Midterm Examination: Constitutional Law -Individual Rights and Liberties Spring 2004 Professor McGoldrick Total No. of Questions: 30 Time: Select the best single answer in each of the following thirty multiple choice questions. 1. Congress passed a law banning the interstate shipment of skimmed milk compounded with any fat or oil other than milk fat, so as to resemble milk or cream. Is the law constitutional? A. Yes, unless the court were to find it needless, wasteful, and improvident. B. Yes, but only if it reasonably relates to important governmental interests. C. Yes, provided that nutritionally it was less healthy than milk and that labeling would not be a reasonable adequate alternative. D. Yes, the court would assume that facts supported a rational relationship to some legitimate governmental objective even if the facts introduced did not support that finding. 2. Alabama increased its severance tax (a tax charged on each gallon taken out of the ground) on oil and gas and prohibited passing on the increase to purchasers. Some producers of oil and gas were parties to contracts made before the tax increase under which they were permitted to include in their price to customers any increase in severance taxes. The purpose of the ban was to require the oil and gas companies to bear the burden of the new taxes and not their customers. No similar tax was placed on other energy sources such as coal. Is the prohibition preventing the tax from being passed on to customers constitutional? A. Yes, the Court would likely find that the purpose of the law outweighed any harm to preexisting contract rights. B. No, it would violate the almost absolute ban on retroactive impairment of obligations of contract. C. Yes, it would only have to rationally relate to some conceivable legitimate end which it clearly would. D. No, the different treatment of coal would violate the equal protection clause. 3. State passed a law which provided that no one could apply for admission to a state college or university who had not paid all of the fines assessed for traffic violations. The law was very effective in collecting overdue traffic fines. Is the law constitutional? A. Yes, it would reasonably relate to the important governmental interest in enforcing its traffic laws. B. Yes, since there are no suspect classifications or fundamental rights, the law would only have to rationally relate to legitimate state ends which it likely would. C. No, a probable majority of the court would find it contrary to the rational basis test. D. No, since the law impacts the right to education, it would have to pass the compelling state interest test which it would not. 4. In order to discourage premarital intercourse, state law prevented the distribution of contraceptives to any person under the age of 18 without parental permission. No similar limitation was imposed on adults. There was evidence that the law was actually successful in achieving its purpose. Is the law constitutional? A. Yes, the law would be narrowly tailored to protect compelling parental interest in this matter. B. No, it would be in violation of the fundamental right of parents to make child rearing decisions. C. No, the different treatment of minors and adults would violate the equal protection clause. D. No, a majority of the court would likely find it unconstitutional, some members of the court because contrary to the fundamental right to privacy of the minors, and other members of the court because irrational. 5. Although the state law was neutral as to race and schools, the federal district court found that the local school board had taken steps to intentionally create and maintain a segregated school system, and it entered a desegregation order which provided that no school in the district could have "a majority of any minority students." The school board implemented the plan, fully carrying out the terms of the plan. Over the next several years as a result of demographic changes unrelated to school board actions, 5 out of 30 schools in the district came to have more minority than majority students. The district court ordered additional desegregation to achieve greater racial balance among the 30 schools. Is the federal district court's requirement of additional desegregation constitutional? A. No, since the state law was neutral as to race, the initial segregation was defacto only, and the federal court had no authority to issue its initial order. B. No, once the school board cured its initial constitutional violation, the federal district court had no authority to order it to correct segregation for which it was not responsible. C. Yes, the finding of intentional segregation gives the district court its full power as a court of equity to remedy past constitutional violations. D. Yes, racial classifications may be used to remedy past governmental misconduct based on race. 6. State law required that either parental permission or judge's approval based on the best interest of the female minor be obtained prior to any abortion. There was no requirement that the judge consider whether the minor was mature enough to make her own decision. Is the state law constitutional? A. No, the judge must be given both the discretion to determine maturity and best interest. B. No, this law would be in violation of the fundamental right of parents to make child rearing decisions. C. Yes, the state may condition a minor’s right to an abortion based upon parental consent provided that it provides for a judicial bypass. D. No, the state may only require that parents be given notice. With or without an appropriate judicial bypass provision, it may not give parents the veto power over this protected interest. 7. State law funded old age assistance at 100% of recognized need, but aid to families with dependant children at 75% of such need. Only 40% of the recipients of old age assistance were Afro-American and Mexican-American while 87% of the recipients of aid to dependant children were from such groups. The state believed that families with dependent children were better able to supplement state funds with informal sources of income. Is the law constitutional? A. Yes, but only if substantially related to important governmental ends. B. Yes, provided it rationally related to some legitimate governmental need, such as making the best use of fiscal resources. C. No, the law would be per se invalid. D. No, the law works a racial classification and would be unlikely to pass the compelling state interest test. 8. In order to protect the family oriented atmosphere of City, City zoning law limited persons who could live in a single residential home to "persons related by marriage or blood." Many years before while residing in another city, Resident had become good friends with Student’s father and, although they were not related, she was very fond of Student’s father. Now, contrary to City law, Resident wished to provide Student free lodging at her house so that Student could attend college at a nearby university. Is City law constitutional as applied to Resident and Student? A. Yes, but only if it were necessary to achieve some compelling state interest. B. Yes, provided it at least rationally related to some legitimate governmental concern. C. No, City could provide a hearing to determine was the equivalent of the ones permitted. D. No, the law would be the taking of private property without compensation. class=Section2> 9. Because of historical and well documented susceptibility of Native Americans to alcohol abuse, the state of New Mexico banned the sale of alcoholic beverages to Native Americans residing in New Mexico. A federal investigative committee had found that "alcohol abuse was the number one problem of American Indians contributing significantly to high unemployment, intolerable crime levels, and crippling health problems." Is the law constitutional? A. Yes, but only if substantially related to the important governmental interest in addressing the problems related to alcohol abuse. B. Yes, if rationally related to legitimate governmental ends. C. No, the law would be unlikely to pass the compelling state interest test. D. No, the law would be per se invalid. 10. In a change of current federal law which requires that pregnancy be treated like all other medical conditions, a new federal law provided that federal employees were eligible for sick leave pay for non occupational health related disabilities other than for pregnancy. Because of the high expense of such coverage, sick leave pay was not provided for any disability resulting from pregnancy. Is the law constitutional? A. Yes, but only if substantially related to some important governmental end. B. Yes, if rationally related to some legitimate governmental end. C. No, the law is per se invalid. D. No, the law would be the taking of a government recognized property right without compensation. 11. State law defined unlawful sexual intercourse as "an act of sexual intercourse accomplished with a female not the wife of the perpetrator, where the female is under the age of 18 years." The law thus made males alone criminally liable for the act of sexual intercourse. Is the state law constitutional? A. Yes, if rationally related to some legitimate governmental end. B. Yes, but only if substantially related to some important governmental end. C. No, the law is per se invalid. D. No, the law would not satisfy the compelling state interest test because of the presence of reasonable alternative gender neutral ways of fulfilling the same state interest. 12. In order to address certain adjustment problems believed to be common to children of mixed marriages, state law banned all interracial marriages, treating all racial groups exactly the same. Is the law constitutional? A. No, the law is per se invalid. B. No, unless the state's concern could pass the compelling state interest test. C. No, regulations of marriage are invalid. D. No, the law would be contrary to the equal protection component of the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment. 13. Under the Federal Old-Age Survivors, and Disability Insurance Benefits program, survivor benefits were paid to the widow of a deceased husband covered by the Act but were payable to a widower whose wife was covered only if he received one-half or more of his support from his deceased wife. Is the law constitutional? A. Yes, since it benefits women it would only have to pass the rational basis test. B. Yes, it benefits women and would pass the middle level test. C. No, whether it discriminates for or against women is debatable, but there is no evidence that it would substantially relate to any important governmental interest in any event. D. No, unless the different treatment of widowers with one-half or more support from those with less support was rational. 14. In order to make up in part for past historical economic discrimination against women, state law imposed alimony obligations on husbands but not wives. Is this state law constitutional? A. Yes, making up for past historical economic discrimination against women has been held to pass the required middle level test. B. Yes, laws advantaging women must only pass the rational basis test. C. Yes, but only if the law were to satisfy the compelling state interest test. D. No, the law would not be narrowly tailored enough to pass the middle level test. 15. A white male was passed over for promotion for a city job in favor of a female employee with a lower test score. The test was historically the key factor in helping to evaluate candidates for promotion. The city admitted that the sex of the applicant was one factor it considered in determining who got the promotion. Its decision to do so was pursuant to an affirmative action plan which provided for a flexible, case by case approach to affect a gradual improvement in the representation of women in the city's work force. Was the hiring of the female over the male constitutional? A. Yes, the limited use of gender as described would seem to be substantially related to an important state interest. B. Yes, the state would have a compelling state interest in creating diversity among its work force. C. No, the city admitted that it discriminated based upon gender and thus the hiring preference would be a per se violation. D. No, absent a finding that the preference for women was intended to make up for a past pattern of gender discrimination against women by a city. 16. Congress passed a law agreeing to reimburse state and local governments for 80% of any medical costs related to the treatment of persons with AIDS "provided said person was a citizen of the United States at the time of the contraction of the disease." Is the federal law constitutional? A. Yes, if it is found to be rationally related to some conceivable governmental purpose. B. Yes, there are no limits on Congress's ability to classify based upon citizenship. C. Yes, but only if the classification passes the compelling state interest test which federal laws based upon citizenship can while generally state laws cannot. D. No, unless the classification can be shown to go to the heart of our representative government. 17. Under state law, an illegitimate child had to prove paternity before they could inherit by intestate succession from their father. Such proof of paternity was required within six years of birth. Is the state law constitutional? A. Yes, the state has a permissible interest in preventing fraudulent and stale claims against alleged fathers of illegitimate children. B. Yes, but only if necessary to achieve some compelling state interest. C. Yes, it would only have to rationally relate to some legitimate governmental interest. D. No, the interest in preventing stale or fraudulent claims would likely not satisfy the level of scrutiny usually applied to this kind of case. At the very least, the minor should have until the age of majority to prove paternity. 18. State law limited the right to adopt children through the state run adoption system to married couples. There was no such limitation for adoption through the various private adoption agencies in the state. A $100 fee was chargeable for all adoptions, both state and private. Assuming that adoption is not part of the fundamental right to privacy, would the state law be constitutional? A. No, the limitation of the right to use the state system to married couples would impermissibly burden the fundamental right of single persons to have children. B. No, the law would not be narrowly tailored to accomplish any compelling state interest. C. No, the law works an impermissible wealth classification. D. Yes, the various classifications would likely pass the applicable rational basis test. 19. The city provided rent subsidies to low income families in certain neighborhoods. The subsidies were available only for those neighborhoods in which "the average standard of living was substantially below that of the community as a whole." Neighborhoods meeting that description were primarily minority in their racial make-up. The result of the law was to further racial segregation by limiting low income families, who were disproportionately made up of minorities, to those neighborhoods which were also disproportionately minority. Is the city law constitutional? A. Yes, the race based classification would be for an affirmative action purpose and would likely satisfy concerns related to narrowness of purpose, limited advantage to minorities without unnecessarily trammeling rights of majority persons, and overall flexibility. B. No, the subsidy would get a compelling state interest level of review because of its disproportionate racial impact. C. No, the law would be per se invalid because it intentionally perpetuates segregated housing. D. Yes, absence evidence that the law was intended to create race based segregation, the limitations on the subsidy would only have to rationally relate to legitimate state ends. 20. City law banned the use of polygraph or lie detector tests for the hiring of employees except for the hiring of police officers. A female applicant applied for a job as a police officer and received the highest score based upon interviews and aptitude scores. However, based upon the results of her polygraph test, she was not hired. Other than being told that she had failed the polygraph test, she was offered no explanation. Women were seriously under represented on the police force. Is the city law constitutional? A. Yes, but only because the law would likely be supported by substantial governmental interests. B. Yes, allowing the use of the polygraph exam for the job of police officer, but not other city jobs would likely satisfy the rational basis test. C. No, the polygraph test would invade rights of personal privacy, and thus the level of review would be compelling state interest. D. No, because a female was denied the job, the law would have to be substantially related to significant governmental ends. 21. State law provided for the compulsory sterilization of criminals convicted two or more times of crimes of moral turpitude. Not all the categories were logical. For example, the state law made grand larceny a felony of moral turpitude, while the similar but technically different crime of embezzlement was not. Is the state law constitutional? A. Yes, the law would rationally relate to legitimate state ends of crime control. B. Yes, the law would reasonably relate to important governmental ends. C. No, given the interest involved, the law would likely have to meet the compelling state interest test which it would not. D. No, the law would be per se invalid. 22. Montana State School of Podiatry (SOP) was a 3-year program with an entering class of 100 students. In order to increase its minority enrollment, SOP decided to offer acceptance to 40 of its minority applicants without regard to actual qualifications. For its regular admission rogram, it had only a one in four capture ratio. 15 minority students accepted admission the first year of the program, only five of whom could have been admitted under the regular admission program. In order to accommodate the same number of majority students, the maximum entering class size was raised from 100 to 110. All of the minority students successfully completed the program. There was no history of race discrimination against minorities by the school. Is the minority admission program constitutional? A. Yes, because no one is harmed, it would only have to be reasonable. B. Yes, the law would rationally relate to legitimate governmental interest. C. Yes, but only if the court were to find that the school's program for racial diversity satisfied the compelling state interest test. Otherwise it would not be constitutional.. D. No, racial classifications are per se invalid. 23. The Montana State School of Restaurant Management (SRM) was a 2-year, 4-semester program. In order to increase tourism in the state, the state legislature decided to try to improve state restaurants by requiring that graduates of SRM have at least 60 units, including a required four-unit course in "Tourism and the Restaurant." The law was to apply to all new entering students and to current first-year students. Second-year students were excluded. Sylvia York was one month away from finishing her first year. The school catalogue for her year, which she had relied upon as stating her graduating needs, required only 56 units and had no second-year required courses. (State law supported Sylvia's view that the school catalogue was a contract between school and student.) She had planned to take only institutional cafeteria management classes in her second year and later manage a school cafeteria in her home state of Oregon. Is the change in the requirements for graduation constitutional as applied to Sylvia York? A. Yes, even if the catalogue is viewed as a contract, it is likely that the state interest would satisfy the public purpose balancing test. B. Yes, since only economic interests are at stake, the law would only have to rationally relate to legitimate governmental interest and it would satisfy that test. C. No, the classification between current first-year students and second-year students would be in violation of the equal protection clause. D. No, the law would be in violation of Sylvia's fundamental right to choose her own education. 24. The City of Boston, Massachusetts required the Boston Red Sox to provide free admission for straight A public school students from certain designated schools in underprivileged neighborhoods with most of the beneficiaries being members of racial minorities. A number of students qualified for the free tickets and because of the expense from the lost ticket sales, the Red Sox objected. Is the law likely constitutional? A. Yes, it rationally promotes a legitimate interest of the city, and there would be no other arguable constitutional issue. B. Yes, it is justified by the state’s compelling state interest in its affirmative action program. C. No, the limitation of the program to just certain schools with large populations of racial minorities would work a race-based classification in violation of the equal protection clause. D. No, if the law is the taking of private property, the value of the baseball tickets, without compensation in violation of the 5th Amendment. 25. State law permitted the use of state funds to reimburse women for the costs of childbirth for all first term abortions and for "medically necessary" second term abortions, but forbade the use of state funds for the costs of second term abortions that were not medically necessary. Medically necessary was defined to mean that the operation was necessary for the life or health of the female The law would most likely be A. Constitutional, if the law or the classifications it draws rationally relates to legitimate government interest. B. Constitutional, because it accomplishes the compelling state interest in preventing unnecessary medical complications resulting from second term abortions. C. Unconstitutional, because there are reasonable adequate alternative ways of discouraging second term abortions other than eliminating funding. D. Unconstitutional, because the law imposes a classification based upon wealth without any compelling state interest. 26. In order to protect the American Eagle from extinction, Congress passed the Eagle Protection Act which banned the sale of bald or golden eagle parts, but not their possession or transportation. Prior to the passage of the Eagle Protection Act, Alaskan Exports had a contract to sell all of its eagle artifacts to Japan Imports. Does the Congressional law violate the no impairment of obligations of contract clause? A. It does not violate the impairment clause because the impairment clause does not apply to Congress, but it does violate the Fifth Amendment due process clause which incorporates the impairment clause. B. It violates the impairment clause because it impairs a preexisting contract. C. It does not violate the impairment clause or the due process clause. The impairment clause is not applicable, and the law would likely pass the applicable rational basis due process test. D. If this were a state law, it would violate the impairment clause because there would be no compelling state interest supporting the law. 27. A new city zoning ordinance placed the Plaintiff's five acres of unimproved suburban land in a "Residential Planned Development and Open Space" zone designed to discourage "premature and unnecessary conversion of open-space lands to urban uses." The result of this zoning was to limit Plaintiff's development of the property to between one to five total single family dwellings, depending on the actual plans. Plaintiff had hoped to build twenty homes, four homes per acre, more in line with the nearby suburban developments. Would the zoning law likely be constitutional? A. Yes, because general zoning laws which leave some economically viable use are usually not held to be compensable takings, and the law would rationally relate to the environmental goals. B. No, because Plaintiff may have already entered into a contract to build the desired twenty homes. C. No, because the law does not rationally relate to any legitimate governmental interest. D. No, because the law has an adverse economic impact of the Plaintiff's reasonable investment based expectations. 28. Over 70% of the city of Metro's schools were racially integrated. Nonetheless, many white families began to move to adjoining suburban school districts which were mostly all white. The school board was afraid that this movement of white families threatened the stability of the integrated school system. A suit was brought by the school board in federal court to restrict the white families from transferring to the suburban school districts. The federal court ordered white families who moved from the city to the suburban school district to continue to send their children to the city schools. There was no such order entered for the few ninority families moving to the suburban schools. Should the Supreme Court affirm or reverse the lower court? A. The Court should affirm, because benign racial classifications can more easily satisfy the applicable equal protection standard than hostile racial classifications. B. The Court should reverse, absent proof of intentional racial bias on the part of the transferring white families, the federal court did not have the authority to issue this order. C. The Court should reverse, since the facts do not involve intentional segregation by the city, the federal court did not have the constitutional authority to order the transfer. D. The Court should reverse, unless the federal court's different treatment of minority and white families could be justified by a compelling state interest. 29. Congress required that private undeveloped land around Yellowstone National Park be left undeveloped for an unspecified period of time until the rainfall was of sufficient amount to overcome a period of drought and resulting fire danger. After a law suit challenging the indeterminate federal moratorium, the federal court ruled that the federal law was an unconstitutional taking. Congress repealed the law. The federal court still ordered the government to pay damages for the period of restricted use. Is the damage award likely to be constitutional? A. Yes, even though Congress may have thought it was only regulating the property, once it was found to be an unconstitutional taking it had to pay for the period of the taking even though the law was repealed. B. No, the property would have been lost as a result of surrounding fires in any event. C. No, the national interest justified the moratorium order and any finding of unconstitutional taking and resulting damages was clearly erroneous. D. No, if the initial taking was unintentional and did no permanent harm, the government had the option of going forward and paying for the taking or repealing the law as it did. 30. As the result of a grant from Hormel, the Montana State School of Restaurant Management added a required class to the curriculum called, "Cooking with Spam." In the class, each student had to invent an original recipe using classic Spam or Spam Light, for those who like their congealed meat byproducts with a little less fat. The school asserted exclusive ownership over all such recipes and used the students' recipes to prepare a book which was sold to raise revenue for the school. Hormel itself paid $100 for each original Spam recipe submitted directly to it. Victoria, one of the students whose recipe was used in the book, believed that it was unconstitutional for the school to profit from one of her Spam recipes and filed a law suit challenging the law. Is the law unconstitutional? A. Yes, if the school’s claim of ownership is in violation of the "no taking" clause of the 5th Amendment. B. Yes, the law would not rationally relate to any legitimate governmental end. C. Yes, the law would be in violation of her fundamental right to protect her own ideas. D. No, since the restriction bears some rough proportionality to the school’s purpose, the law would only have to be rational which it would be. Answers 1. D 2. A 3. B 4. D 5. B 6. A 7. B 8. B 9. C 10. B 11. B 12. B 13. C 14. D 15. A 16. A 17. D 18. D 19. D 20. B 21. C 22. C 23. A 24. D 25. A 26. C 27. A 28. C 29. A 30. A