OK Bar OK Bar Constitutional Law 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the 'state action' requirement under the Fourteenth Amendment?
- Only states, not the federal government, must comply with the Amendment
- Constitutional rights generally only protect against government, not private, conduct (Correct answer)
- State legislatures must affirmatively act to protect civil rights
- Federal courts must defer to state court constitutional rulings
Correct answer: Constitutional rights generally only protect against government, not private, conduct
The Fourteenth Amendment's protections apply only to government actors, not purely private conduct.
Question 2: Under the non-delegation doctrine, Congress may delegate legislative power to agencies if it provides:
- A detailed regulatory scheme
- An intelligible principle to guide the agency (Correct answer)
- Judicial review of all agency decisions
- Presidential approval of all rules
Correct answer: An intelligible principle to guide the agency
Delegations of legislative power are constitutional so long as Congress supplies an intelligible principle to guide agency discretion.
Question 3: Executive privilege protects presidential communications from disclosure but is:
- Absolute and can never be overridden
- Subject to override when there is a demonstrated specific need for evidence (Correct answer)
- Only available in civil cases
- Waived whenever Congress requests information
Correct answer: Subject to override when there is a demonstrated specific need for evidence
Executive privilege is a qualified privilege that may be overcome by a demonstrated, specific evidentiary need as established in United States v. Nixon.
Question 4: The Establishment Clause is MOST accurately described as prohibiting:
- Any government acknowledgment of religion
- Government laws respecting an establishment of religion (Correct answer)
- Private religious expression in public forums
- Religious symbols on private property
Correct answer: Government laws respecting an establishment of religion
The Establishment Clause forbids government laws respecting an establishment of religion, preventing official state sponsorship of religion.
Question 5: Oklahoma's constitution, compared to the U.S. Constitution, generally:
- Provides fewer individual rights
- May provide greater, but not lesser, individual rights (Correct answer)
- Must mirror federal constitutional provisions exactly
- Is subordinate to federal statutes on all matters
Correct answer: May provide greater, but not lesser, individual rights
State constitutions may provide broader protections than the federal constitution but cannot provide less than the federal floor.
Question 6: A bill of attainder is unconstitutional because it:
- Increases taxes retroactively
- Inflicts punishment on named individuals without a judicial trial (Correct answer)
- Requires self-incrimination
- Regulates interstate commerce
Correct answer: Inflicts punishment on named individuals without a judicial trial
The Constitution expressly prohibits bills of attainder, which are legislative acts that punish specific individuals without trial.
OK Bar OK Bar Constitutional Law 2
What is the 'state action' requirement under the Fourteenth Amendment?