FCLE Landmark Supreme Court Cases 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which landmark case held that the Bill of Rights applies to state governments through the Fourteenth Amendment?
- Palko v. Connecticut
- Barron v. Baltimore
- Gitlow v. New York (Correct answer)
- Duncan v. Louisiana
Correct answer: Gitlow v. New York
Gitlow v. New York (1925) was the first case to incorporate a Bill of Rights provision (free speech) against the states via the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.
Question 2: In Lawrence v. Texas (2003), the Supreme Court struck down sodomy laws by finding that they violated:
- The First Amendment right to free association
- The Fourteenth Amendment's liberty interest in private consensual conduct (Correct answer)
- The Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment
- The Equal Protection Clause's sex discrimination provisions
Correct answer: The Fourteenth Amendment's liberty interest in private consensual conduct
The Court overruled Bowers v. Hardwick and held that consensual intimate conduct between adults is protected by the liberty interest in the Due Process Clause.
Question 3: What did the Supreme Court establish in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)?
- Affirmative action programs are always unconstitutional
- Race-based quotas in university admissions are unconstitutional, but race may be a factor (Correct answer)
- Universities must admit students solely on academic merit
- Affirmative action applies only to federal government jobs
Correct answer: Race-based quotas in university admissions are unconstitutional, but race may be a factor
Justice Powell's controlling opinion struck down rigid racial quotas but permitted race to be considered as one factor among many in holistic admissions decisions.
Question 4: The Supreme Court addressed the rights of enemy combatants in Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004), ruling that:
- Enemy combatants have no constitutional rights
- Citizens held as enemy combatants must be given a meaningful opportunity to contest their detention (Correct answer)
- The President alone may determine enemy combatant status
- Military tribunals satisfy all due process requirements for citizens
Correct answer: Citizens held as enemy combatants must be given a meaningful opportunity to contest their detention
The Court held that a U.S. citizen designated an enemy combatant must receive notice of the factual basis for classification and a fair opportunity to rebut the government's assertions.
Question 5: In Shelby County v. Holder (2013), the Supreme Court invalidated a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 because:
- The Act exceeded congressional authority under the Commerce Clause
- The coverage formula used to determine which jurisdictions needed federal approval was outdated (Correct answer)
- Voting is a state matter immune from federal regulation
- Race-based protections in voting violate equal protection
Correct answer: The coverage formula used to determine which jurisdictions needed federal approval was outdated
The Court held that the formula in Section 4(b) determining which states must obtain federal 'preclearance' before changing voting laws was based on decades-old data and was unconstitutional.
Question 6: Which constitutional principle did Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) clarify?
- States may regulate interstate waterways within their borders
- Congress has broad authority to regulate interstate commerce (Correct answer)
- The President may veto state commercial legislation
- Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over maritime disputes
Correct answer: Congress has broad authority to regulate interstate commerce
Chief Justice Marshall ruled that the power to regulate interstate commerce belonged exclusively to Congress, striking down New York's attempt to grant a monopoly on steamboat navigation.
Question 7: The Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) held that the Second Amendment protects:
- Only a collective right tied to militia service
- An individual right to possess firearms unconnected to militia service (Correct answer)
- The right of states to arm their national guards
- Unlimited access to any type of firearm
Correct answer: An individual right to possess firearms unconnected to militia service
The Court ruled 5-4 that the Second Amendment protects an individual's right to keep firearms for self-defense, striking down D.C.'s handgun ban.
FCLE Landmark Supreme Court Cases 5
Which landmark case held that the Bill of Rights applies to state governments through the Fourteenth Amendment?