Test Questions & Answers Making Law Chapter.3

CHAPTER 3

MAKING LAW

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

1. What was the first entirely secular written legal code?

a. The Twelve Tables

b. Magna Carta

c. Code of Hammurabi

d. Stare Decisis

2. ____________ got its name because it was in force throughout the country of England.

a. the Code of Hammurabi

b. the Norman Conquest

c. feudalism

d. common law

3. The common law was:

a. the law of the House of Commons in England

b. judge-made law

c. statutory law

d. biblical law

4. Under the common law system developed in England, every final decision by a court creates:

a. an obiter dicta

b. common law

c. a precedent

d. a rule

5. ____________ is binding only on those courts within the jurisdiction of the court issuing the opinion.

a. common law

b. obiter dicta

c. ratio decidendi

d. precedent

6. Under the principle of ____________, if there is a prior decision on a legal issue that applies to a current case, the court will be guided by that prior decision and apply the same legal principles in the current case.

a. common law

b. stare decisis

c. obiter dicta

d. ratio decidendi

7. What is the principle behind establishing the value of prior decisions, or precedent?

a. ratio decidendi

b. principality

c. stare decisis

d. obiter dicta

8. What means “the reason for the decision”?

a. obiter dicta

b. ratio decidendi

c. stare decisis

d. precedent

9. Additional supporting statements in a court opinion are called:

a. ratio decidendi

b. common law

c. obiter dicta

d. precedent

10. What term is Latin for "things said by the way"?

a. ratio decidendi

b. obiter dicta

c. precedent

d. common law

11. Which of the following is true regarding a court reversing their own prior decisions?

a. they do so on a regular basis

b. they are reluctant to do so, as this is akin to a tacit admission of error

c. they cannot reverse their own prior decisions

d. none of the above

12. Primary sources of law include:

a. judge-made law and common law

b. common law and legislative law

c. judicial law and common law

d. statutes and bills

13. Statutes are collected into:

a. precedent

b. common law

c. codes

d. ethics

14. ____________ are frequently written broadly, leaving administrative agencies with the task of filling in the blanks.

a. case laws

b. statutes

c. rules

d. procedures

15. Sources of individual rights include which of the following?

a. court rules

b. federal and state constitutions

c. legislation

d. all of the above

16. The document adopted by the colonists in 1781 in their first attempt to form a unified national government was called the:

a. Articles of Confederation

b. U.S. Constitution

c. Bill of Rights

d. Assize of Clarendon

17. The three individual rights contained in the Constitution are concerned with:

a. freedom of speech, religion, and assembly

b. treason, habeas corpus, and religion

c. freedom of the press, speech, and assembly

d. habeas corpus, bills of attainder, and ex post facto laws

18. The first eight amendments in the Bill of Rights set out how many individual rights?

a. 8

b. 14

c. 23

d. 27

19. With respect to religion, the first guarantee in the First Amendment is often referred to as the:

a. equal protection clause

b. religious freedom clause

c. equality clause

d. establishment clause

20. According to the case of Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), which of the following is one of the ways any statute affecting religion is valid?

a. the statute must have a religious purpose

b. the primary purpose of the statute must either be pro- or anti-religion

c. the statute must have a secular (non-religious) purpose

d. the statute must foster excessive government entanglement with religion

21. Freedom of speech includes which of the following?

a. so-called hate speech

b. things that may anger others

c. speech directed at minority groups

d. all of the above

22. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the freedom of speech includes:

a. verbal statements

b. written statements

c. some physical acts

d. all of the above

23. Speech likely to provoke a violent response is referred to as:

a. violent words

b. roughian words

c. gang words

d. fighting words

24. Speech contained in advertising, song lyrics, books, magazines, and so forth is known as:

a. political speech

b. commercial speech

c. personal speech

d. violent speech

25. In which case did the U.S. Supreme Court hold that the Second Amendment protects the rights of individual gun owners and is not just a right of states or the people to create and arm militias?

a. District of Columbia v. Heller

b. Hurtado v. California

c. Griffin v. California

d. Malloy v. Hogan

26. The Fourth Amendment forbids which types of searches and seizures?

a. unreasonable

b. illegal

c. unconstitutional

d. those without a warrant

27. Warrants are required to describe the subject of their search with:

a. disclosure

b. particularity

c. limitations

d. great detail

28. What degree of proof is defined by the text as meaning a fair probability that a crime has occurred?

a. mere suspicion

b. preponderance of the evidence

c. probable cause

d. beyond a reasonable doubt

29. The Fifth Amendment includes which of the following?

a. the right to counsel

b. the right to a public trial

c. the privilege against self-incrimination

d. the right to bear arms

30. What is a document formally charging a defendant with a crime and is handed down by a grand jury?

a. indictment

b. information

c. charge paper

d. charge slip

31. Double jeopardy means that a jurisdiction may NOT:

a. punish someone again after their conviction has been overturned on appeal

b. prosecute someone again for the same crime after the person has been acquitted

c. try someone again if their first trial ends in a hung jury

d. try someone again if their first trial ends in a mistrial

32. What occurs when the trial jury is unable to reach a unanimous verdict in a case that requires unanimity?

a. hung jury

b. double jeopardy

c. acquittal

d. mistrial

33. Which privilege allows a defendant to refuse to speak to police about the crime charged and to refuse to testify at trial?

a. privilege against testimony

b. privilege against self-incrimination

c. privilege to counsel

d. privilege against speaking

34. In which case did the U.S. Supreme Court hold that the privilege against self-incrimination protects a person from compelled testimonial communications?

a. Barker v. Wingo

b. Hurtado v. California

c. Kelo v. City of New London

d. Malloy v. Hogan

35. Eminent domain is part of the:

a. due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

b. troop quartering clause of the Third Amendment

c. confrontation clause of the Sixth Amendment

d. taking clause of the Fifth Amendment

36. Which amendment contains rights associated with the criminal trial?

a. Second

b. Fourth

c. Sixth

d. Fourteenth

37. In which case did the U.S. Supreme Court hold that the right to a speedy trial means that the defendant must be brought to trial without "unnecessary delay"?

a. Barker v. Wingo

b. Malloy v. Hogan

c. Kelo v. City of New London

d. Hurtado v. California

38. The right to a trial by an impartial jury means the right to a jury:

a. selected from the community where the crime occurred

b. that is not predisposed to believe the defendant is guilty

c. that was part of the grand jury that indicted the defendant

d. both a and b

39. Which amendment provides for the right to a trial by jury in federal civil trials?

a. Fourth

b. Fifth

c. Sixth

d. Seventh

40. Which amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment?

a. Fourth

b. Fifth

c. Sixth

d. Eighth

41. In which case did the U.S. Supreme Court rule that a person considered to be a threat to public safety may be denied bail?

a. United States v. Salerno

b. Kirby v. Illinois

c. Strickland v. Washington

d. Stack v. Boyle

42. Which amendment states that the listing of some rights in the Constitution should not be construed as a listing of all the rights retained by individual citizens?

a. Eighth

b. Ninth

c. Tenth

d. Eleventh

43. Which amendment has been largely ignored by the U.S. Supreme Court and states that the rights not delegated to the federal government by the Constitution are reserved for the states or individual citizens?

a. Seventh

b. Ninth

c. Tenth

d. Eleventh

44. The Thirteenth Amendment prohibits:

a. incorporation of the Bill of Rights

b. industrial espionage

c. equal protection

d. slavery in the United States

45. Practices used after slavery was abolished that intended to keep Blacks at lower social and economic levels than whites were known as:

a. badges of outlaw

b. badges of racism

c. badges of servitude

d. badges of slavery

46. The Fourteenth Amendment forbids states from denying citizens:

a. due process of law or equal protection of the law

b. privileges and immunities of the law and equal rights

c. establishment of the law and equal protection of the law

d. all of the above

47. The equal protection clause has been interpreted to preclude states from:

a. making all discrimination illegal

b. racial, religious, and age discrimination

c. discrimination by private citizens

d. making unequal, arbitrary distinctions between people

48. Fundamental rights are those freedoms the U.S. Supreme Court has determined are:

a. included in the Bill of Rights

b. essential to the concept of ordered liberty

c. included in the original Constitution

d. necessary in a modern society

49. Under strict scrutiny review, any legislation enacted must:

a. be narrowly tailored

b. be based on reason

c. prohibit suspect classifications

d. none of the above

50. Gender and legitimacy are reviewed under which standard of review?

a. strict scrutiny

b. rational basis

c. intermediate scrutiny

d. rational scrutiny

51. If neither a fundamental right nor a suspect classification is implicated in a law, the U.S. Supreme Court will use which standard of review?

a. intermediate scrutiny

b. strict scrutiny

c. rational basis

d. suspect scrutiny

52. The Fourteenth Amendment was expressly intended to:

a. incorporate the Bill of Rights

b. control state action

c. end the Civil War

d. restrict the powers of the federal government

53. The term incorporation means that the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court:

a. adopted fundamental rights as common law

b. recognized the Bill of Rights and the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as being fundamental rights

c. interpreted the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as prohibiting states from abridging certain individual rights

d. only applied the rights contained in the Constitution, not the Bill of Rights, to the states

54. In which case did the U.S. Supreme Court suggest that some of the individual rights in the Bill of Rights might be protected from state action not because the Bill of Rights applied to the states but because these rights "are of such a nature that they are included in the conception of due process of law"?

a. Twining v. New Jersey

b. Scott v. Sandford

c. Marbury v. Madison

d. Barron v. Baltimore

55. Which type of incorporation believes that there is no necessary relationship between the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the Bill of Rights?

a. total incorporation plus

b. total incorporation

c. fundamental rights

d. selective incorporation

56. Which type of incorporation is the approach that seems to predominate in most U.S. Supreme Court cases?

a. fundamental rights

b. selective incorporation

c. total incorporation

d. total incorporation plus

57. Which position of incorporation maintains that the due process clause protects only "fundamental rights" and that not every right in the Bill of Rights is necessarily fundamental?

a. selective incorporation

b. incorporation plus

c. incorporation minus

d. total incorporation

58. What simply means the court has the power to examine a law and determine whether it is constitutional?

a. legal realism

b. judicial review

c. scrutiny review

d. legal scrutiny

59. Which is perhaps the most important case ever decided by the U.S. Supreme Court because it established the authority of the high court?

a. Marbury v. Madison

b. Twining v. New Jersey

c. Scott v. Sandford

d. Barron v. Baltimore

60. Which of the following was the U.S. Supreme Court’s very first constitutional decision?

a. Marbury v. Madison

b. Chisholm v. Georgia

c. Baron v. Baltimore

d. Scott v. Sandford

TRUE/FALSE QUESTIONS

1. The Western legal tradition may be traced to the Magna Carta, which was the first known written legal code.

a. True

b. False

2. The common law was biblical law.

a. True

b. False

3. Under the common law system developed in England, every final decision by a court creates a precedent.

a. True

b. False

4. Obiter dicta means “let the decision stand.”

a. True

b. False

5. Ratio decidendi means “the reason for the decision.”

a. True

b. False

6. Stare decisis involves a respect for and belief in the validity of precedent.

a. True

b. False

7. Legislative enactments or bills, are often referred to as precedent.

a. True

b. False

8. Administrative regulations are another form of legislation that under certain circumstances may have the force of law.

a. True

b. False

9. The Bill of Rights is the primary source of individual rights.

a. True

b. False

10. The U.S. Constitution is primarily concerned with establishing the duties of the various states.

a. True

b. False

11. The first eight amendments in the Bill of Rights set out 23 individual rights.

a. True

b. False

12. The First Amendment covers the right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

a. True

b. False

13. The freedom to worship under the First Amendment is absolute.

a. True

b. False

14. Physical acts, when intended to make a point, are referred to as commercial speech.

a. True

b. False

15. In the case of Miller v. California, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the government can regulate obscenity.

a. True

b. False

16. The Third Amendment provides citizens with the right to "keep and bear arms" and states that this right shall not be "infringed"

a. True

b. False

17. The Fourth Amendment is the provision of the Constitution that stands most directly between the individual citizen and the police.

a. True

b. False

18. The right to due process and just compensation is included in the Fifth Amendment.

a. True

b. False

19. An indictment is a document filed directly with the court by the prosecutor, thus bypassing the grand jury.

a. True

b. False

20. The privilege protecting a person from compelled testimonial communication applies to taking blood samples.

a. True

b. False

21. The Speedy Prosecution Act of 1974 set a specific time limit of one hundred days from arrest to trial.

a. True

b. False

22. In the case of United States v. Salerno, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a person considered to be a threat to public safety may be denied bail.

a. True

b. False

23. The Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments are known as the Civil War Amendments and were initially intended to prevent the southern states from limiting the rights of the recently freed slaves.

a. True

b. False

24. Classifications that are either without reason or based on race, gender, national origin, or religion are sometimes referred to as suspect classifications.

a. True

b. False

25. To date, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that only race and religion are suspect classifications in all circumstances.

a. True

b. False

26. If neither a fundamental right nor a suspect classification is implicated in a law, the U.S. Supreme Court will use the rational basis standard of review.

a. True

b. False

27. The fundamental rights school of thought in regards to incorporation holds that the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment makes the entire Bill of Rights applicable to the states.

a. True

b. False

28. U.S. Supreme Court Justice William Douglas was a principle advocate of the total incorporation plus approach in regards to the incorporation of the Bill of Rights.

a. True

b. False

29. Over time, selective incorporation has led to the incorporation of virtually everything in the Bill of Rights.

a. True

b. False

30. Judicial review simply means the court has the power to examine a law and determine whether it is constitutional.

a. True

b. False

ESSAY QUESTIONS

1. Compare and contrast the principles of stare decisis and precedent. Provide examples of the various choices a higher court can make (they can overrule a prior decision, reverse a decision, etc.) in relation to these concepts when a case comes before them.

2. Of the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights, which do you feel provides the most crucial right(s)? Explain your choice. In your answer, make sure to briefly describe the right(s) that are contained in the amendment you chose.

3. To date, only race and religion are consistently suspect classifications. Which, if any, other characteristic(s) do you feel should be added by the court to this category? Explain you choice(s). In your answer, make sure to define a suspect classification.

4. Define the four types of incorporation. Which do you feel should be the type used by the court? Explain your answer.

5. Discuss judicial review and the case of Marbury v. Madison (1803). Do you feel that the U.S. Supreme Court should have the ability to conduct judicial review? Why or why not?