MA Bar Constitutional Law 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the First Amendment, what level of scrutiny applies to content-neutral speech restrictions in public forums?
- Strict scrutiny
- Intermediate scrutiny (Correct answer)
- Rational basis review
- Compelling interest test
Correct answer: Intermediate scrutiny
Content-neutral speech restrictions in public forums are subject to intermediate scrutiny, requiring the government to show a substantial interest and narrow tailoring.
Question 2: The Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause applies to which governments?
- Federal government only
- State governments only
- Both state and local governments (Correct answer)
- Only federal agencies
Correct answer: Both state and local governments
The Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause applies to state and local governments, while federal equal protection is derived from the Fifth Amendment's Due Process Clause.
Question 3: Which doctrine allows federal courts to abstain from deciding a constitutional issue if a state court could resolve it on state law grounds?
- Political question doctrine
- Pullman abstention (Correct answer)
- Ripeness doctrine
- Mootness doctrine
Correct answer: Pullman abstention
Pullman abstention allows federal courts to defer to state courts when a case involves an unsettled state law issue that could avoid the need to decide the federal constitutional question.
Question 4: Under the Dormant Commerce Clause, a state law that discriminates against interstate commerce on its face is subject to what standard?
- Rational basis review
- Intermediate scrutiny
- Virtual per se invalidity unless a narrowly tailored exception applies (Correct answer)
- Balancing test only
Correct answer: Virtual per se invalidity unless a narrowly tailored exception applies
Facially discriminatory state laws burdening interstate commerce are virtually per se invalid and can only survive if the state demonstrates a legitimate local purpose achievable by no other non-discriminatory means.
Question 5: Which clause of the U.S. Constitution prohibits states from impairing the obligation of contracts?
- Due Process Clause
- Takings Clause
- Contract Clause (Correct answer)
- Supremacy Clause
Correct answer: Contract Clause
Article I, Section 10's Contract Clause prohibits states from passing laws that substantially impair existing contractual obligations without sufficient justification.
Question 6: The Massachusetts Declaration of Rights is found in which part of the Massachusetts Constitution?
- Part First (Correct answer)
- Part Second
- Part Third
- An amendment added in 1917
Correct answer: Part First
The Massachusetts Declaration of Rights is Part First of the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780, setting forth individual rights and freedoms.
MA Bar Constitutional Law 1
Under the First Amendment, what level of scrutiny applies to content-neutral speech restrictions in public forums?