Deck 4: Constitutional Law and Us Commerce

Question 1

The United States has followed the example of other industrialized democracies in having a Supreme Court that has the exclusive power to interpret what the Constitution means.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

The commerce clause gives the Commerce Department the exclusive power to make laws relating to foreign trade and commerce and to commerce between the various states.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Based on the supremacy clause, the _____ holds that state and federal laws that conflict must yield to the superior law, which is federal law.

A) separation of powers
B) takings clause
C) doctrine of preemption
D) substantive due process
E) dormant commerce clause

Answer 3

C

Question 4

According to the 1973 Griswold v. Connecticut case, Roe v. Wade case, the Supreme Court did not act on the basis of clear and unequivocal direct language in the Constitution that protects individual privacy.

Question 5

The U.S. Supreme Court can void the president's executive orders if they are contrary to the Constitution's language and its prior interpretation.

Question 6

States cannot constitutionally pass laws that interfere with the accomplishment of the purposes of the federal laws, but if not pre-empted from acting legislatively in a given area or subject, states can pass standards that are more stringent than the federal laws.

Question 7

The right of a child to freely contract for long, tedious hours of work was upheld by the court in Hammer v. Dagenhart in 1918.

Question 8

In a defamation case, public figures must prove that the defendant not only had his facts wrong, but also lied to the public in a malicious way with reckless disregard of the truth.

Question 9

The Supreme Court has articulated the view that the U.S. Constitution sets the framework for all other U.S. laws, whether statutory or judicially created

Question 10

Article I of the Constitution deals with _____.

A) the executive branch
B) judicial powers
C) administrative agencies
D) legislative powers
E) federalism

Question 11

The power of small states is magnified by the Senate's _____, which traditionally requires 60 out of 100 senators to vote to bring a bill to the floor for an up-or-down vote.

A) Rule 100
B) quorum call
C) cloture rule
D) main motion
E) Rule 40

Question 12

The Supreme Court has reserved for itself the power to determine when state action is excessive, even when Congress has not used the commerce clause to regulate.

Question 13

Article III of the Constitution speaks to the powers and jurisdiction of administrative agencies.

Question 14

The Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case held that corporations are "persons" with "free speech rights" and can spend unlimited amounts of money in political advocacy.

Question 15

Which of the following is stated by Article I, Section 8, which sets forth the powers of the federal legislature?

A) The United States would have different duties, imposts and excises for each state.
B) The Congress cannot borrow money on the credit of the United States.
C) The president should be the commander in chief of the armed forces.
D) Individual rights must be preserved against activities of the federal government.
E) The Congress shall have power to regulate commerce with foreign nations.

Question 16

Cases like U.S. v. Lopez and U.S. v. Morrison continued the trend since World War II that Congress could use the commerce clause to legislate very broadly for the public good.

Question 17

Under the Constitution, politicians from a small number of states can block a treaty's ratification in the U.S. House of Representatives.
False. Moderate.
(Alternate version: The power of smaller states is reflected in the fact that Senators from a very small number of states can block treaties and other important legislation.)

Question 18

Under the Constitution, it is permissible for the federal government to ask any of its employees to take an oath that they will defend the Constitution from "all enemies, either foreign or domestic."

Question 19

A state's long-arm statute cannot confer personal jurisdiction that the state cannot constitutionally claim.

Question 20

Which of the following is true about the U.S. Constitution?

A) Article III makes it clear that the president should be the commander in chief of the armed forces.
B) Article II gives states rather than individuals a clear role in the election process.
C) Article I creates the federal judiciary.
D) Article II makes clear that individual rights must be preserved against activities of the federal government.
E) Article III balances influence in the federal legislature between large states and small states by creating a Senate in which the smaller states as well as the larger states have two votes.

Question 21

The court's ruling in Bush v. Gore was purportedly based on the _____.

A) equal protection clause
B) separation of the powers
C) substantive due process clause
D) preemption clause
E) procedural due process

Question 22

Which of the following is a part of the Fifth Amendment?

A) A law can be overturned only if it serves no rational government purpose.
B) In terms of substantive due process, the Amendment prevents the government from arbitrarily taking the life of a criminal defendant.
C) The guarantees of the Amendment are available to property owners where state, county, or municipal government uses the power of eminent domain to take public property for private purposes.
D) If a government agency conducts a drug test on its employees, the employees can object that it is an "unreasonable search and seizure."
E) The court has read the Fifth Amendment to prohibit only those government searches or seizures that are "unreasonable."

Question 23

In the NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation, Wickard v. Filburn, U.S. v. Lopez, and Katzenbach v. McClung cases, what was the common position held by the defendant?

A) The legislation was beyond Congress's powers
B) The prohibition of racial discrimination in public
C) Interstate commerce was illegal
D) Interference by the employer
E) The Civil Rights Act of 1964

Question 24

In Gonzalez v. Raich, which of the following must surely have been an argument made by the majority in the Supreme Court?

A) The commerce clause was contrary to state law.
B) California's medical marijuana market had no effect on the national market for marijuana. The ban was a part of the act to regulate the national marijuana market.
C) Federal power had been exceeded.
D) Medical marijuana did not substantially affect interstate commerce.
E) California's law was pre-empted by the federal Controlled Substances Act.

Question 25

What is meant by the commerce clause? List the first five parts of Article I, Section 8.

Question 26

Which of the following is true according to the substantive due process claims?

A) The government cannot arbitrarily take the life of a criminal defendant.
B) The government cannot take private property without just compensation.
C) Legislation on business affairs is not subject to judicial scrutiny.
D) A law will be unconstitutional unless it is narrowly tailored to serve a significant governmental purpose.
E) The law ensures that the government does not take private property without just compensation.

Question 27

Which of the following is true about fundamental liberties?

A) Only the right against involuntary quartering of soldiers and the right to be indicted by a grand jury have been applicable to the states.
B) The liberty interests are found by the Supreme Court in determining the scope of the Constitution's mention of the general right to privacy.
C) The word "liberty" cannot be viewed as a rational continuum protecting arbitrary impositions on humans.
D) The Supreme Court is said to have selectively incorporated the Bill of Rights as binding on states using due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
E) The word "liberty" can be defined by a definitive list of rights.

Question 28

When Congress uses its power under the commerce clause, it can expressly state that it wishes to have _____.

A) judicial review
B) a dormant commerce clause
C) exclusive regulatory authority
D) interstate commerce
E) absolute police power

Question 29

The court has created three classifications under the Fourteenth Amendment, and the outcome of any equal protection case can usually be predicted by knowing how the court is likely to classify the case. Which of the following is true?

A) A government action interfering with a fundamental right will receive strict scrutiny.
B) Under intermediate scrutiny, government actions are always upheld if there is a rational basis for them.
C) Under strict scrutiny, government classifications are typically upheld.
D) The minimal scrutiny test will be applied to classifications involving racial and ethnic criteria.
E) Under the rational basis test, classifications based on race are almost never upheld.

Question 30

What does the Fourteenth Amendment state? What are the classifications under the Fourteenth Amendment?

Question 31

The _____ clause of the Fifth Amendment ensures that the government does not take private property without just compensation.

A) due process
B) equal protection
C) Self-Incrimination
D) supremacy
E) takings

Question 32

Which of the following best illustrates the dormant commerce clause?

A) When Congress "falls asleep" and does not exercise its powers.
B) Anything that moves in channels of interstate commerce is "commerce."
C) A federal law that discriminates against certain commerce depending on which state is trying to export the good or service.
D) If a state law is an "undue burden" on interstate commerce, it will be struck down.
E) If one state discriminates in its treatment of any article of commerce based on its state of destination, the court will strike down the law.