CAS Bar Constitutional Law 2

Question 1

A city ordinance bans all political signs in residential neighborhoods to reduce visual clutter. Under First Amendment doctrine, this law must survive:

Accepted Answer

Strict scrutiny

Answer

Content-based speech restrictions—targeting signs based on their political message—are presumptively unconstitutional and must survive strict scrutiny.

Question 2

Under the Lemon test, a government action violates the Establishment Clause if it:

Accepted Answer

Lacks a secular purpose, primarily advances religion, or creates excessive government entanglement with religion

Answer

Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) set a three-pronged test: secular purpose, neutral primary effect, and no excessive entanglement with religion.

Question 3

The state action doctrine holds that:

Accepted Answer

Constitutional rights protections bind only government actors, not purely private parties

Answer

Constitutional protections for individual rights generally constrain only government conduct, leaving purely private conduct unregulated by the Constitution.

Question 4

Under Employment Division v. Smith, a neutral, generally applicable law that incidentally burdens religious practice:

Accepted Answer

Need only satisfy rational basis review

Answer

Smith held that neutral, generally applicable laws pass constitutional muster under the Free Exercise Clause without requiring heightened justification.

Question 5

A prior restraint on speech is:

Accepted Answer

Presumptively unconstitutional and subject to the heaviest burden of justification

Answer

Prior restraints—government action that suppresses speech before it occurs—carry a heavy presumption of unconstitutionality.

(CAS Bar) California State Bar Exam Practice Test

(CAS Bar) California State Bar Exam Practice Test

CAS Bar Constitutional Law 2