Constitutional law MBE practice test issues

Question 1

Congress can spend, not _______ to promote the general welfare.

Under the spending power, Congress may spend to promote the general welfare, provided there is a

Answer 1

Tax

rational basis to believe that the expenditure will have the effect of promoting the good of the people.

Question 2

abstention doctrine

Answer 2

The abstention doctrine permits the federal court to temporarily refuse jurisdiction over a federal constitutional issue if it is possible that the state court will dispose of the issues relying on unsettled state law.

Question 3

T or F An act of Congress regulating interstate commerce will be upheld if it can rationally be construed as a regulation of activities having a national economic effect, provided that it violates no other constitutional rights

Answer 3

True

Question 4

T or F an executive agreement or order cannot supersede an existing congressional enactment.

An executive agreement in conflict with federal law is ______.

Answer 4

True

invalid

Question 5

The tax is a valid exercise of Congress’s power to raise revenue for the general welfare. A federal tax is valid as long as it? (hint purpose)

A federal tax is invalid if it operates solely to

(purpose)

Answer 5

valid if it was either intended to raise revenue or actually results in revenue being raised.

punish or regulate the conduct of those subject to the tax

Question 6

Obscenity is not constitutionally protected speech and can be regulated. However, material must meet the following three parts of this test to be considered obscene:

Answer 6

(1) the material, taken as a whole, must appeal to the prurient interest, applying contemporary community standards;
(2) the material must depict in a patently offensive way the sexual conduct specifically defined by a state statute; and
(3) the material must lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value (using a national reasonable person standard).

Question 7

the Supreme Court has used a rational basis test when a state law is challenged under the Free Exercise Clause, provided the state law meets the following elements:

Answer 7

(1) neutral;
(2) of general application; and
(3) not intended to burden religious freedom.

Question 8

The Fifth Amendment provides that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. This prohibition applies to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court held that a property owner is categorically entitled to compensation for a “taking” when the owner has been deprived of all economically beneficial or productive use of the land.
To analyze regulations that merely decrease economic value, the court may use a balancing test to determine if there is a taking. The court must balance:

Answer 8

(1) the economic impact of the regulation on the claimant;
(2) the extent to which the regulation has interfered with distinct investment-backed expectations; and
(3) the character of the governmental action.

Question 9

imminent domain standard

Answer 9

The city must prove that its exercise of eminent domain is rationally related to a conceivable public purpose

Question 10

Strict scrutiny review is used to adjudicate restrictions on the right to vote. However, government regulations on ballot access by candidates require only rational basis scrutiny, as do requirements for:

Answer 10

(1) photo ID’s; and

(2) reasonable lengths of residency.

Question 11

voter registration requirements and regulation of the time, place, and manner of casting ballots are valid so long as they do not impose an “______ _______” on the right to vote.

Answer 11

undue burden

Question 12

An individual cannot be denied public employment based upon membership in a political organization because it violates ______ amendment rights

Answer 12

first amendment rights

Question 13

Economic and social legislation, including zoning ordinances, will be upheld if the ordinance is

Answer 13

reasonable, not arbitrary, and bears a rational relationship to a permissible state objective

Question 14

The Fifth Amendment provides that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. This prohibition applies to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. Property can be taken by various methods:

Answer 14

(1) eminent domain;
(2) inverse condemnation;
(3) or police power (whereby no compensation need be paid).

Question 15

T or F When a state validly regulates for health, safety, or welfare purposes under its police power, the government action is only a regulation and does not require compensation.

Answer 15

True

Question 16

A taking generally results where there is an actual appropriation, destruction, or permanent physical invasion of one’s property. In order not to constitute a taking, a land use regulation must

Answer 16

not deny the owner all reasonable economically viable use of his land and

substantially advance a legitimate state interest

To analyze regulations that merely decrease economic value, courts use a balancing test to determine if there is a taking.

Question 17

To analyze regulations that merely decrease economic value, the court may use a balancing test to determine if there is a taking. The court must balance:

Answer 17

(1) the economic impact of the regulation on the claimant;
(2) the extent to which the regulation has interfered with distinct investment-backed expectations; and
(3) the character of the governmental action.

Question 18

It is within a state or city’s police power to prohibit billboards carrying commercial advertising under a highway safety rationale, as long as

Answer 18

the city does not discriminate between different kinds of commercial messages on the basis of viewpoint

Question 19

T or F commercial billboards can be prohibited, so long as other free speech expressions are allowed.

Answer 19

True

Question 20

T or F Although the president has the power to remove most executive officers without cause, he must have cause to remove executive officers performing quasi-judicial functions. The commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service performs quasi-judicial functions.

Answer 20

True

Question 21

T or F persons who are not U.S. citizens cannot invoke the Privileges and Immunities Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

Answer 21

True

Question 22

T or F the transferred intent doctrine applies to intent crimes.

Answer 22

False, it does not apply