Spring 2011 Constitutional Law II Exam: Equal Protection & First Amendment Essay Questions, Exams of Constitutional Law

Download Spring 2011 Constitutional Law II Exam: Equal Protection & First Amendment Essay Questions and more Exams Constitutional Law in PDF only on Docsity! EXAM # _____________________ Cisneros: Constitutional Law II, Spring 2011 Page 9 of 11 Part II: Essay Question 1 (worth 35%) Recommended Time: 65-75 minutes Question 1 On March 5, Ms. Harris, a 32 year old African American woman was hired in the Willowland city attorney’s office. Of the 20 attorneys in the office 19 were men and she was the first woman. Of the 20 attorneys 7 were African American (including Ms. Harris) which is roughly proportionate to the city’s African American population (about 33% are African American). Other finalist candidates for the position included two white men, one Latino male, one African American male, and one white woman. All of them were between the ages of 30 and 35, had finished in the top 5% of their law school classes at Willowland Law School (a good private law school), and had similar work experience after law school. a. Mr. Medina, the Latino candidate, has come to you to ask whether he should sue. Assume for this part “a” the additional fact that there are no attorneys in the office of Latino heritage. Advise him. Explain your reasoning. Restrict your answer to equal protection analysis. b. Assume for this part “b” as additional facts that at the city council meeting which authorized the hiring, three of the five council members made statements urging the City Attorney to hire a woman because (1) there were no women in the office; (2) a significant portion of the work of the city attorney’s office involved legal issues involving women on welfare; (3) more women than men lived in the city; (4) domestic violence against women was a serious and increasing problem; and (5) the city was afraid of getting sued for sex discrimination because there were no women assistant city attorneys. Is there an equal protection violation under the 14th Amendment? Explain your answer. EXAM # _____________________ Cisneros: Constitutional Law II, Spring 2011 Page 10 of 11 Part II: Essay Question 2 (worth 35%) Recommended Time: 65-75 minutes Question 2 Each June, the town of Gulf Springs, Mississippi celebrates Heritage Day. The highlight of the event is a parade down the town’s Main Street sponsored by the Sons of the Confederacy (SOC). The SOC is a private organization dedicated to commemorating the bravery of Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. The SOC conducts the parade under a permit issued from the town of Gulf Springs. (The town also grants several parade permit requests each year, including permits to the local VFW for a Veteran’s Day parade and to the Chamber of Commerce for a Christmas Shopping Season parade). The five-member Executive Board of the SOC is comprised of four Town Council Members and the local sheriff. The Executive Board invites local high school bands, floats, and marching figures dressed as Confederate heroes such as Jefferson Davis and Robert E. Lee to take part in the parade. Floats in the parade are sponsored by a variety of corporations and organizations, ranging from NASCAR to Red Man Chewing Tobacco to the all-white True Americans Club. The SOC march in their Civil War-era gray uniforms carrying confederate flags. Confederate flags are also prominently featured on many of the floats and on the white Cadillac carrying the parade’s grand marshal, Talledega G. Knight, mayor of Gulf Springs and a former leader in the Mississippi KKK. Citizens for a Progressive Mississippi (CPM) sought permission to enter a float in the Heritage Day Parade. SOC denied CPM’s request stating that CPM’s proposed float was “inconsistent with the message and spirit of the parade.” CPM’s proposed float would have featured persons dressed as Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant dancing joyfully with African-Americans depicted as newly freed slaves. Angry at their exclusion from the parade, a number of CPM’s members announced a counter- protest in a public park that bordered the parade route. On the day of the parade, about 20 CPM members showed up on the park with signs and flags. The signs carried messages like “You Lost—Get Over It!” and “F—k Mayor Knight!” Another sign showed a confederate flag next to an “=” sign and the word “Racism.” When the parade approached the park, CPM demonstrators began loudly chanting “No More Racism” and then set fire to three confederate flags. As a passing band tried to play “Dixie” over the demonstrators’ loud chanting, irritated parade attendees turned on the demonstrators and began punching them and pelting them with candy. Gulf Springs police quickly swept in, rounding up several of the demonstrators and throwing them into squad cars. They were later booked and charged with several violations of laws, including, “making statements intended to provoke a violent reaction,” “disturbing the peace,” “burning without a permit,” “displaying indecent language in letters more than one-foot high,” and “destruction of a sacred symbol, specifically the confederate flag.” Call of the Question for Question 2 on the Following Page