NY Bar Constitutional Law 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Under the First Amendment, which standard of review applies to a content-neutral law that incidentally restricts speech?
- Strict scrutiny
- Intermediate scrutiny (Correct answer)
- Rational basis
- Per se invalid
Correct answer: Intermediate scrutiny
Content-neutral laws that incidentally restrict speech are subject to intermediate scrutiny, requiring the law to be narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest.
Question 2: The Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause prohibits states from depriving persons of life, liberty, or property without due process. Which of the following best describes 'substantive due process'?
- The right to a fair hearing before government deprivation
- Protection of fundamental rights from arbitrary government interference (Correct answer)
- Equal treatment under the law for all persons
- The right to confront accusers in criminal proceedings
Correct answer: Protection of fundamental rights from arbitrary government interference
Substantive due process protects fundamental rights from arbitrary government interference regardless of the procedures used.
Question 3: Under the Commerce Clause, Congress may regulate which of the following activities?
- Purely local activities with no effect on interstate commerce
- Activities that substantially affect interstate commerce (Correct answer)
- Only the physical movement of goods across state lines
- Intrastate activities only when states consent
Correct answer: Activities that substantially affect interstate commerce
After Lopez and Morrison, Congress may regulate activities that substantially affect interstate commerce, even if those activities are local in nature.
Question 4: A state law discriminates against out-of-state businesses on its face. Under the dormant Commerce Clause, this law will be:
- Valid if it serves any legitimate state interest
- Presumptively invalid and subject to strict scrutiny (Correct answer)
- Valid because states have broad police powers
- Invalid only if the discrimination is intentional
Correct answer: Presumptively invalid and subject to strict scrutiny
Facially discriminatory laws against interstate commerce are presumptively invalid and will be struck down unless the state can show no reasonable non-discriminatory alternative exists.
Question 5: Which doctrine prevents federal courts from adjudicating cases where the plaintiff lacks a personal stake in the outcome?
- Ripeness
- Mootness
- Standing (Correct answer)
- Political question
Correct answer: Standing
Standing requires that a plaintiff demonstrate injury in fact, causation, and redressability to have a personal stake in the litigation.
Question 6: New York State enacts a law requiring all out-of-state milk producers to comply with New York's production standards. This law is most likely:
- Valid as an exercise of New York's police power
- Invalid under the dormant Commerce Clause (Correct answer)
- Valid under the Privileges and Immunities Clause
- Invalid under the Supremacy Clause
Correct answer: Invalid under the dormant Commerce Clause
A state law that discriminates against or excessively burdens interstate commerce violates the dormant Commerce Clause even without conflicting federal legislation.
NY Bar Constitutional Law 1
Under the First Amendment, which standard of review applies to a content-neutral law that incidentally restricts speech?