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1 | |
The British Crown strictly controlled the press through licensing, the use of bonds, and seditious libel laws between 1476 and 1776 because: |
| | A) | Printing royalties represented an important income source. |
| | B) | Printing press technologies were based on trade secrets the Royal Patent Office wished to maintain. |
| | C) | Parliament wanted to ensure that no one company or individual would gain a monopoly. |
| | D) | The government believed unrestricted publication would dilute its own power. |
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2 | |
The John Peter Zenger sedition case in 1734: |
| | A) | Revolutionized legal precedent in the American colonies. |
| | B) | Was a political triumph but set no important legal precedent regarding the law of seditious libel. |
| | C) | Was the first of many successful sedition prosecutions in colonial courts. |
| | D) | Marked the end of British attempts to punish colonial printers using legal means. |
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3 | |
During the drafting of the Constitution: |
| | A) | There was strong agreement on the need for a bill of rights. |
| | B) | The First Amendment was viewed as the most important provision and therefore headed the list of amendments. |
| | C) | There was significant interaction between the framers and the public. |
| | D) | Both A and B are correct. |
| | E) | None of the above are correct. |
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4 | |
It is very clear that those who drafted and ratified the First Amendment: |
| | A) | Intended it to preclude only prior restraints. |
| | B) | Intended it to preclude only prosecutions for the crime of seditious libel. |
| | C) | Intended it to preclude prior restraints and prosecutions for seditious libel. |
| | D) | Probably disagreed a good deal over exactly what the First Amendment meant. |
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5 | |
The clear and present danger test established by Justice Holmes in 1919: |
| | A) | Has been used repeatedly and successfully in sedition cases to protect the speaker. |
| | B) | Is still used quite often in sedition cases. |
| | C) | Was the basis for overthrowing the Smith Act. |
| | D) | Has never been the basis for overturning a lower-court conviction for sedition. |
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6 | |
Why is Gitlow v. New York (1925) an important legal precedent for First Amendment advocates? |
| | A) | Gitlow's conviction was overturned based on the advocacy of action test. |
| | B) | Gitlow's conviction was overturned because there was no proof his statements presented a clear and present danger. |
| | C) | The Supreme Court said freedom of speech had to be protected by state constitutions because the federal constitution only applied to the federal government. |
| | D) | The Supreme Court found that the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits states as well as the federal government from abridging fundamental rights found in the Constitution. |
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7 | |
What is the current test used to determine when speech advocating illegal action or violence may be punished without violating the First Amendment? |
| | A) | Government may not outlaw advocacy of the use of force or law violation except where such advocacy is intended to produce such action. |
| | B) | Government may not outlaw advocacy of force or law violation except where such advocacy is the expression of political ideas. |
| | C) | Government may not outlaw advocacy of force or law violation except where such advocacy is aimed at producing imminent lawless action and is likely to produce or incite such action. |
| | D) | Government may not outlaw advocacy of the use of force or law violation except where such advocacy includes lawless action on the part of the speaker. |
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8 | |
In Grosjean v. American Press Co. (1936), the U.S. Supreme Court interpreted the First Amendment to mean: |
| | A) | Newspapers are immune from ordinary taxes. |
| | B) | The power to tax is provided for in the Constitution and hence is not a violation of the First Amendment. |
| | C) | Only large newspapers may be taxed since taxing small papers could threaten their economic survival. |
| | D) | Newspapers may be taxed so long as the tax is not levied in a discriminatory manner. |
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9 | |
Based on court decisions dealing with the constitutionality of taxing the media, which of the following laws would be declared constitutionally acceptable? |
| | A) | A state law taxing media, except those engaged in the publishing of religious, educational or medical materials. |
| | B) | A state law that taxed the revenues of cable television operators, but not those of newspapers or magazines. |
| | C) | A state law that taxed broadcast stations, but exempted those whose news includes news of governmental affairs. |
| | D) | A county ordinance taxing all businesses, including the media, based on property values. |
| | E) | Both B and D would be acceptable. |
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10 | |
What did Near v. Minnesota (1931) determine? |
| | A) | In deference to Blackstone, the government is constitutionally banned from enforcing prior restraints against any publication, unless the nation is at war. |
| | B) | The government may issue a prior restraint without violating the First Amendment when the material in question is obscene, when it will incite people to violence, or if the nation is at war. |
| | C) | The government may only issue a prior restraint when there is an immediate likelihood of lawless action or the advocacy of such action. |
| | D) | All prior restraints are unconstitutional by reason of the First and the Fourteenth Amendments. |
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11 | |
The Pentagon Papers case (New York Times Co. v. U.S.; U.S. v. Washington Post, 1971): |
| | A) | Overturned the precedent in Near v. Minnesota so that even in wartime prior restraints violate the Constitution. |
| | B) | Did little or nothing to strengthen First Amendment protections. |
| | C) | Found that while the government may at times use prior restraints, it simply had not met the burden of proving its case in this instance. |
| | D) | For the first time enabled the press to argue that it is protected against prior restraints through the Fifth Amendment. |
| | E) | Both B and C are correct. |
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12 | |
The preferred position theory was important in the Pentagon Papers case because: |
| | A) | The Court began with the presumption that any government interference with the press is unconstitutional. |
| | B) | The Supreme Court presumed the right of the government to restrain certain speech during wartime. |
| | C) | The newspaper presumed the right to possess classified material based on the First Amendment. |
| | D) | Preferred position theory allowed the Court to balance competing interests based on its own conception of the least harm doctrine. |
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13 | |
In Rice v. Paladin Enterprises Inc. (1997), the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court decision and allowed the suit against the publisher of Hit Man to go forward because: |
| | A) | It is illegal to publish instructions on how to kill someone. |
| | B) | The First Amendment does not protect speech undertaken with specific criminal intent. |
| | C) | The First Amendment does not protect speech by criminals. |
| | D) | The First Amendment does not protect speech that results in criminal action, regardless of intent. |
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14 | |
The Smith Act made it a crime to: |
| | A) | Advocate violent overthrow of the government. |
| | B) | Be a member of a group that advocates violent overthrow of the government. |
| | C) | Organize a group that advocates violent overthrow of the government. |
| | D) | All of the above. |
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15 | |
In Whitney v. California (1927), Justice Louis Brandeis wrote a concurring opinion that: |
| | A) | Outlined a new test for free speech cases that was similar to the one eventually adopted in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969). |
| | B) | Said clear and present danger existed every time someone advocated violence against the government. |
| | C) | Said clear and present danger did not exist even when there was incitement to violence and a likelihood that violence would occur. |
| | D) | Overturned all sedition convictions because they violate citizens' constitutional rights. |
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education