Law School Constitutional Law 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which level of scrutiny applies to government classifications based on race or national origin under the Equal Protection Clause?
- Rational basis review
- Intermediate scrutiny
- Strict scrutiny (Correct answer)
- Heightened rational basis
Correct answer: Strict scrutiny
Race and national origin are 'suspect classifications' that trigger strict scrutiny, requiring the government to show a compelling interest served by narrowly tailored means.
Question 2: Gender-based classifications by the government are evaluated under which standard of review?
- Rational basis
- Intermediate scrutiny (Correct answer)
- Strict scrutiny
- De minimis review
Correct answer: Intermediate scrutiny
Gender classifications are subject to intermediate scrutiny, requiring the government to show that the classification is substantially related to an important government interest.
Question 3: The 'political question doctrine' holds that federal courts should decline to resolve disputes that are:
- Too complex for judicial resolution
- Committed to a coordinate political branch or lack judicially manageable standards (Correct answer)
- Brought by parties lacking Article III standing
- Governed exclusively by state law
Correct answer: Committed to a coordinate political branch or lack judicially manageable standards
The political question doctrine, from Baker v. Carr, bars courts from deciding issues constitutionally assigned to Congress or the President, or those lacking judicially discoverable standards.
Question 4: To establish Article III standing, a plaintiff must demonstrate all of the following EXCEPT:
- An injury in fact that is concrete and particularized
- A causal connection between the injury and the challenged conduct
- Redressability — that the injury can be remedied by a favorable decision
- A constitutional or statutory right explicitly enumerated in the Bill of Rights (Correct answer)
Correct answer: A constitutional or statutory right explicitly enumerated in the Bill of Rights
Standing requires injury in fact, causation, and redressability — there is no requirement that the plaintiff's right be explicitly enumerated in the Bill of Rights.
Question 5: The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment requires the government to provide just compensation when it:
- Taxes private property above fair market value
- Regulates property in ways that unduly burden the owner
- Takes private property for public use (Correct answer)
- Zones land for commercial rather than residential use
Correct answer: Takes private property for public use
The Takings Clause mandates just compensation when the government physically appropriates private property or regulates it so severely as to constitute a taking, provided the taking is for public use.
Question 6: Which Supreme Court decision held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense in the home?
- United States v. Miller
- District of Columbia v. Heller (Correct answer)
- McDonald v. City of Chicago
- Caetano v. Massachusetts
Correct answer: District of Columbia v. Heller
District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess firearms independent of service in a militia, particularly for self-defense in the home.
Question 7: Under the Non-Delegation Doctrine, Congress may delegate legislative power to administrative agencies so long as it provides:
- A detailed regulatory scheme leaving agencies no discretion
- An intelligible principle to guide the agency's exercise of delegated authority (Correct answer)
- Explicit approval for each regulation the agency promulgates
- A sunset clause limiting the duration of the delegation
Correct answer: An intelligible principle to guide the agency's exercise of delegated authority
The intelligible principle test (J.W. Hampton v. United States) allows delegation as long as Congress provides sufficient guidance to prevent agencies from exercising unconstrained legislative power.
Law School Constitutional Law 2
Which level of scrutiny applies to government classifications based on race or national origin under the Equal Protection Clause?