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1 | |
Very important to the principles underlying Justice William Brennan's opinion in New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) is the idea that:
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| | A) | The ad was really criticism of the way government did business.
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| | B) | Public debate should be robust and uninhibited.
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| | C) | Error cannot be avoided completely in heated debates.
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| | D) | Public officials must accept public criticism and complaints as part of their jobs.
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| | E) | All of the above are correct.
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2 | |
The actual malice rule applies when libel plaintiffs are:
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| | A) | Public figures.
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| | B) | Public officials.
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| | C) | Private persons.
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| | D) | A and B are correct.
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3 | |
A limited public figure is a person who:
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| | A) | Works for the state or federal government.
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| | B) | Has voluntarily entered an important public controversy.
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| | C) | Has actually influenced the outcome of a public issue.
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| | D) | All of the above are correct.
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4 | |
Generally speaking, athletes and show business people:
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| | A) | Would be considered public figures because they choose to draw attention to themselves.
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| | B) | Would be public figures only if they tried to resolve an important public issue.
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| | C) | Would be considered private persons.
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| | D) | B and C are correct.
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5 | |
In Rosenblatt v. Baer (1966), the court said people are public officials if they:
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| | A) | Work for the government.
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| | B) | Hold a government job in which the public is more interested in their qualifications and performance than in most government jobs.
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| | C) | Hold a government job in which more education or experience is required than in most government jobs.
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| | D) | Hold a government job in which they supervise a budget.
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6 | |
In Soke v. The Plain Dealer (1994) and Clark v. Clark (1993), the courts said police officers: |
| | A) | Are private people. |
| | B) | Are public figures when they are involved in controversial cases. |
| | C) | Are public officials because they hold government jobs. |
| | D) | Are public officials because they hold the power of life and death over citizens in their communities. |
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7 | |
An example of an all-purpose public figure might be:
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| | A) | Madonna.
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| | B) | A woman in your city who has been mayor and chair of the school board, owns the local supermarket, serves on the board of a local bank and the YMCA, is active in eight civic organizations including the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce, and is part of a large family that founded a college in the town 150 years ago.
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| | C) | Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates.
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| | D) | All of the above are correct.
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8 | |
Time Inc. v. Firestone (1976) reinforced the idea that a public controversy in libel law:
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| | A) | Is any controversy that's interesting to the public.
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| | B) | Probably needs to affect a larger group of people than those involved in the controversy.
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| | C) | Involves government officials.
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| | D) | Must be covered extensively by the press.
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9 | |
The status of an involuntary public figure in a libel suit:
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| | A) | Is uncommon.
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| | B) | Occurs commonly for attorneys and doctors, whose professions bring them in contact with the public.
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| | C) | Is reserved for criminals, who generate controversy by disobeying the law.
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| | D) | Has become more common in the 1990s as a result of the popularity of talk shows.
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10 | |
Based on what courts refer to as "bootstrapping," a libel plaintiff:
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| | A) | Cannot be turned into a limited-purpose public figure if she has run for public office on a "no new taxes" platform.
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| | B) | Cannot be turned into a limited-purpose public figure by the mere fact that the press creates interest in her as an individual.
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| | C) | Becomes a limited-purpose public figure automatically if she responds to questions from the press.
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| | D) | Becomes a limited-purpose public figure if she has worked for the press.
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11 | |
In Zupnik v. Associated Press (1998) and Krauss v. Globe International Inc. (1998), the courts:
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| | A) | Said celebrity spouses are all-purpose public figures.
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| | B) | Said celebrity spouses are not all-purpose public figures.
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| | C) | Said celebrity spouses are limited-purpose public figures.
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| | D) | Disagreed over whether celebrity spouses are public figures.
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12 | |
To determine whether a business is a public figure, courts:
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| | A) | Begin with the assumption that a business that advertises is a public figure.
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| | B) | Assign public figure status only when the business has attempted to influence the political process, such as through political action committees or PACs.
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| | C) | Approach the matter on a case-by-case basis.
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| | D) | Consider whether it is a government-regulated business.
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| | E) | C and D are correct.
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13 | |
Generally speaking, when courts consider negligence in a libel case, they want to know whether the journalist:
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| | A) | Committed "journalistic malpractice."
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| | B) | Made "an extraordinary effort to ensure accuracy."
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| | C) | Made a good faith effort to avoid error.
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| | D) | Complied with the federal standard of simple negligence.
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14 | |
In Street v. NBC (1981), the court said once someone is designated as a limited-purpose public figure:
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| | A) | The person remains a limited-purpose public figure in regard to that issue.
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| | B) | The person will be a limited-purpose public figure in regard to any public issue he or she becomes involved in.
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| | C) | The person remains a limited-purpose public figure for 25 years.
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| | D) | The person remains a limited-purpose public figure unless they move away from the geographic area in which they were known.
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15 | |
In cases such as Harte-Hanks Communications Inc. v. Connaughton (1989), the U.S. Supreme Court has said a showing of ill will:
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| | A) | Is not enough to prove actual malice.
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| | B) | Is enough to prove actual malice only when the plaintiff is a limited-purpose public figure.
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| | C) | May be accepted by lower courts as a showing of actual malice.
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| | D) | Deprives reporters of their First Amendment privileges because the Amendment was not designed to protect people engaged in personal attacks.
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education