suspected felons of their rights
d. ban on burning the flag
e. None of these answers is correct.

Answer 9

B. Desegregation of public schools with “all deliberate speed”

Question 10

The Supreme Court is most likely to grant certiorari when

a. the lower appellate court acted improperly.
b. a particularly vague legal issue is involved.
c. a high-ranking member of the Senate requests it.
d. the U.S. government through the solicitor general requests it.
e. the Court believes it has a chance to set strong precedent.

Answer 10

D. The U.S. government through the solicitor general requests it

Question 11

In deciding who will write the opinion for the majority in a Supreme Court ruling,

a. the senior justice in the majority picks the opinion author when the chief justice is not in the majority.
b. the most senior member of the majority is automatically chosen as the opinion writer.
c. an informal vote is taken among the justices to decide who the writer will be.
d. the decision is made by the most senior member of the dissenting minority.
e. top consideration is given to the justice who has had the least opportunity to write opinions.

Answer 11

A. The senior justice in the majority picks the opinion author when the chief justice is not in the majority

Question 12

Typically, the Supreme Court justices review less than ________ percent of the cases heard by the circuit court of appeals.

a. 1
b. 10
c. 20
d. 33
e. 50

Answer 12

A. 1

Question 13

Which of the following is an aspect of the merit plan method of appointing judges?

a. The public chooses the individual judge to serve from a short list of acceptable candidates provided by the governor.
b. The public chooses the individual judge to serve from a short list of acceptable candidates provided by a judicial selection commission.
c. The governor-selected judge must run in a public election against other independent candidates.
d. The governor appoints a judge from a short list of acceptable candidates provided by a judicial selection commission.
e. The governor selects the judge to serve from a short list of candidates approved by the voters.

Answer 13

D. The governor appoints a judge from a short list of acceptable candidates provided by a judicial selection commission

Question 14

Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah explained his opposition to the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court with which of the following justifications?

a. She could not be impartial because she had served as solicitor general.
b. She lacked sufficient judicial experience.
c. She lacked the appropriate judicial philosophy.
d. She possessed too close a personal relationship to the president.
e. She came from an academic background instead of a trial background.

Answer 14

C. She lacked the appropriate judicial philosophy

Question 15

Which of the following is true of courts of appeals?

a. They act as interpreters of law rather than as supervisors of the legal system.
b. They generally presume the facts found by the district courts to be correct.
c. They create their own case records to review instead of using the lower court’s records.
d. New evidence is often but does not have to be introduced in an appeals case.
e. Most courts of appeals rely on juries.

Answer 15

B. They generally presume the facts found by the district courts to be correct

Question 16

Which of the following justices was NOT a Republican appointee?

a. William Rehnquist
b. Sandra Day O’Connor
c. Antonin Scalia
d. Anthony Kennedy
e. Stephen Breyer

Answer 16

E. Stephen Breyer

Question 17

What is an amicus curiae brief?

a. “on behalf of the court” brief
b. “friend of the court” brief
c. “educate the court” brief
d. “to help the court” brief
e. None of these answers is correct.

Answer 17

B. “friend of the court” brief

Question 18

The Supreme Court established the power of judicial review in

a. Article III of the Constitution.
b. the Judiciary Act of 1789.
c. Federalist No.78.
d. Marbury v. Madison (1803).
e. McCulloch v. Maryland (1819).

Answer 18

D. Marbury v. Madison (1803)

Question 19

Most federal cases are resolved by

a. mediators.
b. district court judges.
c. circuit court judges.
d. Supreme Court justices.
e. None of these answers is correct.

Answer 19

B. District court judges

Question 20

The sovereignty of each state is protected by

a. federal law.
b. Article VI of the Constitution.
c. the First Amendment.
d. the Tenth Amendment.
e. heritage and cultural traditions.

Answer 20

D. The Tenth Amendment

Question 21

The Supreme Court is given both original and appellate jurisdiction by the U.S. Constitution.

a. True
b. False

Answer 21

True

Question 22

A majority of the cases the Supreme Court hears come to it through its appellate jurisdiction.

a. True
b. False

Answer 22

True

Question 23

In contrast to Supreme Court judges, federal judges can be appointed by the president without Senate approval.

a. True
b. False

Answer 23

False

Question 24

Partisanship is no longer an important factor in the nomination of lower-court judges by the president.

a. True
b. False

Answer 24

False

Question 25

No federal agencies outside of the Justice Department have judicial powers.

a. True
b. False

Answer 25

False

Question 26

The Supreme Court is responsive to public opinion, although much less so than Congress or the president.

a. True
b. False

Answer 26

True

Question 27

Advocates of judicial restraint contend that judicial policymaking undermines the fundamental principle of self-government.

a. True
b. False

Answer 27

True

Question 28

Advocates of judicial activism maintain that the courts should work closely within the confines of legislation and precedent, seeking to discover their application to specific cases rather than searching for new principles.

a. True
b. False

Answer 28

False

Question 29

The facts of a case are important in determining which laws are applied to the case.

a. True
b. False

Answer 29

True

Question 30

The chief justice of the Supreme Court must be a member of the majority decision of the Court in order for it to be valid.

a. True
b. False

Answer 30

False

Question 31

The Bill of Rights was enacted in ________.

a. 1776
b. 1781
c. 1787
d. 1789
e. 1791

Answer 31

E. 1791

Question 32

Which test did the Supreme Court justices devise for free speech in Schenck v. United States (1919)?

a. undue burden test
b. clear and present danger test
c. imminent lawless action test
d. free liberty test
e. None of these answers is correct.

Answer 32

B. Clear and present danger test

Question 33

In 1925, the Supreme Court justices first ruled that the Fourteenth Amendment applied to the states in

a. Gitlow v. New York.
b. New York Times Co. v. United States.
c. Texas v. Johnson.
d. Roth v. United States.
e. New York Times Co. v. Sullivan.

Answer 33

A. Gitlow vs. New York

Question 34

Which amendment guarantees freedom of assembly?

a. Fifth
b. Second
c. Eighth
d. First
e. Third

Answer 34

D. First

Question 35

In ________, the Supreme Court justices required the states to furnish attorneys for poor defendants in all felony cases.

a. Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
b. Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
c. Benton v. Maryland (1969)
d. Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
e. Duncan v. Louisiana (1968)

Answer 35

D. Gideon vs. Wainwright (1963)

Question 36

In 2007, the Supreme Court reversed an earlier ruling by determining that bans on partial-birth abortion were constitutional. One cause of this shift was the replacement of Justice Sandra Day O’Connor with

a. William Rehnquist.
b. Felix Frankfurter.
c. Anthony Kennedy.
d. Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
e. Samuel Alito.

Answer 36

E. Samuel Alito

Question 37

Of the following nations, which has the largest rate of incarceration?

a. Japan
b. Great Britain
c. United States
d. Russia
e. China

Answer 37

C. United States

Question 38

Which Supreme Court case dealt with the publication of the “Pentagon Papers”?

a. Schenck v. U.S.
b. Fiske v. Kansas
c. New York Times Co. v. United States
d. Gitlow v. New York
e. Gideon v. Wainwright

Answer 38

C. New York Times Co vs. United States

Question 39

What happened in Engel v. Vitale (1962)?

a. The Supreme Court justices upheld the constitutionality of vouchers.
b. The Supreme Court justices upheld the detention of enemy combatants by the government.
c. The Supreme Court justices ruled unconstitutional the reciting of prayers in the public schools.
d. The Supreme Court justices ruled unconstitutional the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools.
e. None of these answers is correct

Answer 39

C. The Supreme Court justices ruled unconstitutional the reciting of prayers in the public schools

Question 40

The Supreme Court decision in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989)

a. upheld a law that prohibited abortions from being performed in a state’s publicly funded medical facilities.
b. overturned the Roe v. Wade decision for partial-birth abortions.
c. upheld a law providing for a fine and prison term for physicians who perform an abortion during the birth process even if the mother’s life or health is endangered.
d. invalidated the use of federal or state funds for private abortion clinics.
e. extended the application of Roe v. Wade to provide protection for doctors who work at abortion clinics.

Answer 40

A. Upheld a law that prohibited abortions from being performed in a state’s publicly funded medical facilities

Question 41

________ has executed more prisoners in the past 25 years than any other state.

a. New York
b. California
c. North Dakota
d. Texas
e. Tennessee

Answer 41

D. Texas

Question 42

The ________ Amendment prohibits “cruel and unusual punishment.”

a. Second
b. Third
c. Seventh
d. Eighth
e. Twelfth

Answer 42

D. Eighth

Question 43

Which 1973 Supreme Court case stated that obscenity must be defined by “contemporary community standards”?

a. Roth v. United States
b. Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition
c. Engel v. Vitale
d. Van Orden v. Perry
e. Miller v. California

Answer 43

E. MIller vs. California

Question 44

Which of the following is a real-world example of an action that the Supreme Court decided was a protected form of symbolic speech?

a. the burning of a draft registration card by a Vietnam War protester
b. blocking the entrance of an abortion clinic
c. a newspaper publication of the “Pentagon Papers”
d. the burning of the American flag in public
e. the advocation of the overthrow of the U.S. government in a peaceful public assembly

Answer 44

D. The burning of the American flag in public

Question 45

What was the constitutional justification of selective incorporation by the Supreme Court?

a. Fourteenth Amendment equal protection clause
b. Fourteenth Amendment due process clause
c. Fifth Amendment due process clause
d. First Amendment freedom of expression
e. First Amendment freedom of assembly

Answer 45

B. Fourteenth Amendment due process clause

Question 46

England’s Glorious Revolution in 1689 focused primarily on the issue of

a. Parliamentary intrusions into personal privacy.
b. freedom of the press.
c. judicial activism.
d. religion.
e. unlawful arrests.

Answer 46

D. Religion

Question 47

“You have the right to remain silent….Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law….You have the right to an attorney.” This is called the ________ warning.

a. Miranda
b. Escobedo
c. Gideon
d. Mapp
e. Dickerson

Answer 47

A. Miranda

Question 48

________ is a written attack on a person’s reputation.

a. Libel
b. Slander
c. Obscenity
d. Libel, slander, and obscenity are all terms for written attacks on a person’s reputation.
e. None of these answers is correct.

Answer 48

A. Libel

Question 49

Which of the following is true of the USA Patriot Act of 2001?

a. Government was granted more leeway in its wiretapping activities.
b. Authorities were granted more discretion and a lower burden of proof when seeking to wiretap a suspected terrorist.
c. Government was granted enhanced investigative powers.
d. It has led to a reduction of America’s constitutional protections.
e. All these answers are correct.

Answer 49

E. All these answers are correct

Question 50

The plain view doctrine

a. prevents police officers from entering a home to search for a suspect if that suspect is not in plain sight.
b. prevents admissibility of evidence found in plain view if that evidence does not relate to the same infraction.
c. allows admissibility of evidence found in open sight, even if it relates to a different infraction.
d. requires police to have a warrant to enter a home for a search and seizure.
e. allows evidence obtained through improper procedures to be admissible if the police were acting in good faith.

Answer 50

C. Allows admissibility of evidence found in open sight, even if it relates to a different infraction

Question 51

Although the Constitution says that Congress shall pass “no law” restricting freedom of speech, the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Constitution has specified instances in which congressional limitation of speech is lawful.

a. True
b. False

Answer 51

True

Question 52

Prior restraint refers to the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable search and seizure by law enforcement officials.

a. True
b. False

Answer 52

False

Question 53

The clear-and-present-danger test was developed by the Supreme Court in response to the Sedition Act of 1798.

a. True
b. False

Answer 53

False

Question 54

Selective incorporation is the process by which the Fourteenth Amendment has been interpreted to protect liberties listed in the Bill of Rights from infringement by the states.

a. True
b. False

Answer 54

True

Question 55

When the two conflict, the First Amendment’s free exercise clause takes precedence over the establishment clause.

a. True
b. False

Answer 55

False

Question 56

The exclusionary rule holds that evidence obtained through unlawful search and seizure is inadmissible in court.

a. True
b. False

Answer 56

True

Question 57

The Supreme Court has tended to be more protective of and sensitive to civil liberties than have elected officials or popular majorities.

a. True
b. False

Answer 57

True

Question 58

The Supreme Court ruling in the Roe v. Wade abortion case derived from an earlier ruling upholding the right of privacy.

a. True
b. False

Answer 58

True

Question 59

Since the 1980s, Supreme Court decisions have tended to weaken the protections of the exclusionary rule for defendants.

a. True
b. False

Answer 59

True

Question 60

The Court has ruled that a jury’s impartiality can be compromised if the prosecution stacks a jury by race or ethnicity.

a. True
b. False

Answer 60

True

Question 61

________ was the first woman to run on the national ticket of a major political party.

a. Sandra Day O’Connor
b. Geraldine Ferraro
c. Dianne Feinstein
d. Barbara Boxer
e. Hillary Rodham Clinton

Answer 61

B. Geraldine Ferraro

Question 62

One area in which African Americans have made substantial progress since the 1960s is

a. elective office.
b. in representation in the penal system.
c. in treatment by the judicial system.
d. in representation in the penal and judicial systems.
e. None of these answers is correct

Answer 62

A. Elective office

Question 63

Women gained the right to vote in national elections in ________.

a. 1848
b. 1870
c. 1903
d. 1920
e. 1945

Answer 63

D. 1920

Question 64

Which region of the world has the highest percentage of national legislative seats held by women?

a. North America
b. Latin America
c. East Asia
d. Scandinavia
e. East Africa

Answer 64

D. Scandinavia

Question 65

The “Southern Manifesto” was

a. a pledge by southern black activists to bring about full implementation of the Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.
b. a statement by black civil rights movement leaders that pledged nonviolent resistance as part of their protests against discrimination policies.
c. a pledge by southern state governors to use state militias as weapons against federal integration policies.
d. a coordination of southern lawmakers after the removal of federal troops in the wake of the Civil War to establish discriminatory legislation.
e. a call by southern congressmen to resist forced integration in the wake of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision

Answer 65

E. A call by southern congressmen to resist forces integration in the wake of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision

Question 66

The strict scrutiny test applies to

a. race.
b. ethnicity.
c. gender.
d. age.
e. race and ethnicity

Answer 66

E. Race and ethnicity

Question 67

Roughly ____ percent of black children live below the government-defined poverty line.

a. 10
b. 20
c. 40
d. 60
e. 80

Answer 67

C. 40

Question 68

In the case of United States v. Virginia (1996), the Supreme Court ruled that

a. strict racial quotas were a valid means of ensuring racial diversity on college campuses.
b. private colleges could refuse to admit prospective students on the basis of sexual orientation.
c. male-only admissions policies at state-supported military academies were unconstitutional.
d. because female instructors created an undue distraction at all-male universities, the schools in question could discriminate against women in their hiring practices.
e. colleges affiliated with a particular religion could not take the religious persuasion of job candidates into consideration during the hiring process.

Answer 68

C. Male-only admissions policies at state-supported military academies were unconstitutional

Question 69

What happened when federal troops withdrew from the South in 1877?

a. African Americans were treated the same as whites.
b. Laws were passed that reinstituted the practice of slavery, in practice if not in name.
c. In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court justices allowed separate and unequal treatment of African Americans.
d. Laws were enacted that segregated the races, and the Supreme Court, through the Plessy decision, tacitly allowed separate and unequal treatment of African Americans.
e. Racism was largely reduced as an open tool of government because of the need for blacks to contribute to the rebuilding of the southern economy.

Answer 69

D. Laws were enacted that segregated the races, and the Supreme Court, through the Plessy decision, tacitly allowed separate and unequal treatment of African Americans

Question 70

Congress made Native Americans official citizens of the United States in ________.

a. 1789
b. 1828
c. 1865
d. 1924
e. 1963

Answer 70

D. 1924

Question 71

In 2000, what did the Supreme Court justices rule with regard to the Boy Scouts?

a. The Boy Scouts organization could not ban gays from participating.
b. The Boy Scouts organization could ban gays from participating.
c. The Boy Scouts organization could not ban girls from participating.
d. The Boy Scouts organization could ban girls from participating.
e. None of these answers is correct.

Answer 71

B. The Boy Scouts organization could ban gays from participating

Question 72

In 2004, which state instituted same-sex marriage?

a. Vermont
b. Rhode Island
c. New York
d. California
e. None of these answers is correct.

Answer 72

E. None of these answers is correct

Question 73

The Supreme Court rejected the constitutionality of separate but equal facilities in

a. Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Board of Education.
b. Plessy v. Ferguson.
c. Milliken v. Bradley.
d. United States v. Virginia.
e. Brown v. Board of Education.

Answer 73

E. Brown v. Board of Education

Question 74

According to Gunnar Myrdal, what is “America’s curse”?

a. low voter turnout
b. greed
c. discrimination
d. alcoholism
e. pollution

Answer 74

C. Discrimination

Question 75

As a movement leader, Cesar Chavez helped bring about which of the following?

a. the decision by Congress to remove restrictions on the number of migrant workers allowed in the country
b. Texas’s decision to force employers to grant migrant workers better employment benefits
c. California’s decision to allow migrant workers to bargain collectively
d. the passage of a federal law preventing open discrimination, in employment or in public and private service, against Hispanic Americans
e. the passage of several state laws granting “guest worker” status to migrant workers

Answer 75

C. California’s decision to allow migrant workers to bargain collectively

Question 76

African American men were granted suffrage in ________.

a. 1845
b. 1870
c. 1896
d. 1920
e. 1945

Answer 76

B. 1870

Question 77

The use of busing as a remedy for segregated schools contributed to white flight to the suburbs, which was protected by

a. state policies that put busing programs in the hands of local school boards, which manipulated them to prevent black children from being bused into the suburbs.
b. state policies that placed suburban schools in categories exempt from federal control.
c. a Supreme Court decision that prohibited busing across school districts except where district boundaries had been deliberately drawn to keep the races apart.
d. the rapid incorporation of suburban schools as private entities that could avoid federal education policy influence.
e. a Supreme Court decision that disallowed busing programs in districts where a popular referendum, passable with a plurality of the vote, rejected the busing policy.

Answer 77

C. A Supreme Court decision that prohibited busing across school districts except where district boundaries had been deliberately drawn to keep the races apart.

Question 78

Which of the following is true about the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA)?

a. Congress approved the ERA in the 1970s.
b. The ERA fell three states short of the three-fourths majority it needed to be ratified.
c. Congress approved the ERA in the 1970s, but it fell three states short of the three-fourths majority it needed to be ratified.
d. The ERA was ratified by only half the states.
e. Congress rejected the ERA every time it came up for a vote.

Answer 78

C. Congress approved the ERA in the 1970s, but it fell three states short of the three-fourths majority it needed to be ratified

Question 79

All disabled children were guaranteed a free, appropriate education in ________.

a. 1789
b. 1854
c. 1891
d. 1938
e. 1975

Answer 79

E. 1975

Question 80

Which of the following statements is true?

a. During the early 1900s, Chinese and Japanese laborers were brought into the western states to work in mines and to build railroads.
b. In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge asked Congress for a relaxation of the ban on Chinese immigration.
c. Discrimination against Asians did not ease substantially until 1950.
d. In the 1800s, Chinese and Japanese laborers were brought into the western states; in 1930 Congress halted all immigration from Japan; discrimination against Asians did not ease substantially until 1965.
e. Immigration from Asia to the United States was higher in the early twentieth century than it was in the latter nineteenth century.

Answer 80

D. In the 1800s, Chinese and Japanese laborers were brought into the western states; in 1930 Congress halted all immigration from Japan; discrimination against Asians did not ease substantially until 1965

Question 81

The reasonable-basis test applies to all laws except those that prescribe differential treatment on the basis of suspect classifications.

a. True
b. False

Answer 81

False

Question 82

Passage of the Fourteenth Amendment did not immediately affect the right of private employers to discriminate in their hiring practices.

a. True
b. False

Answer 82

True

Question 83

All forms of discrimination on the basis of gender are unconstitutional.

a. True
b. False

Answer 83

False

Question 84

Since passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, segregation of neighborhood housing has all but disappeared in the United States.

a. True
b. False

Answer 84

False

Question 85

In the Bakke case, the Supreme Court ruled that Bakke’s right to equal protection had not been violated.

a. True
b. False

Answer 85

False

Question 86

In terms of incomes, jobs, and similar economic indicators, the gap between African Americans and white Americans has diminished steadily since the 1960s.

a. True
b. False

Answer 86

False

Question 87

Affirmative action is intended to help achieve equality of result for African Americans, women, Hispanic Americans, and other disadvantaged groups.

a. True
b. False

Answer 87

True

Question 88

Hispanic Americans are becoming an increasingly smaller and less politically influential population group in the U.S.

a. True
b. False

Answer 88

False

Question 89

Civil rights refers to specific individual rights, and civil liberties deals with the issue of whether or not different groups are treated equally by the government (and sometimes private parties).

a. True
b. False

Answer 89

False

Question 90

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 allows election districts to be created for the purpose of giving control to a minority group.

a. True
b. False

Answer 90

False