TEST 1 - CONSTITUTIONAL LAW EXAM
What are the two basic types of law with which you as police officers must deal - answer-
criminal
civil (tort)
how is criminal law different from civil law in regards to the persons or entities involved?
- answer-criminal: state v. person
civil: person v. person
how is criminal law different from civil law in regards to the actions which get you
involved with the system? - answer-criminal: crime
civil: tort
how is criminal law different from civil law in regards to the amount of information
needed to win/lose a case? - answer-criminal: proof beyond a reasonable doubt
civil: preponderance of evidence
how is criminal law different from civil law in regards to the potential penalties attached
to losing? - answer-criminal: fine, prison, death
civil: monetary
a civil wrong committed against someone - answer-tort
name the two different types of law - answer-constitutional and statutory
this type of law is based on laws of "procedures"; based on court rulings - answer-
constitutional law
____________ is the system of law that developed in England - answer-common law
Legal system based not on rules coming from ruler to people - instead, from __________ -
customs of society - to ruler to enforce - answer-people
not a body of laws, as such, but establishes an expectation of how government will work
and as such provides a basis for the actual writing of the laws that will be enforced -
answer-Magna Carta
A document in England that created a framework for our Constitution as far as
procedures and rights. We have followed English common law system, which everything
flowed from the interpretations from the courts. - answer-Magna Carta
4. Perhaps most important aspect of English Common law - and the one that had the
biggest impact on your work as law enforcement officers - is the idea that
________________ - answer-a suspect/defendant is innocent until proven guilty
,T/F: if a person is not yet proven guilty, he retains almost all of his rights as a citizen. -
answer-true
You, as a law enforcement official in a "common law" country, are in the business of
protecting ________ - answer-rights
Single most important documents in the formation, organization and running of our
nation - answer-constitution
2. The Constitution itself formed the Federal Government to oversee the consolidation
what? - answer-the thirteen colonies into one nation
the constitution gives all powers not reserved for the Federal government to who? -
answer-the now 50 state governments
What has the final say in all issues of law and how the government operates. - answer-
constitution
It is the role of the ______________ to give that sovereign (Constitution) life - to make
decisions of law that are consistent with that document and the principles it contains. -
answer-Supreme Court
T/F: Perhaps the fact that the Constitution contains a statement of basic rights
guaranteed to all citizens is its most important quality. - answer-true
T/F: In our government, the rights are protected by our sovereign, the Constitution, and
cannot be changed by any one person or group in the government. - answer-true
T/F: you are only required to respect the rights of citizens who are "law abiding." -
answer-false
the first 10 amendments - answer-Bill of Rights
these limit the power of the gov to do certain things - answer-Bill of Rights
These are Designed specifically to protect the citizens of the various states from
encroachment on their rights by the Federal government. - answer-Bill of Rights
Bill of Rights applied only to ________ officers until after civil War. - answer-federal
The Bill of Rights only applying only to federal officers until after civil War started to
change with Abraham Lincoln's "_______" in 1863 and then with the ratification of the
__________ Amendment in 1868. - answer-Gettysburg Address
14
After ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, person was citizen of the (U.S./state)
first and most importantly, and the laws of the Federal Government take precedence
over those of the (U.S./state) - answer-US
state
,is defined as "fundamental fairness" and it is defined in practice by the Bill of Rights and
the court decisions that have been handed down interpreting those amendments. -
answer-due process
Part or all of four of the ten now specifically apply to your job as law enforcement officers
because of rulings made by the ______ - answer-courts
specific ruling regarding freedom of speech. Protects citizen's right to say anything he
wants to you (or any other government representative) as long as that statement
doesn't represent a real and present threat. - answer-1st
- designed to protect citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures and lays out
warrant requirements. - answer-4th
among other things, protects citizens from being required to be witnesses against
themselves in a criminal proceeding. - answer-5th
among other things, requires that an attorney be made available to assist anyone
charged with a crime with their defense. - answer-6th
No one part of the government was given absolute power. Each branch was dependent
on the others. - answer-checks and balances
What are the Three branches established by the U.S. constitution - answer-executive
legislative
judicial
this branch is made up of senators and reps. - answer-legislative
this branch is made up of president, governor, armed forces, police - answer-executive
this branch enforces the laws - answer-executive
this branch interprets and applies the laws - answer-judicial
this branch makes the laws - answer-legislative
consisting of the two houses of Congress, the House of Representatives, and the Senate,
is the branch that makes the laws by voting on proposed legislation. In the case of the
legal system, these laws become part of the code of Statutes we mentioned before. -
answer-legislative
This branch can be thought of as the action branch. It has more people working in it than
either of the others. - answer-executive
employees are concerned with getting things done, taking the laws and turning them
into action. As one such, you are responsible for taking the laws produced by the
legislature of the State of Missouri and producing "suspects", people whom you believe
,have committed a crime. They are turned over to the judicial branch for trial - answer-
executive
made up of the judges and their assistants, is concerned with the interpretation and
application of the laws. - answer-judicial
T/F: . No one section of the government can gain complete control as happens in some
other countries - - answer-true
this part of the Missouri Court system handles misdemeanor cases:
this part of the Missouri Court system handles all felony cases - answer-Associate Circuit
Court
Circuit Court
the highest level of court - answer-US Supreme Court
this federal court system Appeals from U.S. District Court looks at judge's rulings of law -
answer-US Circuit Court of Appeals
The primary trial court in the Missouri court system - answer-Missouri Circuit Court
Primarily looking at whether judge ruled incorrectly on something or judge didn't do the
jury instructions correctly - answer-Appellate Court
a. Highest judicial authority in matters regarding Missouri state statutes or the Missouri
Constitution - answer-Missouri Supreme Court
Not part of Missouri Court System, but is the last court of appeal for any case tried in
Missouri - answer-US Supreme Court
T/F: Only when issues regarding the U.S. Constitution or Federal statutes are involved
does it go tot he U.S. Supreme Court - answer-true
2. Our government has recognized that if a right is to have any meaning, there must be
some "__________" if that right is not observed. - answer-remedy
If there is no _______, there is no ________- if you can refuse to grant me my rights as a
citizen, and nothing happens to punish you or compensate me, than for all interests and
purposes, I don't have that right - answer-remedy
right
The remedy that most affects police officers is called the _________________ - answer-
Exclusionary Rule
, States that all evidence which is gotten illegally (that is, in violation of someone's
constitutional Rights - 4th, and those parts of the 5th and 6th Amendments we read) will
be excluded from court proceedings against that person - answer-exclusionary rule
The exclusionary rule is not a part of the Constitution - answer-true
What is the difference between socialism and "progressivism"? - answer-There really is
none. Progressivism is a term applied to the advocacy of socialism in the
United States, first advocated in the late 1800s.
Does progressivism conflict with the constitutional obligations of police? - answer-Yes.
You will see how as we go through the course. It clearly violates the 1st and 5th
Amendments, and has the potential to violate all of the Bill of Rights.
Is America a democracy, or a representative republic? - answer-representative republic
What federal government body can initiate (write) a bill, thus proposing it as a law? -
answer-legislative
. What must happen to a bill in order for it to become a law? - answer-Must be passed by
both houses of Congress, and signed by the President; or if vetoed,
it may be overridden by votes in the Congress.
Can local (city or county) or state law supersede federal law, or does federal law
override? - answer-no, federal overrides.
What is required to amend the Constitution? - answer-It must be passed by Congress,
and ¾ vote of the states (the people).
Founded by Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt,
it rejected the Founders' principles of fixed human nature, & inalienable rights, and
sought to break down the separation of powers in order to expand the size and scope of
government beyond the Founders' intent. - answer-progressivism
T/F: Govt. structure has changed in the last 50 years with massive growth. - answer-true
What are the four causes that led to, and are protected by, the Constitution? - answer-1.
material cause/land
2. efficient cause (Identify what powers are wielded by government bureaucracies,
without benefit of law or election)
3. formal cause (The Constitution and three branches of government)
4. principles of free govt. (as outlined in the Declaration. Govern by consent of the free
and equal people, and in obedience to God's law)
what is the 1st Principle of the Declaration? - answer-equality
Identify the inalienable rights described in the Declaration of Independence - answer-1.
Life
2. Liberty
