FCLE Practice Questions (2026) — Free Sample Questions with Answers

Answer: A

federalism: Correct. The first division is "between two distinct governments" — national and state — which is federalism.

separation of powers: Separation of powers is the second division, the subdivision of each government "among distinct and separate departments."

checks and balances: Checks and balances describe how the separated departments restrain one another, not the national–state split.

popular sovereignty: The people are the source of the power ("surrendered by the people"), but the division itself is not popular sovereignty.

Madison's "double security": first federalism (national vs. state), then separation of powers within each government.

Answer: B

the ban on bills of attainder: A bill of attainder punishes named people without a trial; this law reaches anyone who made the trade and leaves the cases to prosecutors and courts.

the ban on ex post facto laws: Correct. Article I, Section 10 forbids states to pass any "ex post facto Law" — one that punishes an act that was legal when it was done.

the guarantee of a speedy trial: The Sixth Amendment speedy-trial right concerns delay after charges; the problem here is punishing past legal conduct.

the protection against double jeopardy: Double jeopardy bars a second prosecution for the same offense; these traders were never tried before.

Ex post facto = punishing yesterday's legal act under today's law; attainder = legislative punishment of named people without trial.

Answer: C

It violates the Establishment Clause, because the city is favoring other faiths.: The ordinance does not set up or sponsor any religion; its flaw is that it singles out one faith's practice for a burden.

It is allowed, because neutral laws of general application may burden religion.: That rule (Employment Division v. Smith, 1990) covers neutral, generally applicable laws; a ban aimed only at religious killing is neither neutral nor general.

It violates the Free Exercise Clause, because it targets one faith's practice.: Correct. A law that targets a religious practice while allowing the same conduct for secular reasons burdens free exercise and fails (Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah, 1993).

It is allowed, because the First Amendment limits only Congress, not cities.: The religion clauses bind states and cities through the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause.

Free Exercise: a neutral, general law may burden religion (Smith), but a law that targets a religious practice is struck down (Lukumi). Establishment concerns government sponsorship of religion.

Answer: D

Mapp v. Ohio (1961): Mapp incorporated the Fourth Amendment's exclusionary rule against the states.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963): Gideon incorporated the Sixth Amendment right to counsel for poor defendants in state felony cases.

D.C. v. Heller (2008): Tempting: Heller recognized an individual right to keep a handgun at home, but the District of Columbia is a federal enclave, so it did not decide whether the right binds states.

McDonald v. Chicago (2010): Correct. McDonald held that the Fourteenth Amendment's Due Process Clause incorporates the Second Amendment, so it limits state and local governments such as Chicago.

Heller (2008) = individual right, federal enclave; McDonald (2010) = that right applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Answer: A

The House impeaches by majority; the Chief Justice presides at the trial.: Correct. The House impeaches by simple majority, the Senate tries the case, and the Chief Justice presides when the President is tried (Art. I, sec. 3); conviction needs two-thirds.

The Senate impeaches by majority; the House then tries the case.: The roles are reversed: the House impeaches and the Senate tries.

The House impeaches by a two-thirds vote; the Vice President presides at the trial.: The House needs only a majority, and the Chief Justice, not the Vice President, presides at a President's trial.

The House impeaches by majority; a Senate majority can convict.: Conviction requires two-thirds of the senators present, not a simple majority.

House impeaches (majority, like an indictment); Senate tries and removes (two-thirds); the Chief Justice presides over a presidential trial.

Answer: B

an appeal from a state supreme court on a free-speech issue: An appeal reaches the Supreme Court under its appellate, not original, jurisdiction.

a lawsuit between two states over a river boundary: Correct. A case "in which a State shall be Party," such as one state suing another, falls within the Court's original jurisdiction, so it starts in the Supreme Court.

a federal criminal trial of a person accused of counterfeiting: Federal crimes are tried first in a federal district court.

a contract dispute between citizens of two different states: Tempting because two states are involved, but the parties are citizens, not states; such cases begin in lower federal or state courts.

Original jurisdiction = the case starts in the Supreme Court (ambassadors, a state as party); almost everything else arrives on appeal.

Answer: A

a large republic that includes many competing interests: Correct. In No. 10, Madison argued that extending the sphere of a republic takes in “a greater variety of parties and interests,” which makes it less likely that any one faction can form an oppressive majority. Elected representatives would also refine public views.

a written bill of rights to protect the rights of minority factions: Madison later sponsored the Bill of Rights, but No. 10 relies on the size and structure of the republic, not on a list of rights.

branches that check one another’s ambitions: This is Federalist No. 51’s argument about internal checks within the government. No. 10 focuses on the size of the republic and the variety of its interests.

strong state governments that stay close to the people: Anti-Federalists such as Brutus favored this. Madison argued that small republics are more easily taken over by factions.

No. 10 controls faction with a large, diverse, representative republic. No. 51 controls power with checks and balances, so that ambition counters ambition.

Answer: A

the Supremacy Clause, which covers treaties: Correct. Article VI makes the Constitution, federal laws and “all Treaties made . . . under the Authority of the United States” the supreme law, binding state judges “any Thing in the . . . Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.” In Ware v. Hylton (1796), the Court enforced the debt terms of the treaty over a Virginia law.

the Tenth Amendment’s reservation of powers to the states: The Tenth Amendment reserves powers to the states. It would protect the state laws in a conflict like this rather than override them.

the Senate’s two-thirds approval of treaties: This rule (Art. II, §2) governs how a treaty is made. It does not force states to obey a treaty once it is in force.

the Full Faith and Credit Clause: Full faith and credit is about states honoring one another’s records and judgments, not treaties with foreign nations.

If a state law conflicts with a federal law or treaty, apply the Supremacy Clause (Art. VI). The Tenth Amendment covers powers never delegated to the national government.

Answer: A

ratification by state conventions rather than legislatures: Correct. Article VII sent the Constitution to ratifying conventions chosen by the people instead of to state legislatures. Massachusetts used town meetings rather than a convention to approve its constitution, but both rested a constitution on the people’s direct approval rather than on ordinary lawmakers.

amendment by three-fourths of the states after proposal by Congress: Article V sets out how to amend the Constitution later. It does not describe how the original document was adopted.

approval by the Confederation Congress before taking effect: The Confederation Congress only sent the Constitution on to the states. It did not approve it, and the Constitution did not depend on its approval.

unanimous consent of all thirteen state governments: Unanimity was the Articles of Confederation’s rule for amendments. Article VII deliberately required only nine states.

Massachusetts (1780): a special convention plus approval by the people in town meetings. U.S. Constitution: the Philadelphia Convention plus ratifying conventions elected by the people (Art. VII).

Answer: B

The law violated the Second Amendment’s individual right to keep and bear arms for self-defense.: Lopez was not a Second Amendment case. The individual-right holding came later in Heller (2008).

Gun possession near a school does not substantially affect interstate commerce.: Correct. The Court held that the act exceeded Congress’s Commerce Clause power because simple possession near a school is not economic activity substantially affecting interstate commerce. It was the first such limit since 1937.

The law commandeered state police to enforce a federal program.: Anti-commandeering was the basis of Printz v. United States (1997), a different case.

Congress may regulate any activity under the Necessary and Proper Clause.: That would have saved the law, which is the opposite of the holding.

Lopez (1995) means the Commerce Clause has limits: Congress cannot regulate non-economic activity with no substantial effect on interstate commerce. Heller (2008) is the Second Amendment case.

Answer: B

Weeks v. United States: Weeks (1914) created the exclusionary rule only for federal courts. A state trial requires the later case that applied it to the states.

Mapp v. Ohio: Correct. Mapp (1961) held that evidence obtained in violation of the Fourth Amendment cannot be used in state courts, applying the exclusionary rule to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

Miranda v. Arizona: Miranda (1966) requires warnings before custodial interrogation. It concerns confessions, not illegally seized physical evidence.

Gideon v. Wainwright: Gideon (1963) guarantees appointed counsel for poor felony defendants. It does not exclude evidence.

Illegal search in a state case → Mapp (exclusionary rule). Unwarned confession → Miranda. No lawyer → Gideon.

Answer: C

the Tenth Amendment’s reservation of powers to the states: The Tenth Amendment protects powers not delegated to Congress. When a valid federal law directly conflicts with a state law, it does not save the state law.

the Full Faith and Credit Clause: Full faith and credit concerns states honoring one another’s records and judgments, not conflicts between federal and state law.

the Supremacy Clause: Correct. A valid federal statute passed under the commerce power prevails over a conflicting state law (Art. VI, cl. 2). The Clean Air Act lets states adopt stricter limits, but not weaker ones.

the Ninth Amendment’s protection of unlisted rights: The Ninth Amendment concerns rights retained by the people, not which government’s pollution rules control.

In a direct federal–state conflict, use the Supremacy Clause. The Tenth Amendment matters only when Congress lacked the power in the first place.