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Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Court Cases
Which court case was not decided by the Warren Court?
Mapp v. Ohio, in which it was decided that illegally obtained evidence could not be used in court.
Roe v. Wade, which officially decriminalized abortion
Brown v. Board of Education, in which the precedent of "separate but equal," which was established by the "Plessy v. Ferguson," was determined unconstitutional
Gideon v. Wainwright, in which it was decided that the defendant in a felony trial must be given a lawyer free of charge if he of she could not afford one on his or her own
Baker v. Carr, which ordered that state legislative districts should be as close as possible in terms of population
Roe v. Wade, which officially decriminalized abortion
The Warren Court did establish the right to privacy through its 1965 decision in the case of Griswold v. Connecticut, but Warren had retired by 1973 when the court, led by Chief Justice Warren Burger, made the landmark Roe v. Wade decision.
Example Question #1 : Notable Court Cases
In which landmark case did the Supreme Court rule that Congress has implied powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause?
Miranda v. Arizona
Plessy v. Ferguson
McCulloch v. Maryland
Marbury v. Madison
Brown v. Board of Education
McCulloch v. Maryland
In 1816, Congress wanted to create a national bank in the United States. However, many states disagreed with this decision because creating a national bank led to economic depression. Thus, Maryland passed laws placing a tax on the bank, but a cashier with the bank (James McCulloch) refused to pay the tax. When this case reached the Supreme Court, the Court decided that although the Constitution did not explicitly allow Congress to create a national bank, it did allow Congress to "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the foregoing powers," a clause found in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution. This is known as the "necessary and proper" clause, allowing the federal government to create the bank.
Marbury v. Madison created judicial review. Miranda v. Arizona created Miranda rights. Both Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education involved the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Example Question #2 : Court Cases
The Supreme Court Case of Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) held that there was a Constitutional right for
defendants to appeal to federal courts in state cases.
defendants to have adequate legal counsel provided by the states.
defendants to have their specific rights read upon arrest.
defendants to be allowed to face any accusing witness.
defendants to be able to profit from their crimes.
defendants to have adequate legal counsel provided by the states.
Clarence Gideon was charged by the State of Florida with grand larceny, but was specifically denied an attorney by the court. Gideon appealed to the Supreme Court on his own from prison with a pencil and prison stationary, and the Supreme Court appointed him an attorney so that his case could be heard. The Supreme Court held that under the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause, all states must provide counsel to those who could not afford it in all such criminal cases.
Example Question #3 : Court Cases
The Supreme Court case, District of Columbia v. Heller, relates to which constitutional amendment?
The Fourteenth Amendment
The Fifth Amendment
The First Amendment
The Nineteenth Amendment
The Second Amendment
The Second Amendment
District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) relates to the Second Amendment’s protection of an American citizen's’ right to carry a firearm. The Court ruled that the Second Amendment allows an American citizen to carry a firearm in a Federal enclave, or in his or her own private property.
Example Question #4 : Court Cases
Which Supreme Court Chief Justice presided over the landmark Dred Scott v. Sandford case?
Roger Taney
John Marshall
Salmon Chase
Earl Warren
John Jay
Roger Taney
The Supreme Court case, Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857), was an extremely important case in the build-up to the Civil War. It was presided over by Chief Justice Roger Taney, who delivered the verdict that not only could Scott not sue in a Federal court, due to his being black and thus not being a citizen, but also that the government had no right to regulate the extension of slavery into the territories. Not surprisingly, the verdict inspired widespread outrage among abolitionist parties in the North and furthered the divide between the North and the South.
Example Question #1 : Notable Court Cases
Which twentieth-century Supreme Court case centered around the rights to individual and marital privacy?
Roe v. Wade
Miranda v. Arizona
Lemon v. Kurtzman
Buckley v. Valeo
Griswold v. Connecticut
Griswold v. Connecticut
The Supreme Court case, Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), centered around a Connecticut law that prevented anyone from using any drug to prevent conception. The Supreme Court ruled against the state of Connecticut and decided that the government had no right to regulate contraception because it violated the rights to individual and marital privacy—a right not explicitly stated in the Constitution, but one the Court inferred from other protections established in the Constitution.
Example Question #1 : Notable Court Cases
Which Supreme Court case held that the States are bound by the decisions of the Supreme Court and cannot nullify the decisions of the Federal courts even if they disagree with them?
Cooper v. Aaron
Roe v. Wade
Texas v. Johnson
Mapp v. Ohio
Terry v. Ohio
Cooper v. Aaron
The Supreme Court case of Cooper v. Ohio (1958) revolved around the issue of segregation in the South, particularly the attempts by some Southern authorities to continue segregation even after the landmark ruling of Brown v. Board of Education. In Cooper v. Aaron, the Supreme Court ruled that the States were bound by the decisions of the Supreme Court and could not nullify the decisions of the Federal courts.
Example Question #1 : Court Cases
The Supreme Court cases Barron v. Baltimore and Gitlow vs. New York both relate to __________.
female contraception and birth control rights
the extension of voting rights to additional members of the population
the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s
mandatory federal funding being set aside for encouraging higher education in the individual states
the application of the Bill of Rights to State governments
the application of the Bill of Rights to State governments
The Supreme Court case Barron v. Baltimore (1833) stated that the Bill of Rights does not specifically apply to the State governments and that the Court can find no constitutional reason to make it so. However, the Supreme Court case Gitlow v. New York (1925) held that the First Amendment applies equally to the State and Federal governments.
Example Question #5 : Court Cases
Which of these Supreme Court cases most clearly relates to the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution?
Mapp v. Ohio
Griswold v. Connecticut
Grutter v. Bollinger
District of Columbia v. Heller
New York Times v. Sullivan
District of Columbia v. Heller
The Second Amendment protects the right of Americans to carry guns, so you have to determine which of these cases is related to gun rights. The Supreme Court case, District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), reaffirmed that an individual has the right to carry a weapon for self defense in their home, stating also that an individual has the right to carry a weapon in a federal enclave so long as it is within the law for them to do so.
Example Question #1 : Court Cases
Which of these Courts is most famous for its liberal decisions?
The Rehnquist Court
The Taney Court
The Warren Court
The Burger Court
The Marshall Court
The Warren Court
All of these Courts are named after the Supreme Court Justice who was in charge at the time (as is the custom). The Warren Court, under Chief Justice Earl Warren (1953–1969) is generally considered to be the most famous for its liberal decisions. It was the Court during the Civil Rights Era and was active in the promotion of civil liberties and the extension of civil rights.
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