Constitutional Law

• A. A temporary set of rules enacted by the legislature each year
• B. The fundamental framework of rules that establishes government structure, allocates powers, and protects individual rights ✓
• C. A collection of court decisions that interpret ordinary statutes
• D. A written agreement between two countries to govern trade relations

Why: A constitution is the supreme legal framework that defines how government is organized, how power is distributed, and what rights individuals hold. It sits above ordinary laws and is typically harder to amend.

• A. Codified constitution
• B. Uncodified constitution ✓
• C. Federal constitution
• D. Rigid constitution

Why: An uncodified constitution, as found in the United Kingdom, is spread across many sources rather than one consolidated text. A codified constitution, by contrast, is set out in a single document, as in the United States.

• A. Judges are superior to elected legislators
• B. The constitution overrides any conflicting ordinary law, and laws inconsistent with it are invalid ✓
• C. The head of state has absolute authority over the government
• D. Citizens may ignore laws they consider unfair

Why: Constitutional supremacy holds that the constitution is the highest law of the land. Any statute or executive act that conflicts with it can be struck down as void.

• A. A rule that each branch of government must be run by a different political party
• B. The division of governmental authority among legislative, executive, and judicial branches to prevent concentration of power ✓
• C. A requirement that federal and state governments hold separate elections
• D. The principle that military and civilian authorities must never cooperate

Why: Separation of powers divides government functions among distinct branches, each checking the others. This is intended to prevent any single institution from accumulating tyrannical power.

• A. A periodic evaluation of judges' performance by the legislature
• B. The power of courts to examine laws and government actions and declare them unconstitutional if they conflict with the constitution ✓
• C. The process by which judges are appointed to lifetime terms
• D. An appeal from a lower court to a higher court on factual findings

Why: Judicial review gives courts the authority to assess whether legislative and executive actions comply with the constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court established this power in Marbury v. Madison (1803).

• A. All governmental authority is concentrated in a single branch for efficiency
• B. Government functions are divided among distinct legislative, executive, and judicial branches to prevent concentration of power ✓
• C. Each state controls its own military and taxation without federal oversight
• D. Citizens vote directly on every law passed by the government

Why: Separation of powers divides governmental authority among three distinct branches, each with its own responsibilities, so that no single branch can dominate and each can check the others.

• A. The executive branch
• B. The judicial branch
• C. The legislative branch ✓
• D. The electoral college

Why: Under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, Congress, which consists of the Senate and House of Representatives, holds the power to make federal laws.

• A. Federalism
• B. Judicial review
• C. Checks and balances ✓
• D. Popular sovereignty

Why: Checks and balances is the mechanism that allows each branch to restrain the others, such as the president's veto power over legislation or Congress's power to impeach officials.

• A. Pardon power
• B. Veto power ✓
• C. Appointment power
• D. Treaty power

Why: Under Article I, Section 7, the President may veto legislation, which Congress can override with a two-thirds vote in both chambers.

• A. McCulloch v. Maryland
• B. Marbury v. Madison ✓
• C. Brown v. Board of Education
• D. Gibbons v. Ogden

Why: In Marbury v. Madison (1803), the Supreme Court asserted its power to declare laws unconstitutional, establishing judicial review as a check on the legislative and executive branches.

• A. A system where all governmental power is concentrated in a single national authority
• B. A system where power is divided between a national government and state governments ✓
• C. A system where states hold all sovereign power and the national government has none
• D. A system where the judiciary controls both national and state legislatures

Why: Federalism divides governmental power between a central (national) government and regional (state) governments, each with its own spheres of authority.

• A. The Tenth Amendment
• B. The Commerce Clause
• C. The Supremacy Clause ✓
• D. The Necessary and Proper Clause

Why: Article VI, the Supremacy Clause, declares the Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties to be the supreme law of the land, binding state judges and laws.

• A. Only powers expressly delegated to the federal government
• B. Only powers expressly prohibited to the states
• C. Powers not delegated to the federal government nor prohibited to the states, which are reserved to the states or the people ✓
• D. All powers held by the executive branch

Why: The Tenth Amendment provides that powers not delegated to the United States nor prohibited to the states are reserved to the states or the people.

• A. States may tax federal institutions freely
• B. Congress lacks authority to create a national bank
• C. Congress has implied powers to carry out its enumerated powers, and states cannot tax federal instrumentalities ✓
• D. The national government may not borrow money

Why: McCulloch established the doctrine of implied powers under the Necessary and Proper Clause and held that states cannot tax federal institutions like the Second Bank of the United States.

• A. Coining money
• B. Declaring war
• C. Conducting elections for state offices ✓
• D. Regulating interstate commerce

Why: Conducting elections for state offices is a power reserved to the states. Coining money, declaring war, and regulating interstate commerce are delegated to the federal government.

• A. The power of legislatures to create new courts
• B. The power of courts to examine whether government actions comply with the constitution ✓
• C. The process by which judges are appointed to higher courts
• D. The review of court decisions by the executive branch

Why: Judicial review is the authority of courts to assess whether laws and executive actions are consistent with the constitution, and to strike them down if they are not.

• A. Brown v. Board of Education
• B. Marbury v. Madison ✓
• C. McCulloch v. Maryland
• D. Gibbons v. Ogden

Why: Marbury v. Madison (1803), decided under Chief Justice John Marshall, established that the Supreme Court can declare acts of Congress unconstitutional and therefore void.

• A. Living constitutionalism
• B. Originalism ✓
• C. Pragmatism
• D. Legal realism

Why: Originalism holds that constitutional provisions should be interpreted according to the meaning they had when ratified, in contrast to living constitutionalism, which allows meaning to evolve over time.

• A. Courts must always rule in favor of the government
• B. Courts should follow precedent established in prior decisions ✓
• C. Judges must decide cases based solely on the statutory text
• D. Constitutional amendments must be approved by the courts

Why: Stare decisis, Latin for 'to stand by things decided,' is the doctrine that courts should generally follow precedents set by earlier decisions in similar cases to promote stability and predictability.

• A. Rational basis review
• B. Intermediate scrutiny
• C. Strict scrutiny ✓
• D. No scrutiny, since race is not a constitutional concern

Why: Race-based classifications are considered suspect, so courts apply strict scrutiny, requiring the government to show a compelling interest and narrowly tailored means to achieve it.

• A. First Amendment ✓
• B. Second Amendment
• C. Fourth Amendment
• D. Fourteenth Amendment

Why: The First Amendment protects five core freedoms: religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. The Second Amendment concerns firearms, the Fourth protects against unreasonable searches and seizures, and the Fourteenth guarantees due process and equal protection against the states.

• A. Marbury v. Madison
• B. Miranda v. Arizona ✓
• C. Brown v. Board of Education
• D. Gideon v. Wainwright

Why: Miranda v. Arizona (1966) held that the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination requires warnings of the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney before custodial interrogation. Marbury established judicial review, Brown addressed school segregation, and Gideon guaranteed appointed counsel for indigent felony defendants.

• A. The free exercise of religion by individuals
• B. Government establishment of an official religion ✓
• C. Private citizens from discussing religion
• D. Religious groups from owning property

Why: The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from establishing an official religion or favoring one religion over another. The Free Exercise Clause, by contrast, protects individuals' right to practice their religion. The clause restricts government action, not private expression.

• A. Fifth Amendment only
• B. Sixth Amendment
• C. Eighth Amendment
• D. Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments ✓

Why: The Due Process Clause appears in both the Fifth Amendment (applying to the federal government) and the Fourteenth Amendment (applying to the states). Together they ensure that government actions affecting life, liberty, or property must follow fair procedures.

• A. The right to a speedy trial
• B. The right to bear arms
• C. The right to vote ✓
• D. The right against self-incrimination

Why: The right to vote is not found in the original Bill of Rights. Voting rights were expanded through later amendments, including the Fifteenth (race), Nineteenth (sex), and Twenty-Sixth (age 18). The speedy trial right (Sixth), bearing arms (Second), and self-incrimination protection (Fifth) are all in the Bill of Rights.

• A. The Due Process Clause
• B. The Equal Protection Clause ✓
• C. The Privileges or Immunities Clause
• D. The Citizenship Clause

Why: The Equal Protection Clause, which states that no state shall deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, is the constitutional source of the guarantee. The other clauses address different rights, though the Due Process Clause has been incorporated into equal protection analysis for federal actors through the Fifth Amendment.

• A. Rational basis review
• B. Intermediate scrutiny
• C. Strict scrutiny ✓
• D. Heightened deference

Why: Racial classifications are considered suspect, so courts apply strict scrutiny, requiring the government to show the law is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling governmental interest. This standard was established in cases such as Korematsu v. United States and refined in Adarand Constructors v. Pena.

• A. Plessy v. Ferguson
• B. Brown v. Board of Education ✓
• C. Loving v. Virginia
• D. Shelby County v. Holder

Why: In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Court unanimously held that racially segregated public schools were inherently unequal, overruling the separate-but-equal doctrine from Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) as applied to public education.

• A. That the law is the least restrictive means of achieving a compelling interest
• B. That the law is substantially related to an important government interest
• C. That the law is rationally related to a legitimate government interest ✓
• D. That the law was supported by a majority of voters

Why: Rational basis review, the most deferential standard, asks only whether the law is rationally related to a legitimate government purpose. The government need not prove its effectiveness, and courts may even hypothesize a justification the legislature did not state.

• A. Strict scrutiny
• B. Rational basis review
• C. Intermediate scrutiny ✓
• D. No review, since sex is a protected characteristic

Why: Sex-based classifications receive intermediate scrutiny, requiring the government to show the classification is substantially related to an important governmental objective. This standard was articulated in Craig v. Boren (1976) and reflects the Court's treatment of gender as a quasi-suspect classification.

• A. Article I
• B. Article II
• C. Article V ✓
• D. Article VII

Why: Article V sets out the two methods for proposing amendments (a two-thirds vote in both houses of Congress, or a convention called by two-thirds of the state legislatures) and the two methods for ratification (three-fourths of state legislatures, or conventions in three-fourths of the states).

• A. Two-thirds of the states
• B. Three-fourths of the states ✓
• C. A simple majority of the states
• D. All fifty states

Why: Under Article V, an amendment must be ratified by three-fourths of the states, which is currently 38 of 50, whether by state legislatures or by state ratifying conventions.

• A. The First Amendment
• B. The Thirteenth Amendment
• C. The Twenty-First Amendment ✓
• D. The Twenty-Sixth Amendment

Why: The Twenty-First Amendment, which repealed Prohibition (the Eighteenth Amendment), is the only amendment ratified by state conventions, a method Congress chose to ensure voters directly expressed their views on alcohol.

• A. The Eleventh Amendment, limiting federal court jurisdiction over suits against states ✓
• B. The Twelfth Amendment, revising the method of electing the President and Vice President
• C. The Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery
• D. The Fourteenth Amendment, guaranteeing equal protection of the laws

Why: The Eleventh Amendment, ratified in 1795, was the first amendment after the Bill of Rights. It limits federal courts' jurisdiction over suits brought against a state by citizens of another state or a foreign country, in response to Chisholm v. Georgia.

• A. A presidential executive order
• B. A Supreme Court interpretation that changes constitutional meaning ✓
• C. A simple act of Congress
• D. A decision by the Attorney General

Why: Constitutional change can occur informally through judicial interpretation, as courts reinterpret constitutional provisions over time. Executive orders and acts of Congress cannot amend the Constitution, since only the Article V process can formally change its text.