Deck 2: The First Amendment

Question 1

Which of the following best describes how a "natural-law" system operates?

A)Natural rights are determined by the people.
B)Government determines the scope of natural law.
C)Government strives to protect inherent individual liberties.
D)Government intervenes only to settle legal disputes.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The framers of the Constitution were in substantial agreement as to the proper scope of freedom of expression.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Certain categories of expression have been deemed unprotected by the First Amendment.One of the unprotected categories is

A)false commercial advertising.
B)misleading political speech.
C)racial slurs.
D)pure opinion.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What was the most important case to formalize the doctrine against prior restraint?

A)Bantam Books v.Sullivan
B)Red Lion Broadcasting Co.v.FCC
C)United States v.O'Brien
D)Near v.Minnesota

Question 5

The First Amendment itself

A)is a single sentence in the Constitution.
B)doesn't actually mention freedom of speech.
C)is a lengthy paragraph filled with exceptions to free expression.

Question 6

Which of the following is true about the First Amendment?

A)Forms of expression that communicate ideas are protected.
B)Both expression and conduct are protected.
C)Conduct is not protected.
D)Both a and c

Question 7

Free speech rights generally include the right to both gather and disseminate information.

Question 8

_____ has been deemed to be within the guarantee of the First Amendment,though it is not protected as broadly as most other forms of expression.

A)Self-entertainment or recreation
B)Inciting unlawful behavior
C)Expressive conduct
D)Gathering information

Question 9

In Simon & Schuster v.Crime Victims Board,the Supreme Court invalidated a New York statute because the statute

A)prohibited any disclosure of crime victims' names.
B)imposed a financial burden on speakers based on the content of their speech.
C)banned detailed descriptions of actual felonies.
D)compelled a disclaimer and statement of apology on all books written by felons.

Question 10

Legislation that punishes protected speech as well as the targeted,unprotected expression is typically held unconstitutional under the

A)void-for-vagueness doctrine.
B)doctrine of incorporation.
C)doctrine of overbreadth.
D)symbolic speech doctrine.

Question 11

The First Amendment was for the first time applied to the states in the landmark 1925 case of

A)Marbury v.Madison.
B)Gitlow v.New York.
C)Texas v.Johnson.

Question 12

One of the first published arguments in favor of freedom of the press was made by the poet John Milton in his book titled

A)Give Me Liberty.
B)Areopagitica.
C)Commentaries on Free Press.
D)Free Speech and Self-Government.

Question 13

Prior restraints can arise through

A)licensing schemes.
B)tax laws.
C)informal coercion.
D)All of the above

Question 14

Which of the following is NOT a common justification for freedom of speech?

A)Freedom of speech helps deter abuse of power by government.
B)Freedom of speech is essential to the discovery of truth.
C)Freedom of speech helps assure individual responsibility.
D)Freedom of speech is an inherent,natural right of human beings.

Question 15

Which one of the following Supreme Court justices was known for being a particularly ardent First Amendment advocate?

A)Justice Rehnquist
B)Justice Harlan
C)Justice Brennan
D)Justice White

Question 16

In order for First Amendment protections to apply in a given instance,there must have been some "state action."

Question 17

In most cases,content restrictions on protected expression can be upheld only if

A)the expression is offensive to the average person.
B)the restriction is in the form of a statute.
C)the restriction furthers a compelling government interest.
D)the expression is political in nature.

Question 18

The ability of government to control speech within its own facilities or communication systems depends on

A)whether the facility is a public forum.
B)whether the average person would be offended by the speech.
C)the size of the audience.
D)Both b and c

Question 19

Promoting ill opinions of government in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was often known as

A)expressive conduct.
B)seditious libel.
C)criminal profanity.
D)None of the above

Question 20

Legitimate time,place,and manner restrictions

A)may also specify limitations on message content.
B)need not allow alternative channels for communication of the message.
C)must be content-neutral.
D)must leave plenty of room for administrative discretion.

Question 21

Suppose a state passed a statute prohibiting corporations from buying ads to support or oppose any referendum unless the ballot measure relates directly to the corporation's business.This law most likely would be

A)constitutional,because corporations don't have a First Amendment right to influence ballot measures.
B)constitutional,under the "shareholder rule" of Buckley v.Valeo.
C)unconstitutional,unless limited to nonprofit ideological corporations.
D)unconstitutional,under the precedent of First National Bank of Boston v.Bellotti.

Question 22

In Cohen v.California a man had been convicted for displaying a jacket with profane language in a courthouse corridor.Did the Supreme Court uphold the conviction?

A)Yes,because the message amounted to "fighting words."
B)Yes,because the language was obscene.
C)No,because evidence showed that no one was actually offended by the language.
D)No,because the state failed to demonstrate a compelling reason for the prosecution.

Question 23

In Hazelwood School District v.Kuhlmeier,the Supreme Court upheld the censorship of a high school newspaper.What was the basis for the Court's ruling? Have cases concerning college publications followed the same approach?

Question 24

Society's greatest concern about corporate political speech is the potential for corporations to

A)sponsor their own publications.
B)hire multiple lobbyists.
C)give large sums of money to candidates.
D)sponsor signature drives for ballot measures.

Question 25

What general legal principle can be derived from the Supreme Court case of Miami Herald Co.v.Tornillo?

Question 26

As the term is used in the law,a corporate independent political expenditure is

A)a direct payment to a candidate for office.
B)a gift to a candidate's campaign committee.
C)a corporate-controlled use of assets on behalf of a candidate.
D)Both a and b

Question 27

In Morse v.Frederick,the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case,the Supreme Court in 2007

A)revived the crime of "blasphemy."
B)backed broad free speech rights for students.
C)protected the feelings of a captive audience.
D)allowed significant discretion by school officials.

Question 28

According to philosopher and educator Alexander Meiklejohn,what is the main rationale behind free speech in America?

Question 29

In the case of Securities and Exchange Commission v.Texas Gulf Sulphur the corporation could be prosecuted despite the First Amendment because its news releases were

A)political speech.
B)vulgar speech.
C)financial-related expression.
D)incitements to violence.

Question 30

Generally speaking,which of these government actions is most likely to be upheld as constitutional?

A)A ban on advocacy of socialism.
B)A court order prohibiting circulation of racist leaflets.
C)A law prohibiting newsracks of any kind within five feet of city streets.
D)A requirement that news reports about foreign affairs first be screened by the Justice Department.