CON LAW FINAL REVIEW FREQUENTLY
TESTED ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS
WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
Question 1.
Congress recently enacted a statute that provides the U.S. Supreme Court with original jurisdiction
over any cause of action against a military officer for official misconduct. The stated intent of the
statute is to ensure the prompt disposition of such actions by eliminating the need for appeals. Is the
statute constitutional?
ANSWER
B: No, because Article III fixes the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction.
Congress lacks the constitutional power to add to the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction.
See Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803). Under Article III Congress may only make
exceptions and regulations regarding the Court's appellate jurisdiction, not its original
jurisdiction.
Question 2.
A city's police officers shot and killed a plaintiff's friend as he attempted to escape arrest for an
armed robbery he had committed. The plaintiff brought suit in federal court against the police
department and the city police officers involved, seeking only a judgment declaring the state statute
under which the police acted. That newly enacted statute authorized the police to use deadly force
when necessary to apprehend a person who has committed a felony. In his suit, the plaintiff alleged
that the police would not have killed his friend if the use of deadly force had not been authorized by
the statute. The federal district court should
ANSWER
C: dismiss the action, because it does not present a case or controversy.
The plaintiff does not have standing required to establish his stake in the case or controversy,
which is necessary for proper federal action. The plaintiff has not suffered an injury; it was a
third party (his friend) who was shot and killed. Moreover, any injury the plaintiff does have
from
his friend dying cannot be redressed by a finding of unconstitutionality.
, Question 3.
In order to provide funds for a system of new major airports near the ten largest cities in the United
States, Congress levies a tax of $25 on each airline ticket issued in the United States. The tax applies
to every airline ticket, even those for travel that does not originate in, terminate at, or pass through
any of those ten large cities. As applied to the issuance in the United States of an airline ticket for
travel between two cities that will not be served by any of the new airports, this tax is:
ANSWER
A. constitutional, because Congress has broad discretion in choosing the subjects of its
taxation and may impose taxes on subjects that have no relation to the purpose for which
those tax funds will be expended.
Congress's powers to tax and to spend funds are both very broad, and there is no
requirement that what is spent be related in any way to what is taxed.
Question 4.
The National AIDS Prevention and Control Act is a new, comprehensive federal statute
that was enacted to deal with the public health crisis caused by HIV/AIDS. Congress and the President
were concerned that inconsistent lower court rulings with respect to the constitutionality,
interpretation, and application of the statute might adversely affect or delay its enforcement and,
thereby, jeopardize public health. As a result, they included a provision in the statute providing that all
legal challenges concerning those matters may be initiated only by filing suit directly in the United
States Supreme Court. The provision authorizing direct review of the constitutionality, interpretation,
or application of this statute only in the United States Supreme Court is:
ANSWER
D: unconstitutional, because it is inconsistent with the specification in Article III of the original
jurisdiction of the United States Supreme Court.
This provision is inconsistent with Article III, which states that the Court has original
jurisdiction in cases involving ambassadors, ministers and consuls, and cases in which a state
is a party. None of these scenarios applies here.
TESTED ACTUAL EXAM QUESTIONS
WITH CORRECT ANSWERS
Question 1.
Congress recently enacted a statute that provides the U.S. Supreme Court with original jurisdiction
over any cause of action against a military officer for official misconduct. The stated intent of the
statute is to ensure the prompt disposition of such actions by eliminating the need for appeals. Is the
statute constitutional?
ANSWER
B: No, because Article III fixes the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction.
Congress lacks the constitutional power to add to the Supreme Court's original jurisdiction.
See Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1803). Under Article III Congress may only make
exceptions and regulations regarding the Court's appellate jurisdiction, not its original
jurisdiction.
Question 2.
A city's police officers shot and killed a plaintiff's friend as he attempted to escape arrest for an
armed robbery he had committed. The plaintiff brought suit in federal court against the police
department and the city police officers involved, seeking only a judgment declaring the state statute
under which the police acted. That newly enacted statute authorized the police to use deadly force
when necessary to apprehend a person who has committed a felony. In his suit, the plaintiff alleged
that the police would not have killed his friend if the use of deadly force had not been authorized by
the statute. The federal district court should
ANSWER
C: dismiss the action, because it does not present a case or controversy.
The plaintiff does not have standing required to establish his stake in the case or controversy,
which is necessary for proper federal action. The plaintiff has not suffered an injury; it was a
third party (his friend) who was shot and killed. Moreover, any injury the plaintiff does have
from
his friend dying cannot be redressed by a finding of unconstitutionality.
, Question 3.
In order to provide funds for a system of new major airports near the ten largest cities in the United
States, Congress levies a tax of $25 on each airline ticket issued in the United States. The tax applies
to every airline ticket, even those for travel that does not originate in, terminate at, or pass through
any of those ten large cities. As applied to the issuance in the United States of an airline ticket for
travel between two cities that will not be served by any of the new airports, this tax is:
ANSWER
A. constitutional, because Congress has broad discretion in choosing the subjects of its
taxation and may impose taxes on subjects that have no relation to the purpose for which
those tax funds will be expended.
Congress's powers to tax and to spend funds are both very broad, and there is no
requirement that what is spent be related in any way to what is taxed.
Question 4.
The National AIDS Prevention and Control Act is a new, comprehensive federal statute
that was enacted to deal with the public health crisis caused by HIV/AIDS. Congress and the President
were concerned that inconsistent lower court rulings with respect to the constitutionality,
interpretation, and application of the statute might adversely affect or delay its enforcement and,
thereby, jeopardize public health. As a result, they included a provision in the statute providing that all
legal challenges concerning those matters may be initiated only by filing suit directly in the United
States Supreme Court. The provision authorizing direct review of the constitutionality, interpretation,
or application of this statute only in the United States Supreme Court is:
ANSWER
D: unconstitutional, because it is inconsistent with the specification in Article III of the original
jurisdiction of the United States Supreme Court.
This provision is inconsistent with Article III, which states that the Court has original
jurisdiction in cases involving ambassadors, ministers and consuls, and cases in which a state
is a party. None of these scenarios applies here.
