Midterm Exam Constitution Law Chapters 1 thorugh 6 PDF

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Midterm Exam Constitution Law Chapters 1 thorugh 6...

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BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE SOCIAL SCIENCES, HUMAN SERVICES AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE DEPARTMENT CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK CRJ 200 SECTION 1100 ROOM: ZOOM PROF: CARLOS MORENO MIDTERM EXAM/SPRING 2021 BASED ON CHAPTERS 1-7 1. NOTE: You have until Sunday, April 11, 2021 at 3:00 PM to submit the exam via BB, WORD format. No email submissions will be accepted. Late submissions will not be accepted. ________________________________________________ Student’s Name: Kendy Martinez 4/6/2021

Date:

Part A: CHOOSE THE BEST ANSWER 1. Craig and William are native born New Yorkers. Last month, they were arrested in Mobile, Alabama. Officers O’Neal and O’Connell of the Mobile Police Department, the arresting officers, told the suspects they were being held pursuant to an extradition request from the State of New York where, according to Officers O’Neal and O’Connell, they (the suspects) were wanted for armed robbery. Craig and William were taken to a cell at the Mobile County Jail. There, they were given Miranda warnings and left in the cell. For 12 hours, they were left in the cell and no one talked to them. They started yelling out that they were hungry and thirsty. A detective came to the cell and told them: “This ain’t New York. I’ll take none of your bullshit!” You won’t get any food or water until you tell me, in details, what went down during 1

that robbery. And by the way, you see this here pistol? It might just go off accidentally and blow your heads off. You tell me when you wanna talk!.” Two hours after this encounter, Craig and William confessed to the armed robbery in New York providing specific details about how they did it. Based on these facts, A. The confessions made by Craig and William are inadmissible as a matter of law because they were clearly coerced by depriving the suspects of food and water and by threatening the use of force. B. The confession made by the suspects are admissible because they were sufficiently detailed to be considered reliable. C. The confessions are admissible because armed robbery is a serious, violent felony and such crimes carry no constitutional protections. D. None of the above.

2. The Preamble to the United States Constitution provides that the purpose of the Constitution is, amongst other things: A. To establish justice. B. To insure domestic tranquility. C. To allow unreasonable searches and seizures. D. A & B only. 3. Jane Brown and other members of the New York Chapter of the 2

Green Party, a political organization promoting environmentalism, held a protest against President Trump environmental policies. They decried the President’s decision to walk out of the Paris Agreement on Climate change. Twenty protesters stormed into the Trump Tower building on Fifth Avenue in New York City. They smashed several windows and chained themselves to benches in the lobby of the building. Eventually, the protestors were arrested and charged with trespassing and destruction of property. Based on these facts, A. If the protestors’ lawyer files a motion to dismiss the charges arguing that the protestors were merely exercising their First Amendment rights to free speech and that political speech carries the highest level of First Amendment protection, the court is likely to deny the motion because the protestors’ conduct, not their message is being suppressed. B. The charges against the protestors should be dismissed because people engage in political protest cannot be arrested under any circumstances regardless of their conduct during their exercise of freedom of speech. C. The protestors should be imprisoned without a trial and without any due process because the President of the United States is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and therefore protests against him are unconstitutional as a matter of law. D. All of the above.

4. The rights protected by the First Amendment to the US Constitution include: 3

A. Freedom of speech. B. Freedom of the press C. Freedom of religion D. All of the above 5. John Wilson, Grand wizard of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, organized a parade through Borough Park, a largely Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. He requested a permit from the City of New York to hold the parade. The City rejected the permit arguing that the KKK was going to engage in hate speech and would cause a disruption of life in the neighborhood since most residents would find the parade highly offensive. The City of New York offered the KKK another location in an isolated section of Staten Island, New York. Based on these facts and your knowledge of First Amendment law: A. The City is right to deny the permit because the KKK is a hateful organization and hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment. B. The KKK has a right to conduct a parade through the Jewish neighborhood because the First Amendment protects hate speech as established in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969). C. The City has total discretion as to how and to whom it issues permits therefore their decision to deny the KKK a permit to march through Borough Park cannot be challenged in court. D. The KKK does not have a constitutionally protected right to march through a Jewish neighborhood since their organization is anti-Semitic and anti-Semitism is expressly prohibited by the text of the First Amendment. PART B: TRUE OR FALSE 1. In order to conduct an investigatory stop (stop and frisk), the 4

police or other law enforcement agency must have probable cause. False 2. In Plessy v. Fergusson (1896), the US Supreme Court held that separate but equal was unconstitutional as it violated the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. False 3. In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), The US Supreme Court held that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional as it amounted to a violation of the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. True 4. The difference between a subpoena duces tecum and subpoena ad testificandum is that while the former orders a person to come to court to testify, the latter orders a person to produce documents. False 5. The difference between absolute immunity and use immunity is that while the former protects the defendant against future prosecution for crimes revealed, the latter only protects the defendant from having his compelled testimony, or anything derived from it, used to prosecute him/her; however, the government can prosecute the defendant if it obtains independence evidence against the defendant. True PART C: FILL IN THE BLANK. PLEASE, WRITE THE ANSWERS ON THE BLANKS. DON’T JUST CIRCLE 5

YOUR CHOICES, AS THAT WOULD CREATE CONFUSION.

1. The exclusionary rule provides that illegally obtained evidence cannot be used against a defendant in criminal court unless one of the exceptions to the rule applies. exceptions

exclusionary rule

2. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act establishes a special secret court to oversee the process of gathering “foreign intelligence” which refers to information about terrorism, spying, espionage, sabotage, political assassinations and similar threats to our national security.

Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

court

3. In Miller v. Califronia (1973) the US Supreme Court formulated a constitutional definition of obscenity which provides that in order to be obscene a publication or material must, amongst other things, appeal to the prurient interest of the average person. obscenity

prurient

4. Article I of the US Constitution establishes the legislative branch, Article II establishes the executive branch and, Article III establishes the judicial branch. judicial branch

6

legislative branch

executive branch

5. The doctrine of separation of powers stands for the proposition that our Constitution divides the powers of the national government among three branches, a bicameral legislature with the power to make the laws, an executive branch with the power to enforce them and a judiciary branch with the power to interpret and apply them in individual cases. The Constitution also prohibits one branch from encroaching on the powers delegated to another branch and from turning its power over to another branch. In addition, the Constitution divides power between the federal government and the states. Constitution

bicameral

states

separation of powers

PART D: Provide very short answers to the following questions?

1. What does the judicial philosophy of originalism stand for? The judicial philosophy of Originalism stands for keeping the Constitution as it was interpreted when it was adopted by the founding fathers Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. This means that none of the content of the Constitution should be changed ONLY if they follow the steps of the Article V in the Constitution. The article V in the Constitution says, “an amendment can be proposed either by the U.S. Congress with a 2/3 majority vote in the house and the senate, or by a constitutional convention called for by 2/3 of the State legislatures. 2. What did the U.S. Supreme Court rule in Schmerber v. California (1966)? 7

The SCOTUS ruled that drawing blood from someone to determine their blood alcohol level was reasonable and not a violation of the person Fourth Amendment Rights. The police didn’t need to warrant because the alcohol level is evanescent evidence, meaning after hours the evidence would be destroyed because as we know the percentage of alcohol in the blood begins to diminish after drinking stops. 3. What did the U.S. Supreme Court rule in the case of Katz v. United States (1968). The SCOTUS ruled that a person who is on a phone booth needs to have some privacy and is entitled to their Fourth Amendment Rights. And this is because when you are in a phone booth they have doors and you pay the toll so you are expecting some privacy in there. 4. What is the supremacy clause? The supremacy clause states that the federal law is supreme. If there is a conflict between a state and federal law, the federal law prevails. 5. What does the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment state? The equal protection clause of the 14th amendment states that no state should deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law. This means that no state can deprive any person of life, liberty or property. This was also used in Plessy v. Ferguson where they ruled that, “separate but equal” did not violate the equal protection clause. 8

Part E: SHORT, BUT COHERENT AND COHESIVE ESSAY.

The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution provides that “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Some people believe that the Fourth Amendment goes too far because, in their views, it allows criminals to get away with crimes they have committed because the law makes it hard for law enforcement agents to gather the evidence they need to secure convictions. Other people feel that it does not go far enough in protecting people’s rights. These people believe that law enforcement agents (police) have too much power and that they should not be allowed to search a person’s house or property unless they have with them, in addition to a properly obtained search warrant, a civilian official (a prosecuting lawyer) from the district attorney’s office to ensure that police officers do not overstep their boundaries. Write a short essay (3 paragraphs will suffice) stating your position on the issue. Do you believe the Fourth Amendment goes too far in favor of people suspected of criminal behavior? Or do you believe it doesn’t go far enough and gives law enforcement too much power? You can also take the position that the Fourth Amendment is fine as it is and should not be changed one way or the other. You will be graded on the basis of the clarity, coherence, and cohesiveness of your argument, regardless of your position on the issue. Don’t do a rush job! Write the best essay you can write. 9

Th ef o ur t ha me ndme n tgua r a n t e e sc i t i z e n st og oa b outt he i r b us i n e s sf r e eofunr e a s ona bl ei nt e r f e r e nc eb yt hepol i c e . Me a ni n gIc oul dg oa bo utmyd a yout s i dea n dwo n ’ tha v ea n y p r obl e m wi t ht h epol i c ei fIdon ’ ts e e ml i k eas u s pe c t . Ic a n ’ t t h r e a l l ye xpr e s sho wIf e e la bou tt he4 a me nd me nti nr e g a r dt o t ho s ewhoa r es u s p e c t e dofc r i mi n a lbe h a v i o r .If e e ll i k ea tt i me s i tc ou l dbewa yt oog oodf ort hos ec r i mi n a l s , a n da tt hes a me t i mei sar i ghtt ha twea l lde s e r v ebe c a us ei twa spr o vi de db you r Con s t i t ut i o n.Some t i me swea r es ou ns ur eofo url a wsa ndwh a t o urr i gh t sa r et ha tweg i v et hep e r mi s s i ont oa n yt hi n gwh e nt he p ol i c ea s kf ori t . AndIt hi nkt ha twes hou l da l lbee duc a t e d a bo utwha tourr i ght sa r ewh e nwea r e11wi t hapol i c eo ffic e r , t okno wwh a tt os a yorwhe nt os a ynob e c a us et h i si ss o me t hi n g n ota l lofu skn o wt ha twec a ns a ynoi ns o mes i t u a t i ons . I t sun j us twhe ns o me on ei sg oi n gb yt he i rda yi nt he i rc a r l i s t e n i n gt os o meg oodmus i cwhi l et h e r eont he i rwa yho mea nd t he yg e ts t o p pe df ora nunr e a s ona bl es e i z ur el e t ’ ss a y . Si n c et hi s p e r s o ndoe s n ’ tkno wwh a tt odoi nas i t ua t i onl i k et h i st he ygi v e t hepol i c ea l lt he ywa ntf ore xa mpl ef ort he mt os e a r c ht h e i rc a r i npa r t swhe r ei sn o tv i s i bl e .Andt he r eha sbe e ns omec a s e s whe r epol i c epl a nt ss t uffl i k edr u g sj us tt oi nc r i mi na t es ome on e whoi si nno c e nt .Th e r ea r ea l s op e o pl ewhod on ’ tkn o wwh a t t he i rr i g ht sa r ewhe nt he ya r ei nt he i ro wnhome .The4th a me n dme ntpr o t e c t spe o pl ef r omt h epol i c ewh e nt h e ya r ei n t he i rpr i v a t es pa c e .Ap ol i c eoffic e rne e d st og e ta na r r e s twa r r a nt b e f or et he ye nt e ra n ypr i v a t er e s i de nc et oma k ea na r r e s t . 10

Th ef a c tt h a tt h ef o ur t ha me nd me ntpr ot e c t si n noc e nt p e o pl ema n yt i me sma k e si tag oo dt hi n g .Ye s ,i tmi ghts e e ml i k e i to nl yh e l psc r i mi na l sg e ta wa ywi t ht he i rc r i me sb uti tmos t l y h e l p st hos ewhoha v edo neno t h i n gwr o n gb e c a us ei no r d e rt og e t awa r r a ntt hep ol i c ene e dp r o ba bl ec a us ea ndma ybeabi tmor e t oma k ea na r r e s t .I ma gi nei ft hel a wwa s n ’ tl i k et ha ta ndpo l i c e o ffic e r sc oul dj u s ta r r e s ta n y o net he ys e e mt ot hi n ki sac r i mi na l j us tb e c a u s et hewa yt he ydr e s sf ore xa mpl e .The nwewo ul dbe i nawo r s tpos i t i ont he nwea r et oda ybe c a us ema s si nc a r c e r a t i on i sar e a li s s uei nt h eUni t e dSt a t e s . Wel i v ei nas oc i e t ywhe r eour s ki nc o l ormi ghta ffe c twhe t he rorn o tweg ot hr o u g ht hej a i l s y s t e ma tl e a s to nc e . Wh e r ea l lt e e nswhol i v ei n“ ab a d n e i gh bor hoo d”a r ec r i mi na l sa nda r ei n v o l v e di nde vi a nt b e h a v i o r .

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