FCLE Landmark Supreme Court Cases Questions and Answers 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: United States v. Nixon (1974) established the principle that:
- The President has absolute executive privilege
- Executive privilege exists but is not absolute and can be overridden by due process in criminal proceedings (Correct answer)
- Congress may remove a President by simple majority vote
- The Supreme Court cannot review presidential decisions
Correct answer: Executive privilege exists but is not absolute and can be overridden by due process in criminal proceedings
The Court unanimously ruled that Nixon had to surrender the Watergate tapes, confirming that executive privilege yields to the needs of criminal justice.
Question 2: Which Supreme Court case ruled that the death penalty for juveniles who committed crimes before age 18 is unconstitutional?
- Furman v. Georgia
- Gregg v. Georgia
- Roper v. Simmons (2005) (Correct answer)
- Atkins v. Virginia
Correct answer: Roper v. Simmons (2005)
Roper v. Simmons held that executing those who were under 18 at the time of their crime violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
Question 3: The Supreme Court case Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) ruled that:
- States must recognize civil unions
- Same-sex couples have a fundamental right to marry under the Fourteenth Amendment (Correct answer)
- The federal government must provide benefits to same-sex domestic partners
- State laws defining marriage are solely within state authority
Correct answer: Same-sex couples have a fundamental right to marry under the Fourteenth Amendment
The Court held 5-4 that the right to marry is a fundamental liberty under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, extending it to same-sex couples nationwide.
Question 4: In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008), the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment protects:
- Only the right of state militias to keep weapons
- An individual's right to possess firearms for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense at home (Correct answer)
- The right to carry firearms in all public places
- The right to own any type of weapon without restriction
Correct answer: An individual's right to possess firearms for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense at home
Heller was the first case to explicitly hold that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms independent of militia service.
Question 5: What did the Supreme Court decide in Mapp v. Ohio (1961)?
- Police must read Miranda warnings before all arrests
- Evidence obtained through illegal searches cannot be used in state courts (Correct answer)
- All suspects have the right to a preliminary hearing
- Wiretapping without a warrant is unconstitutional
Correct answer: Evidence obtained through illegal searches cannot be used in state courts
Mapp v. Ohio applied the exclusionary rule to state courts, preventing illegally obtained evidence from being used in criminal prosecutions.
Question 6: The Supreme Court case Reynolds v. United States (1879) established that the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause does NOT protect:
- Private religious worship
- Religious beliefs themselves
- Religious practices that violate general criminal laws (Correct answer)
- The right to proselytize in public
Correct answer: Religious practices that violate general criminal laws
The Court distinguished between religious beliefs (absolutely protected) and religious practices (subject to regulation), upholding a ban on polygamy despite a religious justification.
Question 7: In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), what activity did the Supreme Court protect?
- Students printing an underground school newspaper
- Students wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War (Correct answer)
- Students holding a political rally on school grounds
- Students refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance
Correct answer: Students wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War
The Court held that students do not 'shed their constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate' and that silent, passive political protest does not disrupt school operations.
FCLE Landmark Supreme Court Cases Questions and Answers 4
United States v.
Nixon (1974) established the principle that: