Extended Constructed Response Item: Read the list of freedoms guaranteed by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution:

 

- Freedom of religion

- Freedom of speech

- Freedom of the press

- The right to peaceably assemble

- The right to petition the government

 

 

Citizens of a newly independent country are drafting a constitution. They have requested your help in selecting the two most important rights in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution to include in their constitution.

- Choose 2 First Amendment rights from the United States Constitution that you think should be included in the new country's constitution.

- Identify your choices and explain why you think they should be included.

- Include details and examples to support your answer.

 

z. Which is a CORRECT statement regarding the role of the 14th Amendment in the case?

The defendant relied on the equal protection clause to demand his right to sue.

The school board said the 14th Amendment guaranteed them the right to enforce mandatory pledge rules as they see fit.

It played no role.

It provided that the rights found in the First Amendment freedom of religion section applies to the states.

3. Which is the BEST synopsis of the secular purpose rule?

Someone's lack of religion does not mean that all laws must be secular.

Lawmakers will often make laws with a religious purpose, and this rule helps them keep it secular.

If a law is made with secularism in mind, then it can't have a religious purpose.

A religious belief does not exempt one from a law that is drafted for a secular purpose.

1. Which is NOT part of Justice Harlan Stone's reasoning in his dissent?

Sometimes religious freedom must give way to needs like war, the survival of the nation, but (the pledge) was not one of those exceptional purposes.

The pledge provides no useful attribution to the unity and morals of the country.

He conceded that the government had a right to to compel the loss of liberty for the good of the people.

National cohesion, public affirmations and the pledge as educational measure do not warrant violating one's religious conscience.

5. Which is NOT a part of Justice Felix Frankfurter's analysis declaring the school district's pledge requirement was constitutional?

The good of the people in this case is the need for national cohesion.

The right to believe is often at odds with the interests of the public good once the belief turns to an act.

That right to believe in one's religion is beyond the reach of the law.

The right to believe in a religion will depend on the good that religion presents to society.

TOPIC 2 DQ 4

What is the purpose of the American Constitution? Has the Constitution served that purpose well? Explain.