DE Bar Constitutional Law 2

Question 1

A state statute bans all outdoor advertising signs except those promoting on-site businesses. A nonprofit challenges the ban as applied to its political billboards. What level of scrutiny applies to the restriction on the nonprofit's political speech?

Accepted Answer

Strict scrutiny, because the regulation is content-based as to noncommercial speech

Answer

Exempting on-site commercial messages while banning political messages is content-based discrimination against noncommercial speech, triggering strict scrutiny.

Question 2

Congress passes a statute requiring state legislatures to enact regulations for disposing of radioactive waste or take title to the waste. The statute is best challenged under which doctrine?

Accepted Answer

The anti-commandeering doctrine of the Tenth Amendment

Answer

Under New York v. United States, Congress may not commandeer state legislatures by compelling them to enact or administer a federal regulatory program.

Question 3

A city denies a permit for a religious group to use a public park for worship services, though it grants permits to secular groups for similar gatherings. The strongest constitutional claim is:

Accepted Answer

Free Exercise Clause violation because the policy is not neutral and generally applicable

Answer

A policy that treats religious uses worse than comparable secular uses is not neutral or generally applicable and triggers strict scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause.

Question 4

A plaintiff sues a private shopping mall for excluding her leafleting activity, claiming a First Amendment violation. The suit will most likely fail because:

Accepted Answer

There is no state action by a privately owned mall

Answer

The First Amendment restrains only government conduct, and a private mall's exclusion of speakers is not state action under Hudgens v. NLRB.

Question 5

A state taxes out-of-state milk producers at a higher rate than in-state producers to protect local dairies. Absent congressional authorization, the tax is:

Accepted Answer

Invalid as facial discrimination against interstate commerce

Answer

A facially discriminatory tax that economically protects in-state interests is virtually per se invalid under the dormant Commerce Clause.

(DE Bar) Delaware Bar Exam Practice Test

(DE Bar) Delaware Bar Exam Practice Test

DE Bar Constitutional Law 2