Bar Skills Final Exam with Complete
Solutions
A police officer was employed on a city's police force for 10 years. When the officer
accepted the job, the city's employee benefit plan provided a death benefit to the
spouse of any employee who died as a result of any job-related injury. Last year, the
city amended its employee benefit plan to deny its death benefit in cases where the
death "was caused by the employee's refusal to accept, for any reason other than its
excessive risk to life or health, reasonably available medical care prescribed by a
physician."
After this amendment took effect, the officer was shot while on duty. Because of a
sincerely held religious belief, the officer refused to allow a prescribed blood transfusion
and, as a result, died from loss of blood. When the officer's spouse applied for the death
benefit, the city denied the application on the basis of the amendment to the employee
benefit plan.
The officer's spouse has challenged the am - ANSWER-(C), because the right to free
exercise of religion does not relieve a person of the obligation to comply with a valid and
neutral law of general applicability, even if the law requires conduct that the person's
religion forbids.
A federal statute provides states with funds for child welfare programs, subject to the
condition that such programs be administered in accordance with federal standards.
The United States sued a state in federal court for injunctive relief, arguing that the
state's child welfare programs, which were funded in part by federal funds disbursed
under this statute, failed to comply with federal standards. The state has moved to
dismiss the action.
Is the court likely to dismiss the action?
(A)No, because Congress can place any condition on the receipt of federal funds.
(B)No, because the Eleventh Amendment does not bar actions brought by the United
States.
(C)Yes, because the Eleventh Amendment bars actions against a state in federal court.
(D)Yes, because the protection of child welfare is reserved to the states. - ANSWER-
(B), because the Eleventh Amendment only bars federal-court suits against a state
brought by private citizens, not federal-court suits brought against a state by the federal
government.
Because of a sudden and unanticipated severe shortage of heating fuel, the President
has ordered all offices of federal executive agencies to be open only four days per
week. The President's order allows an exception to the extent that emergency
circumstances require different hours of operation (as in the case of federal hospitals).
When Congress enacted the appropriations statute for operating all federal executive
,agencies, its members assumed that the offices of those agencies would be open five
days per week, but Congress did not include such a requirement in its appropriations
statute or in any other statute.
Is the President's order constitutional?
(A)No, because the heads of the various executive agencies have final responsibility for
the operation of those agencies' offices.
(B)No, because when they passed the statute appropriating monies for the operation of
executive agencies, members of Congress assumed t - ANSWER-(D), because the
Constitution gives the President authority to manage the executive branch, and that
authority is at its maximum where, as here, the President is acting pursuant to
Congress's implied authorization of his action.
A state criminal law prohibits the publication of any description of the details of the
execution of any prisoner who is sentenced to death by the courts of the state. Although
the law allows a specified number of reporters to observe an execution, only the prison
warden's official statement that the prisoner was "executed as provided by law" at a
certain time and date may be published. The purpose of the law is to protect the public,
particularly children, from the details of executions.
After a particular execution was mishandled, causing the prisoner to suffer, a
newspaper in the state published a story describing the event in detail. The story was
written by the newspaper's reporter, who was permitted to observe the execution but did
not promise prison officials that he would report only the warden's official statement. A
prosecutor subsequently filed charges against the newspaper for publishing the details
of th - ANSWER-(A), because the newspaper's First Amendment rights protect it from
being punished for publishing this lawfully-obtained truthful information about a matter of
public significance unless the state shows a "need of the highest order," which the state
has not done.
To improve the quality of rental housing within its boundaries, a city proposed an
ordinance requiring all new and existing rental housing units to provide at least one full
bathroom for each bedroom, plumbing and electrical hookups for a washer and dryer,
and a covered parking space.
A majority of the owners of existing rental housing in the city opposed the ordinance.
They argued that it would dramatically decrease the number of low-income rental
housing units because owners would be unable to raise rents enough to recoup the
investment required to comply. Without denying these contentions, the city enacted the
ordinance. A plaintiff who owns low-income rental housing has sued the city, claiming
only that the ordinance is unconstitutional on its face.
Which of the following best states the burden of persuasion in this action?
(A)The city must demonstrate that the ordinance is necessary to serve a compelling
state i - ANSWER-(D), because the Supreme Court uses rational-relation review when it
evaluates state regulations in the social and economic-welfare sphere that neither
classify based on suspect or semi-suspect categories nor impair fundamental rights.
A large privately owned and operated shopping mall is open to the public and includes
small shops, major department stores, and restaurants that are located around a
, pedestrian area. It also has several movie theaters, an ice-skating rink, a small
amusement park, and a branch of the local public library. The mall is advertised as "a
small town with a big-town feel."
During shopping hours, a group of 10 protesters gathered in the pedestrian area near
the entrance to a department store to denounce the sale of animal fur products in that
store. The protesters were peaceful and did not interfere with traffic into or out of the
store, but they carried signs and vocally communicated their message to people walking
in the area. Mall management quickly broke up the protest and required the protesters
to leave the mall. The protesters have sued the mall, claiming that their right to freedom
of speech guaranteed by the First a - ANSWER-(A), because the requirement of "state
action" means that the First Amendment only protects against infringements on free
speech imposed by government, and the "public function" exception to the state action
doctrine does not apply to shopping centers.
Congress enacted a statute prohibiting discrimination in the rental of residential property
anywhere in the United States on the basis of sexual orientation or preference by any
person or entity, public or private.
Which of the following provisions provides the strongest basis for Congress's authority
to enact this statute?
(A)The Enforcement Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. (B) The Privileges and
Immunities Clause of Article IV. (C) The Commerce Clause of Article I, Section 8. (D)
The General Welfare Clause of Article I, Section 8. - ANSWER-(C), because rental
activities have a substantial effect on interstate commerce.
Congress enacted a statute authorizing the denial of all federal funding to public school
districts in which a specified percentage of the students enrolled in the public schools
fail to pass a national achievement test. According to the terms of the federal statute,
the first national achievement test was scheduled for administration five years from the
effective date of the statute.
After reviewing then-current levels of public school student performance, the officials of
a state became concerned that several of its public school districts would lose their
federal funding after the administration of the first national achievement test. Then-
current levels of private school student performance were substantially higher.
In order to improve the chances of those school districts retaining their federal funding,
the state recently enacted a law that requires all children of elementary and secondary
school age to attend - ANSWER-(D), because strict scrutiny would apply, and the
statute would not survive that scrutiny.
A federal statute required a federal agency to establish minimum quality standards for
all beer sold in the United States. The statute also provided that public proceedings
must precede adoption of the standards, and that once they were adopted, the
standards would be subject to judicial review. No standards have yet been adopted.
Several officials of the agency have indicated their personal preference for beer
produced by a special brewing process commonly referred to as pasteurization.
However, these officials have not indicated whether they intend to include a requirement
for pasteurization in the minimum beer quality standards to be adopted by the agency. A
Solutions
A police officer was employed on a city's police force for 10 years. When the officer
accepted the job, the city's employee benefit plan provided a death benefit to the
spouse of any employee who died as a result of any job-related injury. Last year, the
city amended its employee benefit plan to deny its death benefit in cases where the
death "was caused by the employee's refusal to accept, for any reason other than its
excessive risk to life or health, reasonably available medical care prescribed by a
physician."
After this amendment took effect, the officer was shot while on duty. Because of a
sincerely held religious belief, the officer refused to allow a prescribed blood transfusion
and, as a result, died from loss of blood. When the officer's spouse applied for the death
benefit, the city denied the application on the basis of the amendment to the employee
benefit plan.
The officer's spouse has challenged the am - ANSWER-(C), because the right to free
exercise of religion does not relieve a person of the obligation to comply with a valid and
neutral law of general applicability, even if the law requires conduct that the person's
religion forbids.
A federal statute provides states with funds for child welfare programs, subject to the
condition that such programs be administered in accordance with federal standards.
The United States sued a state in federal court for injunctive relief, arguing that the
state's child welfare programs, which were funded in part by federal funds disbursed
under this statute, failed to comply with federal standards. The state has moved to
dismiss the action.
Is the court likely to dismiss the action?
(A)No, because Congress can place any condition on the receipt of federal funds.
(B)No, because the Eleventh Amendment does not bar actions brought by the United
States.
(C)Yes, because the Eleventh Amendment bars actions against a state in federal court.
(D)Yes, because the protection of child welfare is reserved to the states. - ANSWER-
(B), because the Eleventh Amendment only bars federal-court suits against a state
brought by private citizens, not federal-court suits brought against a state by the federal
government.
Because of a sudden and unanticipated severe shortage of heating fuel, the President
has ordered all offices of federal executive agencies to be open only four days per
week. The President's order allows an exception to the extent that emergency
circumstances require different hours of operation (as in the case of federal hospitals).
When Congress enacted the appropriations statute for operating all federal executive
,agencies, its members assumed that the offices of those agencies would be open five
days per week, but Congress did not include such a requirement in its appropriations
statute or in any other statute.
Is the President's order constitutional?
(A)No, because the heads of the various executive agencies have final responsibility for
the operation of those agencies' offices.
(B)No, because when they passed the statute appropriating monies for the operation of
executive agencies, members of Congress assumed t - ANSWER-(D), because the
Constitution gives the President authority to manage the executive branch, and that
authority is at its maximum where, as here, the President is acting pursuant to
Congress's implied authorization of his action.
A state criminal law prohibits the publication of any description of the details of the
execution of any prisoner who is sentenced to death by the courts of the state. Although
the law allows a specified number of reporters to observe an execution, only the prison
warden's official statement that the prisoner was "executed as provided by law" at a
certain time and date may be published. The purpose of the law is to protect the public,
particularly children, from the details of executions.
After a particular execution was mishandled, causing the prisoner to suffer, a
newspaper in the state published a story describing the event in detail. The story was
written by the newspaper's reporter, who was permitted to observe the execution but did
not promise prison officials that he would report only the warden's official statement. A
prosecutor subsequently filed charges against the newspaper for publishing the details
of th - ANSWER-(A), because the newspaper's First Amendment rights protect it from
being punished for publishing this lawfully-obtained truthful information about a matter of
public significance unless the state shows a "need of the highest order," which the state
has not done.
To improve the quality of rental housing within its boundaries, a city proposed an
ordinance requiring all new and existing rental housing units to provide at least one full
bathroom for each bedroom, plumbing and electrical hookups for a washer and dryer,
and a covered parking space.
A majority of the owners of existing rental housing in the city opposed the ordinance.
They argued that it would dramatically decrease the number of low-income rental
housing units because owners would be unable to raise rents enough to recoup the
investment required to comply. Without denying these contentions, the city enacted the
ordinance. A plaintiff who owns low-income rental housing has sued the city, claiming
only that the ordinance is unconstitutional on its face.
Which of the following best states the burden of persuasion in this action?
(A)The city must demonstrate that the ordinance is necessary to serve a compelling
state i - ANSWER-(D), because the Supreme Court uses rational-relation review when it
evaluates state regulations in the social and economic-welfare sphere that neither
classify based on suspect or semi-suspect categories nor impair fundamental rights.
A large privately owned and operated shopping mall is open to the public and includes
small shops, major department stores, and restaurants that are located around a
, pedestrian area. It also has several movie theaters, an ice-skating rink, a small
amusement park, and a branch of the local public library. The mall is advertised as "a
small town with a big-town feel."
During shopping hours, a group of 10 protesters gathered in the pedestrian area near
the entrance to a department store to denounce the sale of animal fur products in that
store. The protesters were peaceful and did not interfere with traffic into or out of the
store, but they carried signs and vocally communicated their message to people walking
in the area. Mall management quickly broke up the protest and required the protesters
to leave the mall. The protesters have sued the mall, claiming that their right to freedom
of speech guaranteed by the First a - ANSWER-(A), because the requirement of "state
action" means that the First Amendment only protects against infringements on free
speech imposed by government, and the "public function" exception to the state action
doctrine does not apply to shopping centers.
Congress enacted a statute prohibiting discrimination in the rental of residential property
anywhere in the United States on the basis of sexual orientation or preference by any
person or entity, public or private.
Which of the following provisions provides the strongest basis for Congress's authority
to enact this statute?
(A)The Enforcement Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. (B) The Privileges and
Immunities Clause of Article IV. (C) The Commerce Clause of Article I, Section 8. (D)
The General Welfare Clause of Article I, Section 8. - ANSWER-(C), because rental
activities have a substantial effect on interstate commerce.
Congress enacted a statute authorizing the denial of all federal funding to public school
districts in which a specified percentage of the students enrolled in the public schools
fail to pass a national achievement test. According to the terms of the federal statute,
the first national achievement test was scheduled for administration five years from the
effective date of the statute.
After reviewing then-current levels of public school student performance, the officials of
a state became concerned that several of its public school districts would lose their
federal funding after the administration of the first national achievement test. Then-
current levels of private school student performance were substantially higher.
In order to improve the chances of those school districts retaining their federal funding,
the state recently enacted a law that requires all children of elementary and secondary
school age to attend - ANSWER-(D), because strict scrutiny would apply, and the
statute would not survive that scrutiny.
A federal statute required a federal agency to establish minimum quality standards for
all beer sold in the United States. The statute also provided that public proceedings
must precede adoption of the standards, and that once they were adopted, the
standards would be subject to judicial review. No standards have yet been adopted.
Several officials of the agency have indicated their personal preference for beer
produced by a special brewing process commonly referred to as pasteurization.
However, these officials have not indicated whether they intend to include a requirement
for pasteurization in the minimum beer quality standards to be adopted by the agency. A
