NJ Bar Constitutional Law 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the First Amendment, which category of speech receives no constitutional protection?
- Commercial speech
- Political speech
- True threats and incitement to imminent lawless action (Correct answer)
- Symbolic speech
Correct answer: True threats and incitement to imminent lawless action
True threats and speech directed to inciting imminent lawless action (Brandenburg test) fall outside First Amendment protection.
Question 2: The doctrine of incorporation applies which provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states through which amendment?
- First Amendment
- Fifth Amendment
- Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause (Correct answer)
- Tenth Amendment
Correct answer: Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause
Selective incorporation uses the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause to apply most Bill of Rights guarantees to state action.
Question 3: Under the Eleventh Amendment, a private citizen generally cannot sue a state in federal court without which condition?
- Congressional authorization under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment or state consent (Correct answer)
- A jury demand
- Exhaustion of state remedies
- Filing a notice of claim
Correct answer: Congressional authorization under Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment or state consent
Sovereign immunity bars suits against states in federal court unless Congress validly abrogated immunity or the state consented.
Question 4: The non-delegation doctrine holds that Congress cannot delegate its legislative power to an executive agency without providing which element?
- An intelligible principle (Correct answer)
- A sunset clause
- Judicial review
- A bicameral vote
Correct answer: An intelligible principle
Courts require an intelligible principle to guide agency discretion; without it, a delegation of legislative power is unconstitutional.
Question 5: Which clause of the Constitution requires states to give full credit to the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of other states?
- Privileges and Immunities Clause
- Full Faith and Credit Clause (Correct answer)
- Supremacy Clause
- Commerce Clause
Correct answer: Full Faith and Credit Clause
Article IV's Full Faith and Credit Clause obligates states to honor judgments and official acts of sister states.
Question 6: Under the Fourth Amendment, the exclusionary rule primarily serves which purpose?
- Compensating victims of illegal searches
- Deterring police misconduct (Correct answer)
- Providing a civil remedy against officers
- Ensuring grand jury indictments
Correct answer: Deterring police misconduct
The exclusionary rule deters law enforcement from conducting unconstitutional searches by suppressing illegally obtained evidence.
NJ Bar Constitutional Law 2
Under the First Amendment, which category of speech receives no constitutional protection?