The Court and Gender: Reproduction and Privacy Rights Gateway
Exploring Constitutional Conflicts: Griswold v. Connecticut (contraception)
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/griswold.html
This site is part of a larger site called Exploring Constitutional Conflicts, designed to be used by law students and others interested in exploring the Constitution. This particular site presents the opinions of the Supreme Court Justices in this 1965 case dealing with the constitutionality of an 1879 Connecticut law that outlawed the use of contraceptives. It is interesting in that, while all of the Justices agreed that the earlier Connecticut law was wrong, they did not agree as to its constitutionality. This is an interesting site for teachers and students who are researching cases that involve personal rights or who are researching opinions of specific Justices. Since the site only presents the Justices' opinions, there is little historical information about the case.
Oyez U.S. Supreme Court Multimedia: Roe v. Wade (1973) (abortion)
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/resource/case/334/
Oyez's original founders envisioned this project as the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the U.S. Supreme Court." With the help of Richard Barone of Northwestern's Learning Technologies Group, Oyez has become a multimedia website including case files ranging in subject from civil rights to criminal procedure. The file includes an abstract or overview that includes dates, the question at hand and its conclusion. Each file includes a printer-friendly version of the abstract and more recent files offer audio clips of the oral argument and a list of resources. The site makes learning student-friendly by providing quiz questions relating the lives of baseball stars to those of Supreme Court justices. Oyez is useful for grades 7-12 as its abstracts are written in simplified language and can be used in American History as well as Civics and Government classes.
Legal Information Institute: Roe v. Wade
http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0410_0113_ZS.html
This website, from Cornell Law School, summarizes the case, gives each finding, and tells which justices concurred, wrote separate concurrences, or dissented. The summary also includes other parties originally in the lawsuit, which may or may not have standing before the Supreme Court. Much of the language is "legalese" and might be difficult for students with lower reading ability to comprehend. Teachers would be able to "rewrite" the summaries in simpler language.
Who is 'Jane Roe'? Anonymous no more, Norma McCorvey no longer supports abortion rights: From CNN Interactive Writer Douglas S. Wood
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/1998/roe.wade/stories/roe.profile/
On the 25fh anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Norma McCorvey discusses her role as the petitioner "Roe" in the famous abortion case. This article discusses the "change of heart" Ms. McCorvey had, and why she now works for Operation Rescue, an anti-abortion group. There is an audio clip of why she changed her mind about abortion rights.
This site would be excellent for classes in constitutional law, participation in government, and American History. It is not recommended for middle school students because of the reading level. Teachers would be advised to have students list the arguments for and against abortion before having students read this article because of the assumed knowledge base of the reader.
Roe v. Wade--Then and Now: January 2003
http://www.crlp.org/crt_roe_jbroe.html
This article comes from the Center for Reproductive Rights. The introduction is a brief discussion of the treatment of reproductive rights prior to 1973. There are two paragraphs, which summarize the decision and a discussion on the "dismantling of Roe". Next presented are "The Four Pillars of Roe" and "Roe in the 21st Century". This article is a good balance to the "Who is Jane Roe" article. This site would be excellent for classes in constitutional law, participation in government, and American History.