A state adopted legislation making it a crime to be the biological parent of more than two children. The stated purpose of the statute is to preserve the state’s natural resources and improve the quality of life for the state’s residents. A married couple has just had their third child. They have been arrested and convicted under the statute. Which of the following is the strongest argument for voiding the convictions of the couple?

To reduce incidents of violence among male gang members at a youth center, a city passed an ordinance forbidding any male between the ages of 13 and 19 to enter the center unless accompanied by a female.An 18-year-old male who was refused admission at the center because he was not escorted by a female filed suit in federal court to strike down the ordinance as unconstitutional.Should the court find the city ordinance constitutional?

A town adopted an ordinance providing that a person must have been a resident of the town for at least one year to be eligible to vote in school board elections. A resident who moved to the town seven months ago attempted to register to vote in the school board elections scheduled for the next month. However, the town clerk refused to register the resident because he will not have resided in the town for a full year prior to the election. The resident filed a class action suit on behalf of all of the new residents of the town, challenging the validity of the one-year residency requirement. Which of the following statements is correct?

In response to worldwide violence over the publication of allegedly blasphemous depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, a “Free Speech Now!” rally was held in Ames City, the capital of Ames. One of the speakers, an outspoken conservative radio talk show host, said that the reaction of Muslims worldwide demonstrated that it was a backward and intolerant religion and that many Muslims are bent on proving they are enemies of freedom. He was scheduled to tour the State of Ames, repeating the same speech. In response, the Ames Muslim community warned that they would stage counter-demonstrations wherever he spoke. At one subsequent rally, supporters of the speaker and Ames Muslims clashed before he was scheduled to speak. In the midst of his speech, after refusing police requests to stop, the talk show host was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. He was convicted after a trial, and he appealed his conviction. A reviewing court should:

Which of the following statements of constitutional jurisprudence is correct?

Twenty percent of a city’s residents are members of minority racial groups. These residents are evenly distributed among the many different residential areas of the city. The five city council members are elected from five single-member electoral districts that are nearly equally populated. No candidate has ever been elected to the city council who is a member of a minority racial group.A group of citizens who are members of minority racial groups filed a suit in federal district court, seeking a declaratory judgment that the single-member districts in the city are unconstitutional. They claim that the single-member districting system diminishes the ability of voters who are members of minority racial groups to affect the outcome of city elections. They seek an order from the court forcing the city to adopt an at-large election system in which the five candidates with the greatest vote totals are elected to the city council. No state or federal statutes are applicable to the resolution of this suit.Which of the following constitutional provisions provides the most obvious basis for the plaintiffs’ claim in this suit?

A critically acclaimed movie that had received a number of awards opened in a small town. The film had portrayals of nudity and scenes involving sexuality, but its advertising was very tasteful and concentrated on its critical acclaim and its receipt of seven Academy Award nominations. Nevertheless, when the movie opened in the small town, there was a public outcry against it, including picketing. The town, which had been founded in the late nineteenth century by a fundamentalist religious group, remained very conservative and highly religious, and was the only community in the state where a consensus of the community would find the movie to be obscene. The town prosecutor went to the local court seeking an injunction to halt the showing of the movie. The theater owner refused to voluntarily stop showing the film and appeared in court to defend against the proposed injunction. What is the owner’s best defense?

State O wants to open a pilot daycare program for preschool children and, to that end, it submitted the project for open bids as required by State O law. The lowest bid that met the criteria established by State O was submitted by a religious organization. The organization’s bid is low, in part, because the building in which the program would be housed is tax exempt under State O law under a religious institution exemption to property taxes. The organization agreed to operate under the conditions of the project contract, including the provision prohibiting the program from being used to espouse or promote any particular religious view. Studies have shown, however, that children in such situations tend to emulate their caregivers. State O decides to award the contract to the organization. A citizen of State O brings an action in a proper State O court seeking to set the award aside, claiming that it violates the United States Constitution. Is the citizen likely to prevail?

Several public high school students asked the superintendent of their public school district whether the minister of a local church could deliver an interdenominational prayer at their graduation ceremony in the school auditorium. None of the students or their guests at graduation would be required to pray while the minister delivered the prayer.  Would the minister’s delivery of such a prayer at the public high school graduation be constitutional? 

Due to severe traffic problems on its streets, a city enacted an ordinance prohibiting all sales to the public of food or other items by persons selling directly from trucks, cars, or other vehicles located on city streets. The ordinance includes an inseverable grandfather provision, exempting vendors who, for 20 years or more, have continuously sold food or other items from such vehicles located on the city’s streets.An ice cream vendor is the only food vendor in the city that qualifies for this exemption. A yogurt vendor has a similar business, except he has been selling to the public only for the past 10 years. The yogurt vendor filed suit in an appropriate federal district court to enjoin enforcement of this ordinance, arguing that it denies him equal protection of the laws.In this case, the court will probably rule that the ordinance is: