A section of Main Street in Ames City is a pedestrian thoroughfare offering easy, traffic-free access to public and private buildings. There is a grassy area in the square in which the city has placed benches. All citizens are encouraged to use the area, and local artists have been allowed to display and sell their artwork there. Occasionally, individuals give speeches near the area, in which many people gather. What term best characterizes the space?

Congress passes a law requiring people who donate more than $200 to a political campaign to disclose their names to the government. John Doe wants to donate $500 to a Democratic candidate running for Congress, but he is worried that he will be fired if his boss, a staunch Republican, finds out that he supports Democrats. He sues to have the law declared unconstitutional. Will he prevail?

In order to foster an environment conducive to learning, a school board enacted a dress code that prohibited all public high school students from wearing in school shorts cut above the knee. Because female students at the school considered it unfashionable to wear shorts cut at or below the knee, they no longer wore shorts to school. On the other hand, male students at the school regularly wore shorts cut at or below the knee because they considered such shorts to be fashionable. Female students sued to challenge the constitutionality of the dress code on the ground that it denied them the equal protection of the laws. Should the court uphold the dress code? 

In one state, certain advanced diagnostic medical technologies were located only in hospitals, where they provided a major source of revenue. In many other states, such technologies were also available at “diagnostic centers” that were not affiliated with hospitals. A group of physicians announced its plan to immediately open in the state a diagnostic center that would not be affiliated with a hospital. The state hospital association argued to the state legislature that only hospitals could reliably handle advanced diagnostic medical technologies. The legislature then enacted a law prohibiting the operation in the state of diagnostic centers that were not affiliated with hospitals. The group of physicians filed suit challenging the constitutionality of the state law.  What action should the court take? 

A state statute requires that all new automobiles sold in the state shall be equipped with a certain safety system to protect passengers in the event of a collision. An automobile company that wants to sell automobiles in the state files an action to enjoin enforcement of the statute, arguing that the statute deprives the auto company of its right to contract freely with customers under the Due Process Clause.What is the appropriate burden of proof?

You are a criminal defense lawyer representing a mother and father who were charged with violating the state mandatory school attendance law. They had instructed their son who had just turned age 14 to report to a community woodworking shop instead of school. The state law requires all children to attend school until the age of 16, and the woodshop does not qualify as a school under the law. The parents were warned by local school officials to send their son to school or face a $500 fine and up to 30 days in jail for each day of noncompliance. However, they informed the officials that they could not comply with the state law because of their religious views, under which woodworking is an essential spiritual pursuit. The parents were arrested after the son continued to attend the woodshop. At the parents’ criminal trial, which of the following should you request the court to consider in determining whether First Amendment protection applies to the parents’ views?

The state passed a law stating that “only persons living with their parents or guardians who are bona fide residents of the state shall be entitled to free public education; all others who wish to attend public schools within the state may do so, but they must pay tuition of $3,000 per semester.” A 15-year-old girl moved in with her friend so that she could attend the public schools in the state, and the state legislature passed the tuition statute just as she completed her junior year. The girl wants to complete her senior year in the state high school, but cannot afford to pay tuition. If the girl sues in federal court to strike down the tuition statute, is the court likely to rule that the statute is constitutional?

Members of a religious group meet once a year in a U.S. National Park to hold an overnight encampment. They believe this overnight encampment and all of its rituals are required by their god to be held on the top of a mountain in the park. U.S. National Park Service rules that have been consistently enforced prohibit all overnight camping and all campfires on the mountain, because overnight camping and campfires pose great danger in that particular location. As a result, the park superintendent denied a request by the religious group for a permit to conduct activities on top of the mountain. The park superintendent, who is known to be violently opposed to cults and other unconventional groups, has, in the past, issued permits to conventional religious groups to conduct sunrise services in other areas of the park.The religious group brought suit in federal court against the U.S. National Park Service and the park superintendent to compel issuance of the requested permit.As a matter of constitutional law, the most appropriate result in this suit will be a decision that the denial of the permit is:

Several sites on a mountain within federal public lands are regarded as sacred to a group of people that has gathered there for years to perform religious ceremonies. The United States Forest Service recently issued a permit to a private developer to construct a ski facility in an area that includes the sites that are sacred to the group. The group has filed suit in federal district court against the Forest Service to force cancellation of the permit, claiming solely that the permit violates its First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. The Forest Service has conceded that the group’s religious beliefs are sincere and that construction of the ski facility will adversely affect the group’s religious practices.  What must the group show to prevail on its First Amendment claim? 

A state law provides free school lunches for elementary school students whose family incomes are below poverty level. A local white supremacist group has organized a private elementary school that denies admission to all non-Caucasians. Most of the school’s students are living below poverty level and the school officials have demanded that free lunch service be provided by the state. Which of the following is the strongest argument against the constitutionality of the state law as applied to providing free lunch to the students at the school?