Chapter 4 - Test 2

Question 1

What are civil liberties?

Answer 1

Individual rights protected by the Constitution against the powers of the government.

Question 2

What is habeas corpus?

Answer 2

a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person’s release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention

Question 3

What is bill of attainder?

Answer 3

A legislative act that inflicts punishment on particular persons or groups without granting them the right to a trial.

Question 4

What is ex post facto law?

Answer 4

A criminal law that punishes individuals for committing an act that was legal when the act was committed.

Question 5

What is the due process clause?

Answer 5

The constitutional guarantee, set out in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, that the government will not illegally or arbitrarily deprive a person of life, liberty, or property.

Question 6

What is an establishment clause?

Answer 6

The section of the First Amendment that prohibits Congress from passing laws “respecting an establishment of religion.”

Question 7

What is the free exercise clause?

Answer 7

The provision of the First Amendment stating that the government cannot pass laws “prohibiting the free exercise” of religion.

Question 8

What is school voucher?

Answer 8

An educational certificate, provided by a government, that allows a student to use public funds to pay for a private or a public school chosen by the student or his or her parents.

Question 9

What is imminent lawless action test?

Answer 9

The current Supreme Court doctrine for assessing the constitutionality of subversive speech. To be illegal, speech must be “directed to inciting … imminent lawless action.”

Question 10

What is commercial speech?

Answer 10

Advertising statements that describe products. Commercial speech receives less protection under the First Amendment than ordinary speech.

Question 11

What is libel?

Answer 11

A published report of a falsehood that tends to injure a person’s reputation or character.

Question 12

what is slander?

Answer 12

The public utterance (speaking) of a statement that holds a person up for contempt, ridicule, or hatred.

Question 13

What is obscenity?

Answer 13

Indecency or offensiveness in speech, expression, behavior, or appearance.

Question 14

What is double jeopardy?

Answer 14

The prosecution of a person twice for the same criminal offense. Prohibited by the Fifth Amendment in all but a few circumstances.

Question 15

What is the exclusionary rule?

Answer 15

A criminal procedural rule stating that illegally obtained evidence is not admissible in court.

Question 16

What is a Miranda Warning?

Answer 16

A series of statements informing criminal suspects, on their arrest, of their constitutional rights, such as the right to remain silent and the right to counsel. Required by the Supreme Court’s 1966 decision in Miranda v. Arizona.

Question 17

What is custodial interrogation (lecture)

Answer 17

questioning of a detained person by the police in connection with a criminal investigation

Question 18

A/An ____________ is an order requiring that an official bring a specified prisoner into court and explain to the judge why the prisoner is being held.

a.ex post facto law

b.writ of habeas corpus

c.bill of attainder

Answer 18

B

Question 19

The Supreme Court has used the incorporation principle to

a.extend First Amendment protections to corporations.

b.require state governments to observe protections listed in the national Bill of Rights.

c.guarantee all citizens the right to vote.

Answer 19

B

Question 20

The Supreme Court has ruled that public schools

a.cannot sponsor religious activities.

b.are allowed to determine for themselves the number of religious exercises they will sponsor.

c.are barred from teaching about religion.

Answer 20

A

Question 21

The Supreme Court’s ____________ doctrine states that certain freedoms are so essential that any law limiting these freedoms should be presumed to be unconstitutional unless the government can show that it is absolutely necessary.

a.prior-restraint

b.due-process

c.preferred position

Answer 21

C

Question 22

The Supreme Court, in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), held that a right to privacy is implied by other constitutional rights guaranteed in the

a.Magna Carta.

b.First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Amendments.

c.Declaration of Independence.

Answer 22

B

Question 23

The Fifth Amendment

a.includes a protection against self-incrimination.

b.guarantees a speedy trial and a trial by jury.

c.guarantees the right to counsel at various stages in some criminal proceedings.

Answer 23

A