Deck 3: Sedition and Censorship

Question 1

A traditional public forum is public property that _________ .

A) is open for expression and assembly
B) includes streets, sidewalks, and parks
C) has strong First Amendment protection
D) all of the above

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Supreme Court decision establishing the right of political expression in public spaces like parks is ___ .

A) Texas v. Johnson (1989)
B) Hague v. CIO (1939)
C) Schenck v. U.S. (1919)
D) Abrams v. U.S. (1919)

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The Tinker test is based on a Supreme Court ruling that holds ______ .

A) students are allowed to wear clothing of their choosing at school
B) freedom of expression for students stops at the schoolhouse gate
C) students are allowed to attend school where they choose
D) Students are allowed freedom of expression on school grounds unless it poses a material, substantial disruption to education

Answer 3

D

Question 4

Limiting free expression in a public area to follow the purpose and use of that space is called the ___ .

A) Tinker test
B) fighting words doctrine
C) compatible use doctrine
D) public forum test

Question 5

The standard of strict scrutiny requires the appellate court to consider what factor(s) in the law?

A) serves a compelling government interest
B) narrowly tailored to achieve the goal
C) uses the least restrictive means to do so
D) all of the above

Question 6

Rules that apply equally in public forums, which do not restrict any particular viewpoints are ____ .

A) content-neutral restrictions
B) content-based restrictions
C) substantial restrictions
D) none of the above

Question 7

Rules prohibiting certain types of content or viewpoints from free expression are called ____ .

A) content-neutral restrictions
B) content-based restrictions
C) substantial restrictions
D) none of the above

Question 8

An intermediate scrutiny test is applied to validate laws by asking what questions below?

A) Is the law regulating expression content-neutral?
B) Does the law further some substantial or important government interest?
C) Is the law regulating expression narrowly tailored?
D) Does the law leave adequate alternative channels of communication?
E) all of the above

Question 9

A forum open to public speech and assembly only for specific defined purposes is called a ___ .

A) traditional public forum
B) open forum
C) non-public forum
D) limited public forum

Question 10

A public forum not open for free expression and assembly to all is called a ___ .

A) quintessential forum
B) non-public forum
C) limited public forum
D) prohibitive forum

Question 11

A restricted space created in public to confine the movements of protesters, political activists, or other speakers by limiting them to a particular place on public property is a ____ .

A) public forum
B) safety area
C) limited public forum
D) free speech zone

Question 12

The "fighting words" doctrine originated in what Supreme Court decision below?

A) Norwood v. Soldier of Fortune Magazine (1987)
B) Synder v. Phelps (2011)
C) Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire (1942)
D) United States v. O'Brien (1968)

Question 13

Speech which by its very utterance inflicts injury or tends to incite an immediate breach of the peace was defined by the Supreme Court as ____ .

A) fighting words
B) cyberbulling
C) vox populi
D) ad hominem attacks

Question 14

Under the First Amendment, governments can apply rules of expression at public forums using ____ .

A) time
B) place
C) manner
D) all of the above

Question 15

Which of the following areas would not qualify as a traditional public forum?

A) schools
B) jails
C) military bases
D) all of the above

Question 16

Legal limits on the speech of private employees at work can be directed at what elements below?

A) when they speak
B) where they speak
C) what they decide to say
D) all of the above

Question 17

The Hazelwood case recognized the difference between protecting school expression in terms of___ .

A) fighting words versus heckler's veto
B) free speech rights of public and private school students
C) student-generated speech and classroom instruction
D) free speech rights of public and private employees

Question 18

An example of a non-public forum is a

A) public amphitheater
B) city council chambers
C) school bulletin board
D) state hospital

Question 19

An example of a limited public forum is a

A) public park
B) sidewalk
C) school classroom
D) county jail

Question 20

The indecent term on Cohen's jacket in California protesting the draft was deemed constitutionally protected because ____ .

A) the law cannot ban particular words regardless of context
B) emotional expressions are worthy of First Amendment protection
C) both a and b
D) none of the above

Question 21

Which of the following is held not to be constitutionally protected free speech?

A) protesting the funeral of a soldiers
B) burning a United States flag
C) distributing religious flyers
D) sharing online classified military documents

Question 22

Ariel Attak has been an FBI agent for 30 years and is ready to retire. During her tenure with the agency, she met some fascinating characters and believes their stories would make an interesting book. Unfortunately for Ariel, she signed a non-disclosure agreement when the FBI hired her as an agent. She decides to publish their accounts anyway, carefully avoiding information posing any danger to national security or law enforcement. According to Supreme Court precedent, Ariel's book is protected by the First Amendment and is allowed to publish because she is not revealing secrets or classified documents.

Question 23

Selma Sole is running for student council president at Hipster High School. She's known as a "rebel," and in her campaign speech during a school assembly she tries some humor with sexually suggestive remarks. No indecent words were used, but there was a lot of sexual innuendo about students and faculty. Selma is suspended from school for three days for her speech. According to Supreme Court precedent, the school violated Selma's free expression rights.

Question 24

Tara Part is an eighth grader at Anita Reese's Middle School. Although she's only 13, Tara's already politically active as a member of the group, PLAY (Peace Love Answer Youth). In protest of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq, she wears a picture of an oil barrel on her shirt. Principal Miss Nomer tells Tara she may no longer wear such an emblem. According to the Supreme Court, Tara will be prohibited from wearing the symbol because students' free expression rights are not protected in school.

Question 25

Milton Butter was a multi-millionaire who held racist views. When he died a minority group, Brothers Against Multimillionaires (BAM) decided to protest at his funeral home and at his gravesite. They held up signs saying things like "There's a Special Place in Hell for MB!" and "Butter Was Really Bad for Us!" Milton was never an elected official nor did he serve in a public position, so BAM can be prevented from protesting at the funeral and gravesite since only political speech would be allowed at such a time.

Question 26

The History Department at Whotssamatta U. has a bulletin board outside its offices used to post announcements of interest to students. The department has allowed students to post their own announcements on the board on a space-available basis. History major Renée Sonce wants to post an announcement about an upcoming beer blast party. The History Department chair is a recovering alcoholic and denies Sonce permission to post the beer party notice, despite the fact that there is space on the bulletin board. The administrator's action is justified in this restriction because the university has the right to regulate what is placed on the department bulletin board.

Question 27

College sophomore Brandon Iron is the editor of the student newspaper at Whotssamatta U, Moose Tracks. WU is a state-funded university and Brandon is a 21-year-old senior. Recently Iron's been drawing a lot of heat from the administration because many of the paper's articles focus on sexual and/or violent topics. Because Iron is an adult, court precedent has made it clear that the school has no right of prior review or censorship over what is published in Moose Tracks.

Question 28

Sheila Tack works in Governor Ben Dover's office, but she doesn't really like him. In fact, Tack is pretty outspoken about how much she doesn't like him. She makes it a point to tell visitors to the office that she's worked for better governors, and that there will be an election in another year so maybe she'll get a new boss then. She even goes so far as to wear a button to work that says, "Vote out the Incumbents." As much as Governor Dover hates it, it would be a violation of Tack's First Amendment rights for him to make her stop or lose her job.

Question 29

Evan Gellist is a member of a religious group that wants to go door-to-door spreading its message to the town of Heathen Heights. Gellist goes throughout the town knocking on doors to witness. Some of the residents of this town become annoyed with this uninvited visitor ringing their doorbells, so they complain to the city officials. According to precedent, Heathen Heights can pass an ordinance preventing door-to-door canvassing of a community unless the individual first receives a permit from the city.

Question 30

Paul Bearer is a loudmouthed, annoying politician who insults just about everyone. He plans to visit the town of Nimisville and make a speech at noon in the town square that is sure to draw a huge crowd. The Nimisville Police Department is justified in worrying about the possibility of someone in the crowd becoming violent, so they assign a police detail to the square. The city is worried about the additional cost of the police protection. Whether Paul can afford it or not, Nimisville would be justified in charging Bearer for the cost of the police protection in order to deliver his vitriolic speech on public property.

Question 31

Cross burning is quite literally an inflammatory act that can be both intimidating and provocative. The town of Urbanitas wants to prevent such a hateful expression, so it passes a law prohibiting expression that arouses anger or resentment based on race, color, creed, religion or gender. According to Supreme Court precedent, such an ordinance would be a constitutional means of balancing between free expression rights and the civil rights of those who are bothered by it.