Activity
Days 1-2
Introduce lesson 1 by giving a brief lecture on how the
Supreme Court works and how cases are appealed to the
Supreme Court (see the websites above for background
information on the Supreme Court). Students should become
familiar with the following terms:
- appellate
jurisdiction
- original
jurisdiction
- writ
of certiorari
- appellant
Tell
students that many cases accepted on appeal are those
dealing with Constitutional issues, especially
those regarding the rights of citizens. This is a
good opportunity to review Bill of Rights as research
preparation
for their assignment.
Hand
out a copy of the Bill of Rights to students. A copy
can be downloaded from
http://www.archives.gov/national_archives_experience/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html 1.
Ask students to rank the Bill of Rights; 1 (highest
priority) to 10 (lowest priority)
- Give
the rationale for your number 1 ranking.
- Which
rights would you give up if forced to and why?
Lead
a class discussion:
2. Discuss the student’s rankings. What rights
do they consider the highest priority? Why?
Which rights could they give up? Why?
3.
Has there been a time when you feel one of your rights
was violated?
Explain.
4.
What can you do if you feel your rights have been violated?
(Generate discussion
on Supreme
Court and
how it interprets laws through cases
that are appealed from
lower courts).
5.
Handout the guidelines for the Supreme Court Activity: Supreme
Court Research Activity
The
majority of citizens in the United States do
not know their rights are guaranteed
by the first ten amendments
of the Constitution. This activity is to keep you
from becoming one of the uninformed.
You will research a
Supreme Court Case dealing with one of the first
ten amendments and write about the
case and the court’s
decision from the point of view of an inanimate
object. For example, if you research the case, “New
Jersey v. T.L.O.” you could write from the
point of view of the cigarettes inside the student’s
purse. Your description must include:
- title
page including name and date of the case
(5 points)
- the
case background including the names of parties
involved (15 points)
- the
reason case was appealed to the Supreme Court
(5 points)
- the
court’s decision (10 points)
- your
opinion of how this decision will affect your
rights
(15 points)
Remember
to write your analysis from the viewpoint of
an inanimate object (20 points)
Suggested
websites are:
http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/topic.htm
http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/frontpage
Day
3:
Take students to computer lab to research sites
provided in the Supreme Court research
guidelines. By end
of the period students should hand in the
following information:
- Which
amendment are you exploring?
- Name
three cases you looked at during class today.
- Name
case you decided to use for research assignment.
In
order to keep too many students from looking
at the same issue or cases you may want to divide
the amendments among students so not more
than 3 or 4 are
researching the same one.
This
could be done on the day you review guidelines;
have students draw slips of paper
with the amendments--1,2,4,5,6, and 8 written
on them.
These are the
amendments they may find most interesting. You may add amendment
number 14 as the Supreme Court has used this amendment to incorporate
many
of the Bill
of
Rights’ to the States (mention that the Bill of Rights
were intended to protect citizens from abuse by the national
government).
Day
4:
Have students bring a hard copy of the case
they are reviewing to class. Discuss the following
opinions and ask students to
look for
them in
the case they brought
to class:
- Majority
opinion
- Concurring
opinion
- Dissenting
opinion
- Per
curiam opinion
1.
Ask students to read the majority opinion presented
in their case. Ask class how many agree with the court’s decision in
your case? Ask for volunteers to give reasons.
2.
Have students look for and highlight main points
they
need to understand to write their paper. Allow students
who have
similar cases or issues
to work together
and help each other. Help them wade through legal terminology
they
do not understand.
3.
As they read their case they should write down
the following information:
a)
What is the case about?
b) What right(s) are addressed by the case?
c) Why was the case appealed to the Supreme
Court?
d) Identify the major parties in the case:
e) What was the court’s decision?
f) Do you agree with the court’s decision? Why or why not?
g) How will the decision affect the right(s)
addressed in the case? Has the decision provided
greater or lesser
protection
to U.S.
citizens?
4.
Tell students they will turn in their responses
to questions with their Supreme Court paper. Closure
On the due date ask for volunteers to read their papers to the class. After
each reading ask students if they can identify the inanimate object is
and ask them to give their opinion about the Supreme Court’s decision.
Review
how these cases reached the Supreme Court. Ask them to discuss if they
feel any of the cases they looked at should not have been heard by the Supreme
Court? Homework
Supreme Court Research Paper |
