Chapter

4 QuizCivil Liberties and Public Policy

AP U.S. Government and Politics/Economics
Mr. Vasquez

20 Multiple Choice Questions
15 Minutes

Choose the BEST answer. Good luck!

1. All of the following are protected under the right of free speech EXCEPT
a. Picketing
b. Libel
c. Flag burning
d. Political demonstrations
e. Criticizing government officials

2. In which of the following cases did the Supreme Court rule that the death penalty is not a
form of cruel and unusual punishment?
a. Gregg v. Georgia
b. Gideon v. Wainwright
c. Barron v. Baltimore
d. Engel v. Vitale
e. Gitlow v. New York

3. All of the following concepts underlie the protection of civil liberties by the court system
EXCEPT
a. All Americans have the right to a fair trial.
b. A person is innocent until proven guilty.
c. Increasingly, state as well as federal courts must uphold the Bill of Rights.
d. Courts must rule in favor of a person who claims that his or her rights have been
violated.
e. The Constitution forbids the government from infringing on personal freedoms.

4. The right to assemble extends to groups in all of the following situations EXCEPT
a. A hate group such as the Ku Klux Klan holding a rally.
b. Right to life advocates attempting to prevent access to abortion clinics.
c. Students holding an antiwar demonstration on a university campus.
d. A religious group holding a public prayer meeting.
e. A labor union meeting starting a picket line.

5. Which of the following best describes a purpose of the Establishment Clause?
a. It gives Congress the power to protect civil rights and civil liberties.
b. It prohibits Congress from establishing a state religion.
c. It empowers Congress to create a national bank.
d. It prevents Congress from prohibiting the possession of guns on school grounds.
e. It grants Congress the power to establish post roads and post offices.

6. Legislation forbidding flag burning was deemed unconstitutional because it violated the

a.
b.
c.
d.
e.

First Amendments free exercise clause

necessary and proper clause
Fourteenth Amendments definition of citizenship
First Amendments establishment clause
First Amendments protection of expression

7. With respect to prayer in public schools, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that
a. state-sponsored prayer violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment
b. state-sponsored prayer is permitted by the free exercise clause of the First
Amendment
c. since educational policy is controlled largely by state governments, the First
Amendment does not affect school policy on prayer

d. the free exercise clause permits teachers to mandate silent prayer

e. in school districts in which local authorities can demonstrate that all students
belong to a single religion, mandated prayer is permissible

8. In Roe v. Wade, the majority of Supreme Court justices determined that

a. a constitutional right to privacy necessitated making contraceptives legal

b. abortions could be performed only during the first twelve weeks of a pregnancy

c. homosexuality is unconstitutional

d. the United States Constitution implies a right to privacy and thus made abortions
legal

e. a husband is allowed to veto his wifes decision to have an abortion

9. The United States Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was
based on which of the following?

a. The First Amendments right to freedom of expression

b. The Fourteenth Amendments due process clause

c. The Fourteenth Amendments guarantee of equal protection

d. The Fourth Amendments exclusionary rule

e. The Fifth Amendments power of eminent domain

10. If a colleges admission policy to reserve twenty seats in its incoming class for applicants
belonging to racial minority groups is challenged in the courts, a judge is likely to
a. uphold the policy because it provides additional opportunities for minority
applicants
b. strike down the policy because reserving seats amounts to a quota system
c. strike down the policy because the percentage of seats reserved is less than the
percentage of minority citizens in the general population
d. uphold the policy because only a small percentage of the total seats for incoming
students are affected
e. strike down the policy because it did not apply to women as well as racial
minorities

11. To which level of government did the Bill of Rights originally apply?

a. State governments only

b. Federal government only

c. State and federal governments only


d. Local and federal governments only

e. Local, state, and federal governments

12. Which of the following best defines civil liberties?
a. The freedom to refuse to obey laws an individual considers to be immoral
violations of civil rights.

b. Precedents pertaining to criminal procedure that are set by the Supreme Court
that are upheld in the lower courts.

c. Those features of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution
that pertain to the actions of individuals and groups.

d. Laws passed by Congress to define the powers and privileges of individuals.

e. Provisions in the Bill of Rights that provide guarantees against arbitrary
interference by government.

13. The United States Supreme Court has used which of the following to incorporate the Bill
of Rights

a. The necessary and proper clause

b. The Fourteenth Amendment

c. The Judiciary Act of 1789

d. The Civil Rights Act of 1964

e. The Voting Rights Act of 1965

14. In Gideon v. Wainwright, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the

a. Bible could be distributed at public schools under the free exercise clause of the
First Amendment

b. Exclusionary rule prevented the introduction of evidence seized in violation of the
Fourth Amendment from being introduced in court.

c. Eminent domain clause of the Fifth Amendment prevents government taking
religious property for public purposes.

d. Sixth Amendment right-to-counsel provision applies to those accused of major
crimes under state laws.

e. Eight Amendment cruel-and-unusual-punishment provision cannot be applied in a
discriminatory manner.

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

a. when it incites violent action

b. when it lacks a political purpose

c. whenever the United States is at war

d. if it is deemed offensive to religious organizations

e. if the writer or speaker is not a citizen of the United States

16. The Fifth Amendment protection against double jeopardy ensures that

a. a defendant may not be forced to incriminate himself or herself

b. a poor person accused of a crime will be provided with legal counsel

c. a person cannot be tried more than once for the same crime

d. no one will be required to post excessive bail

e. a defendant may compel witnesses to appear in his or her defense

 17. The Supreme Court decision in Miranda v. Arizona was based primarily in the

constitutional protection

a. of freedom of speech

b. against cruel and unusual punishment

c. of the right to counsel

d. against self-incrimination

e. of the right to privacy

18. In the case of ________, the Supreme Court ruled that the Bill of Rights restrained only the
national government, not states and cities.
a. Miranda v. Arizona
b. Barron v. Baltimore
c. New York Times v. the United States
d. Engel v. Vitale
e. Gitlow v. New York

19. In deciding to incorporate parts of the Bill of Rights into state laws since 1925, the
Supreme Court has relied on the due process clause of the
a. First Amendment.
b. Twenty- sixth Amendment.
c. Fourteenth Amendment.
d. Fifth Amendment.
e. Eighteenth Amendment.

20. The abridgment of citizens freedom to worship, or not to worship, as they please is
prohibited by the


a. due process clause.


b. establishment clause.


c. free exercise clause.


d. freedom of religion.


e. Second Amendment.