Deck 3: Making Law

Question 1

What was the first entirely secular written legal code?

A) The Twelve Tables
B) Magna Carta
C) Code of Hammurabi
D) Stare Decisis

Answer 1

A

Question 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

Answer 2

D

Question 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

Answer 3

B

Question 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

Question 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

Question 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

Question 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

Question 8

What means "the reason for the decision"?

A) obiter dicta
B) ratio decidendi
C) stare decisis
D) precedent

Question 9

Additional supporting statements in a court opinion are called:

A) ratio decidendi
B) common law
C) obiter dicta
D) precedent

Question 10

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

A) ratio decidendi
B) obiter dicta
C) precedent
D) common law

Question 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

Question 12

Statutes are collected into:

A) precedent
B) common law
C) codes
D) ethics

Question 13

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

A) case laws
B) statutes
C) rules
D) procedures

Question 14

Sources of individual rights include which of the following?

A) court rules
B) federal and state constitutions
C) legislation
D) all of the above

Question 15

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

Question 16

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

Question 17

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

A) 8
B) 14
C) 23
D) 27

Question 18

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

Question 19

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

Question 20

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

Question 21

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

Question 22

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

A) violent words
B) roughian words
C) gang words
D) fighting words

Question 23

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

Question 24

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

Question 25

The Fourth Amendment forbids which types of searches and seizures?

A) unreasonable
B) illegal
C) unconstitutional
D) those without a warrant

Question 26

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

A) disclosure
B) particularity
C) limitations
D) great detail

Question 27

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

Question 28

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

Question 29

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

Question 30

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

Question 31

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

Question 32

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

Question 33

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

Question 34

Which amendment contains rights associated with the criminal trial?

A) Second
B) Fourth
C) Sixth
D) Fourteenth

Question 35

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

Question 36

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

Question 37

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

Question 38

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

Question 39

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

Question 40

The Thirteenth Amendment prohibits:

A) incorporation of the Bill of Rights
B) industrial espionage
C) equal protection
D) slavery in the United States

Question 41

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

Question 42

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

Question 43

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

Question 44

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

Question 45

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

Question 46

Gender and legitimacy are reviewed under which standard of review?

A) strict scrutiny
B) rational basis
C) intermediate scrutiny
D) rational scrutiny

Question 47

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

Question 48

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

Question 49

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

Question 50

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

Question 51

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

Question 52

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

Question 53

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

Question 54

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

Question 55

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

Question 56

The common law was biblical law.

Question 57

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

Question 58

Obiter dicta means "let the decision stand."

Question 59

Ratio decidendi means "the reason for the decision."

Question 60

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

Question 61

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

Question 62

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

Question 63

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

Question 64

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

Question 65

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

Question 66

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

Question 67

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

Question 68

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

Question 69

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

Question 70

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

Question 71

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

Question 72

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

Question 73

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

Question 74

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

Question 75

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.

Question 76

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.

Question 77

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

Question 78

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.

Question 79

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.

Question 80

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.