Law School Constitutional Law 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which Supreme Court case established the principle of judicial review, allowing courts to invalidate laws that conflict with the Constitution?
- McCulloch v. Maryland
- Marbury v. Madison (Correct answer)
- Gibbons v. Ogden
- Fletcher v. Peck
Correct answer: Marbury v. Madison
Marbury v. Madison (1803) established judicial review, holding that the Supreme Court has the authority to strike down laws that violate the Constitution.
Question 2: The Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution is found in which Article?
- Article I, Section 8
- Article II, Section 2
- Article VI, Clause 2 (Correct answer)
- Article III, Section 1
Correct answer: Article VI, Clause 2
The Supremacy Clause is located in Article VI, Clause 2, and establishes that the Constitution and federal laws are the 'supreme law of the land.'
Question 3: Under First Amendment jurisprudence, which type of government restriction on speech is subject to the highest level of judicial scrutiny?
- Time, place, and manner restrictions
- Content-neutral restrictions
- Content-based restrictions (Correct answer)
- Incidental restrictions on expressive conduct
Correct answer: Content-based restrictions
Content-based restrictions on speech — those targeting speech because of its message or viewpoint — trigger strict scrutiny, the most demanding standard of review.
Question 4: The Due Process Clause appears in which constitutional amendments?
- Fourth and Eighth Amendments
- Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments (Correct answer)
- First and Fourteenth Amendments
- Sixth and Tenth Amendments
Correct answer: Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments
The Due Process Clause appears in both the Fifth Amendment (applying to the federal government) and the Fourteenth Amendment (applying to state governments).
Question 5: Which doctrine holds that most provisions of the Bill of Rights apply to state governments through the Fourteenth Amendment?
- Preemption doctrine
- Non-delegation doctrine
- Incorporation doctrine (Correct answer)
- Political question doctrine
Correct answer: Incorporation doctrine
The incorporation doctrine uses the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause to apply most Bill of Rights provisions to the states.
Question 6: In Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), the Supreme Court established a three-part test for evaluating laws under which constitutional provision?
- The Free Exercise Clause
- The Establishment Clause (Correct answer)
- The Free Speech Clause
- The Equal Protection Clause
Correct answer: The Establishment Clause
The Lemon test applies to the Establishment Clause and requires that a law (1) have a secular purpose, (2) neither advance nor inhibit religion, and (3) avoid excessive government entanglement with religion.
Question 7: Under the Commerce Clause, Congress may regulate which of the following under the post-New Deal doctrine?
- Only goods physically crossing state lines
- Only manufacturing within a single state
- Channels, instrumentalities, and activities substantially affecting interstate commerce (Correct answer)
- Only activities explicitly listed in the Constitution
Correct answer: Channels, instrumentalities, and activities substantially affecting interstate commerce
After Wickard v. Filburn (1942) and affirmed in Lopez and Morrison, Congress may regulate the channels of commerce, instrumentalities of commerce, and activities that substantially affect interstate commerce.
Law School Constitutional Law 1
Which Supreme Court case established the principle of judicial review, allowing courts to invalidate laws that conflict with the Constitution?