AP U.S Gov. Unit 3- Civil Rights and Liberties

Civil liberties are best described as

• protections of specific citizens' rights from encroachment by the government.

• protections against discrimination by the government and private citizens

• protections for various forms of expression that are vital to American political life

• protections specifically designed to protect minorities in the nation.

The Supreme Court overturned laws regulating birth control in Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) on the grounds that such laws violated the right to privacy. Why was this a controversial decision?

• The Court's decision clashed with the right of free exercise for those religiously opposed to birth control.

• The right to privacy is never mentioned by name in the Bill of Rights.

• The laws had been approved by an overwhelming majority of voters in Connecticut.

• The decision to overturn the law injected government rules into private business enterprises.

In Tinker v. Des Moines (1969), the Supreme Court upheld a student's right to wear an armband in protest. The wearing of the armband was protected as a form of which of the following?

• Prior restraint

• Symbolic speech

• Redress of grievances

• Peaceful public protest

Which of the following correctly describes the concept of prior restraint?

• The government attempting to prevent something from being published by the press

• The right of individuals to plan, coordinate, and execute peaceful methods of protest

• The punishment of individuals for making statements critical of the government

• The Supreme Court blocking government action on the grounds that it is unconstitutional

When the process of incorporation is referred to as "selective," it is in reference to the fact that

• the Court only incorporates a right in some cases but not all.

• incorporation has happened on an amendment-by-amendment basis.

• extension of rights may be withheld from some groups, such as students.

• decisions from those cases do not set precedent for future cases.

Which of the following would be considered a violation of the 5th amendment?

• Searching someone's cell phone records without a warrant

• Sentencing a man to death for having too many speeding tickets

• A law banning the possession of handguns for all citizens

• Failure to read someone their Miranda rights while being taken into custody

McDonald v. Chicago (2010) is the most recent case to use selective incorporation. What right did it incorporate?

• The right to privacy

• The right to bear arms

• The right to an attorney

• The right o avoid self-incrimination

Which of the following cases most likely involves a violation of civil rights?

• Classifying people into brackets on the basis of income and taxing them at different rates

• Classifying people in any way, using any system that treats one group of people differently from another

• Classifying people and treating them differently on the basis of race or gender

• Giving adults more rights, such as voting or drinking alcohol, than the rights possessed by minors

Dr. Martin Luther King's message in "Letter from Birmingham Jail" was heavily insistent upon which of the following?

• Using the Women's Rights movement as a model for African Americans

• Why grandfather clauses and poll taxes should be illegal

• The importance of due process

• Civil disobedience as a means to achieve a goal

The extension of marriage rights to same-sex couples was done under which of the following justifications?

• Those rights fall under the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.

• Denying those rights does not pass the intermediate scrutiny used for sex discrimination.

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was interpreted to outlaw such discrimination.

• A person's choice in spouse was a private matter, protected by the 4th amendment.