Civil Liberties Review

Which of the following is true about the right of free speech, as currently interpreted by the Supreme Court?

• It protects the right to express opinions even without the actual use of words.
• It protects the use of language deemed obscene by the courts.
• It allows citizens to disobey laws that they believe to be unjust.
• It cannot be limited in any manner.

The establishment clause in the First Amendment does which of the following?

• Guarantees freedom of speech to all citizens
• Prevents prior restraint of the press
• Prohibits the setting up of a state church.
• Defines the concept of dual citizenship.

Which of the following is one of the central concerns of the First Amendment?

• The supremacy of the national over the state governments
• The right of citizens to bear arms
• The division of powers among the three branches of government
• The right of citizens to petition the government for redress of grievances

The “wall of separation” doctrine refers to the 

• division between levels of government.
• unique powers possessed by each branch of government.
• division of church and state.
• barrier between legislative chambers

Which of the following best defines civil liberties?

• The freedom to refuse to obey laws an individual considers to be immoral violations of civil rights.
• Provisions in the Bill of Rights that provide guarantees against arbitrary interference by government.
• Precedents pertaining to criminal procedure that are set by the Supreme Court that are upheld in the lower courts.
• Those features of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution that pertain to the actions of individuals and groups. 

According to the clear and present danger test, speech may be restricted

• when it incites violent action.
• when it lacks a political purpose.
• whenever the United States is at war.
• if the writer or speaker is not a citizen of the United States.  

The free-exercise clause protects

• the president from forcibly revealing private conversations with staff.
• individuals who, for religious reasons, refuse to pay Social Security taxes.
• voluntary prayer by student groups before school.
• a person’s right to burn the American flag.

The Supreme Court has ruled which of the following concerning the death penalty?

• A state may not impose the death penalty on a noncitizen.
• Lethal injection is the only constitutionally acceptable method of execution.
• The death penalty is not necessarily cruel and unusual punishment.
• The death penalty violates the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.

Legislation forbidding flag burning was deemed unconstitutional because it violated the 

• First Amendment’s free exercise clause.
• necessary and proper clause.
• First Amendment’s protection of expression.
• First Amendment’s establishment clause. 

With respect to prayer in public schools, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that 

• state-sponsored prayer violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
• state-sponsored prayer is permitted by the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.
• since educational policy is controlled largely by state governments, the First Amendment does not affect school policy on prayer.
• in school districts in which local authorities can demonstrate that all students belong to a single religion, mandated prayer is permissible.