US Government, Unit 2 Questions and Verified
Answers
Body of Liberties Correct Answer: The first legal code to be established by European colonists in New
England. Compiled by the Puritan minister Nathaniel Ward, the laws were established by the
Massachusetts General Court in 1641.
Bill of Rights Correct Answer: The freedoms listed in the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution.
Ex post facto laws Correct Answer: A law which punishes people for a crime that was not a crime when
it was committed. Congress cannot pass these laws.
Bills of attainder Correct Answer: laws that punish a person without a jury trial
Habeas corpus Correct Answer: the right not to be held in prison without first being charged with a
specific crime
James Madison Correct Answer: The 4th President, a member of the Continental Congress and
Constitutional Convention. Strongly supported ratification of the Constitution (Federalist). His
presidency was marked by the War of 1812.
Arkansas law Correct Answer: ...
Selective incorporation Correct Answer: The process of applying some of the rights in the Bill of Rights
to the states through the de process cause in the 14th amendment.
unincorporated amendments Correct Answer: 2, 3, 5, 7, 8
Malice Correct Answer: the quality of threatening evil
NY Times v. Sullivan Correct Answer: This 1964 case established strict standards for proving slander and
libel, court must prove intent of malice on the part of the publisher.
Defamation Correct Answer: an abusive attack on a person's character or good name
Libel Correct Answer: WRITTEN statements that are false and injure another's reputation.
Slander Correct Answer: ORAL statements that are false and injure another's reputation.
, Miller Test Correct Answer: The current judicial test for obscenity cases.
3?'s to Miller test Correct Answer: *Does the average person, applying contemporary community
standards, believe that the dominant theme of the material, taken as a whole appeals to a prurient
interest?
*Is the material patently offensive?
*Does the work, taken as a whole lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value?
Article VI Correct Answer: contains supremacy clause; establishes the constitution as "supreme law of
the land"
Free Exercise Clause Correct Answer: The 1st amendment provision intended to protect the practice of
one's religion free from government interference.
Establishment Clause Correct Answer: The 1st amendment prohibition against the government's
establishment of a national religion.
Hate Speech Correct Answer: Prejudicial and hostile statements toward another person's innate
characteristics, such as race and ethnicity.
William Blackstone Correct Answer: an English jurist, who echoed Hobbes, and said "There is and must
be in every state, a supreme, irresistible,absolute, and uncontrolled authority."
Prior Restraint Correct Answer: A rejected practice that would allow the government to censor a
publication before anyone could read or view it.
Belief action distinction Correct Answer: ...
RFRA Correct Answer: Religious Freedom Restoration Act: compelling interest must be shown to cutail
interests. Overturned in 1997
Near v. Minnesota Correct Answer: the 1931 Supreme Court decision holding that the first amendment
protects newspapers from prior restraint.
Accomodationists Correct Answer: those who refused to accept science or the Bible as an explanation for
evolution
Judith Miller Correct Answer: The NY Times Reporter who did not give up information and went to jail!
Answers
Body of Liberties Correct Answer: The first legal code to be established by European colonists in New
England. Compiled by the Puritan minister Nathaniel Ward, the laws were established by the
Massachusetts General Court in 1641.
Bill of Rights Correct Answer: The freedoms listed in the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution.
Ex post facto laws Correct Answer: A law which punishes people for a crime that was not a crime when
it was committed. Congress cannot pass these laws.
Bills of attainder Correct Answer: laws that punish a person without a jury trial
Habeas corpus Correct Answer: the right not to be held in prison without first being charged with a
specific crime
James Madison Correct Answer: The 4th President, a member of the Continental Congress and
Constitutional Convention. Strongly supported ratification of the Constitution (Federalist). His
presidency was marked by the War of 1812.
Arkansas law Correct Answer: ...
Selective incorporation Correct Answer: The process of applying some of the rights in the Bill of Rights
to the states through the de process cause in the 14th amendment.
unincorporated amendments Correct Answer: 2, 3, 5, 7, 8
Malice Correct Answer: the quality of threatening evil
NY Times v. Sullivan Correct Answer: This 1964 case established strict standards for proving slander and
libel, court must prove intent of malice on the part of the publisher.
Defamation Correct Answer: an abusive attack on a person's character or good name
Libel Correct Answer: WRITTEN statements that are false and injure another's reputation.
Slander Correct Answer: ORAL statements that are false and injure another's reputation.
, Miller Test Correct Answer: The current judicial test for obscenity cases.
3?'s to Miller test Correct Answer: *Does the average person, applying contemporary community
standards, believe that the dominant theme of the material, taken as a whole appeals to a prurient
interest?
*Is the material patently offensive?
*Does the work, taken as a whole lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value?
Article VI Correct Answer: contains supremacy clause; establishes the constitution as "supreme law of
the land"
Free Exercise Clause Correct Answer: The 1st amendment provision intended to protect the practice of
one's religion free from government interference.
Establishment Clause Correct Answer: The 1st amendment prohibition against the government's
establishment of a national religion.
Hate Speech Correct Answer: Prejudicial and hostile statements toward another person's innate
characteristics, such as race and ethnicity.
William Blackstone Correct Answer: an English jurist, who echoed Hobbes, and said "There is and must
be in every state, a supreme, irresistible,absolute, and uncontrolled authority."
Prior Restraint Correct Answer: A rejected practice that would allow the government to censor a
publication before anyone could read or view it.
Belief action distinction Correct Answer: ...
RFRA Correct Answer: Religious Freedom Restoration Act: compelling interest must be shown to cutail
interests. Overturned in 1997
Near v. Minnesota Correct Answer: the 1931 Supreme Court decision holding that the first amendment
protects newspapers from prior restraint.
Accomodationists Correct Answer: those who refused to accept science or the Bible as an explanation for
evolution
Judith Miller Correct Answer: The NY Times Reporter who did not give up information and went to jail!
