Teacher Resources
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Essays
The History of the Supreme Court Essay
This essay gives a broad view of the evolution of the Supreme Court from its inception in 1787 at the Constitutional Convention in Philadephia through to the current day Court.
- Guideposts for Thinking and Discussion
This section presents rich information for further study and discussion.
This essay details the efforts of the Supreme Court--somewhat vaguely described in the Constitution--to define its powers and responsibilities.
- Guideposts for Thinking and Discussion
This section presents rich information for further study and discussion.
The Court and Basic Rights: The First Amendment
This essay gives an overview of the Supreme Court and its history in dealing with the basic rights guaranteed to citizens by the First Amendment to the Constitution.
- Guideposts for Thinking and Discussion
This section presents rich information for further study and discussion.
- Freedom of the Press and the Supreme Court
The freedom of the press is a sacred right in America, one more powerful than individual speech in challenging government power and seeking truth. This essay by a prize-winning journalist/educator explores the history of this basic freedom.
For the first 150 years of U. S. history, women were treated in law and by the Supreme Court as inferior to men and as so fundamentally different from men that they required protection in the workplace and the family. This essay highlights American womens' struggle to obtain equality with males, waging the battle at all levels of American society and in every legal and political arena.
- Guideposts for Thinking and Discussion
This section presents rich information for further study and discussion.
Around 1910, Alexander J. McKelway wrote a Declaration of Dependence on behalf of the children of America: "That childhood is endowed with certain inherent and inalienable rights, among which are freedom from toil for daily bread; the right to play and to dream; the right to the normal sleep of the night season; the right to an education, that we may have equality of opportunity for developing all that there is in us of mind and heart." This essay explores the court's rulings on issues related to minors.
- Guideposts for Thinking and Discussion
This section presents rich information for further study and discussion.
This essay explores the Court's role in present-day America and follows the ongoing changes in the Justices who make up the Court.
- Guideposts for Thinking and Discussion
This section presents rich information for further study and discussion.
- How Cases Get to the Supreme Court
Learn how a court case gets reviewed by the Supreme Court. This essay is also included in the larger essay, The Court Today.
Lesson Plans
The Court Defines Itself
The Court Defines Itself
This lesson can be used for giving students an overall understanding of the role of the Supreme Court during the years directly following its inception. It explores a variety of resources including external web sites that have been evaluated by teachers for their resource value. Appropriate for high school junior and senior students, the lesson's goal is to allow the student a well-rounded study of the court and how the early justices helped define the role of the court today.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court Defines Itself Essay
Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists
How much power should the federal government have? This was a weighty question in the newly established United States of America. In this lesson, students will explore the views and proponents of both the Federalists and Anti-Federalists in order to understand this great political debate, as well as how the Supreme Court established Federalist precedents during the time of the Marshall Court.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court Defines Itself Essay
Exploring Enumerated and Implied Powers
In the early Nineteenth century, the United States federal government struggled to define its powers. Under the Marshall Court, the doctrine of implied powers was established. This lesson examines the Court's decisions that established implied powers. Students will discuss the Court's interpretation of Article 1 in McCullough v. Maryland and Gibbons v. Ogden, as well as analyze the Constitution in order to understand the difference between enumerated and implied powers.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court Defines Itself Essay and The Court Defines Itself Timeline
Investigating the Judiciary Act of 1789
This lesson can be used for giving students an overall understanding of the Judiciary Act of 1789 and the powers it gave to the federal government. It explores a variety of resources including external web sites that have been evaluated by teachers for their resource value. The lesson, which is appropriate for high school junior and senior students, has as its goal is to allow the student a well-rounded understanding of the act, and why it was crucial in outlining the powers given to the federal government.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court Defines Itself Essay
Signed, Sealed and Delivered: Marbury v. Madison and an Independent Judiciary
In this lesson, students will examine the interconnection between the signed, sealed but undelivered warrant for William Marbury's appointment as a justice of the peace, the Judiciary Act of 1789, and the decision of the Supreme Court in Marbury v. Madison which established the independence of the judiciary branch. Students will examine extracted original documents and Senate debate, complete a worksheet to learn how Marshall structured the argument of his decision and write a culminating paper.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court Defines Itself Essay
Lambdin Milligan and the Writ of Habeas Corpus
In this lesson, students will examine the case of Ex parte Milligan, when Lambdin P. Milligan, a Confederate sympathizer of Indiana, was sentenced to die. They will read a plea from Milligan, extracts from Justice David Davis' opinion and complete a worksheet guiding them through the issues. For a culminating activity, they will conduct research to see how individual's legal rights during time of war have been treated by the courts in other cases from the nearly contemporary Ex parte Merryman, to World War II cases involving Nazi spies or Japanese-American internment, to the present American Taliban case of John Walker Lindh.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The History of the Supreme Court Essay
The Court and Basic Rights
Exploration of the Bill of Rights
This lesson can be used for giving students an overall understanding of the Bill of Rights and the historical and political perspectives that led to their addition to the Constitution. It explores a variety of resources including external web sites that have been evaluated by teachers for their resource value. Appropriate for high school junior and senior students, the lesson's goal is to allow the student a well-rounded study of the Bill of Rights and how it has changed American society.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 11-12
For Use With: The History of the Supreme Court Overview Essay and The Court and Basic Rights Essay
Clear and Present Danger: Schenck v. United States
Does the government have the right to limit the freedom of speech in wartime? Students will participate in a debate based upon the Supreme Court case, Schenck v. United States. Using the site's timeline, historical overview essay and questions to ponder, students will research and compile the information and formulate their arguments.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The History of the Supreme Court Overview Essay and The Court and Basic Rights Essay
Japanese Internment During WWII: Korematsu v. United States
Japanese Americans on the West Coast were placed in internment camps during WWII as a precautionary measure, even though the government had no specific evidence against these citizens. Did the Supreme Court rule this executive order as valid? Students find out in their study of Korematsu v. United States.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court and Basic Rights section
The Court and Gender
Title IX: Examining the Inadvertent Effects of Court Rulings
Often, Supreme Court Rulings have unintended effects. Using The Court and Gender Essay as an anticipatory set, students will examine the unintended effects of past rulings. Students will then examine the Supreme Court rulings on Title IX, which affected women's and men's sports programs. Students will determine if the actual outcomes of the ruling match its intended outcomes.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court and Gender Essay
Women's Voting Rights: The History of Women's Suffrage in the United States
The United States has declared "liberty and justice for all" since its birth. However, this has not meant equality for all. Students will examine the limitations on women's rights throughout U.S. history. As a culminating project, student will work in cooperative groups to research the women's suffrage movement, including its important leaders and court rulings on women's suffrage.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court and Gender Essay
Women's Property Rights: Supreme Court Decisions over Time
This lesson will explore Court rulings regarding the property rights of women. Students will examine cases and decisions, and complete reflective journal entries from the perspective of one of the parties from at least three of the cases reviewed.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court and Gender Essay
Gender Issues in the United States
Using the narrative, The Court and Gender, students will examine the history of women's rights in the United States, creating a timeline of the information. After a discussion of the narrative, the class will brainstorm gender issues in the United States today. Students will then choose an issue and research its history and positions of people for and against it. Students will finalize their report with the development of their own position on the issue.
Target Grade Levels: Middle and High School, grades 6-12
ERA: Its Effect on U.S. Society
Society's views of women's abilities have changed since the American Revolution. As seen in "The Court and Gender Essay", the Supreme Court's rulings have often helped to change society's perceptions of women. The ERA movement attempted to advance women's rights. Students will examine the goals of the movement, its gains, and failures and its effect on the views of U.S. society towards women's issues.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court and Gender Essay
Equal Rights for Men?
Do men always have more rights than women? Many students will assume that men's rights are more extensive than women's. However, our society has positive and negative stereotypes of both genders. Students will brainstorm our cultural images of men and women and examine court cases dealing with gender issues, such as women in the military and gender-based classifications.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court and Gender Essay
Investigation of The Court and Gender
This lesson can be used for studying court cases regarding women's rights and gender issues. It explores a variety of resources including the timeline on this site as well as external web sites that have been evaluated by teachers for their resource value. Appropriate for high school junior and senior students, the lesson's goal is to allow the student a well-rounded study of court cases related to gender issues and how the outcomes of those cases have changed American society.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court and Gender Essay
Equal Protection for Women, Reed v. Reed
Students will learn that not until 1971, in the case of Reed v. Reed, was the 14th Amendment applied to women to afford them equal protection under law. Students will learn about the background of the case, read part of the unanimous opinion and may listen to oral argument audio files. As a culminating activity, students will compare and contrast constitutional amendments with Supreme Court decisions and evaluate which they believe is a better means for guaranteeing rights to U.S. citizens.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court and Gender Essay
Gender and the United States Supreme Court
Through primary source investigation and interactive discovery, students will understand the importance of equality and opportunity as a characteristic of modern America. Students will demonstrate content mastery through a self-reflective writing response. The topic of gender and equality could be used thematically with the topic of slavery and its long lasting impact on the American nation.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court and Gender Essay
Remember the Ladies: The Supreme Court and Women's Suffrage, Minor v. Happersett
In this lesson, students will explore the fight for women's suffrage in the federal courts. Students will examine the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments as well as excerpts from Minor v. Happersett. They will discuss how the court chose to interpret the law so that voting rights were not protected under the privileges and immunities clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. They will conclude by examining the Nineteenth Amendment.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court and Gender Essay
The Court and Young People
Working for a Living: Child Labor Laws
As many students either work or plan to work part-time during high school, child labor laws are of high interest. After reading The Court and Young People Essay, students will explore the Supreme Court's upholding of child labor laws in Hammer v. Dagenhart and the child labor laws that affect them today.
Target Grade Levels: High school, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court and Young People Essay
To Pledge or Not To Pledge
Students in schools across the United States pledge the flag daily. What does the Supreme Court say about mandatory pledging? This lesson reviews the cases Minersville v. Gobitis and West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette. Students will explore their rights, as well as how the Supreme Court has the ability to reverse earlier decisions.
Target Grade Levels: High school, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court and Young People Essay
When am I of Legal Age?
There are many different ages, under many different circumstances, when children cross the limit from juvenile to adult status. In this lesson, students will begin by brainstorming about the age restrictions, such as when they can get a learner's permit or attend rated movies such as PG-13, R. Pupils will look at the U.S. Constitution and the Twenty-sixth Amendment to find out the age requirements for Congress and the presidency along with the national voting age. Then they will divide into teams to conduct research and make a project board display illustrating federal, state, and/or local laws pertaining to age requirements. Each team will present its project board to the class in a concise oral presentation with time for follow-up questions or discussion. As a culminating activity, students will write an opinion paper explaining why they think the current multiple-age system works, or why they think there should be a single, unified age of majority (and if so, what the age should be.)
Target Grade Levels: Middle school, grade 6-8
For Use With: The Court and Young People Essay
Kids Take on the Supreme Court
Children who have been involved in Supreme Court cases have, arguably, had far greater impact on the lives of American people than child celebrities, yet few people know anything about them. In this lesson, students will learn about some of these children. To begin, students will brainstorm the names of child celebrities of the present or past (from film, television, music, etc.) and then try to brainstorm the name of any child who went to the Supreme Court, for example Linda Brown of Brown v. Board of Education. Students will then investigate and write a short biography about one of the children involved in a Supreme Court case, create three clues about the child for a "Who Am I?" game, and then divide into teams to play the game using student-created clues.
Target Grade Levels: Middle school, grade 6-8
For Use With: The Court and Young People Essay
The Supreme Court's Rulings on Young People
In this lesson, students will focus on retrieving information from The Court and Young People Essay. To begin, ask students to look at the essay's first page to identify the five categories of cases involving young people. Divide students into teams and ask all members to read passages describing five cases: Western Union v. Lenroot; Pierce v. Society of Sisters; DeShaney v. Winnebago; in re Gault; and Minersville v. Gobitis. Students will use a graphic organizer to help them structure the information they find for each of these cases. As a culminating activity, each student will select one other case from the essay and graphically organize information about it.
Target Grade Levels: High school Civics or U.S. Government, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court and Young People Essay
From Classroom to Courtroom: The Childhood of Supreme Court Justices
Given the age of many justices of the Supreme Court--who current Justice John Paul Stevens acknowledged are "at least two generations" out of touch with young people (Bethel School District v. Fraser, 1986)--students have a particularly difficult time relating to the nine figures on the bench. In this lesson, students will conduct biographical research to learn about the childhood of a justice of the Supreme Court. Students will begin by looking at a picture of the current members of the Supreme Court and brainstorming a list of issues which concern young people, but of which older people don't seem to be aware. Then, students will select a justice of the Supreme Court (current or past) and research the justice's childhood, from birth to the age of twenty-one. As a culminating activity, pupils will transform their research notes into a "scrapbook," share their scrapbooks with the class, and then discuss whether the Supreme Court justices really are as out-of-touch with children's issues as they may have thought. This lesson is designed for middle school students in Civics or U.S. Government, grades 6-8.
Target Grade Levels: Middle school, grades 6-8
For Use With: The Court and Young People Essay, The Court Today Essay
Students and the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court only began to render interpretations about the legal rights of young people in 1899 when juvenile courts were established. The extension of the 14th Amendment due process clause to students in school was finally accomplished in the case of Goss v. Lopez (1975). Students will learn about the background incident and 10-day suspension which sparked Goss v. Lopez, read the opinion for the majority and the dissent in this 5-4 decision, listen to audio files of oral arguments before the Supreme Court during the case, and write an evaluation of whether this ruling is likely to stand.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The History of the Supreme Court Essay
The Court Today
The President and Supreme Court Appointments
This lesson will look at the relationship between the Presidency and the Supreme Court. Students will explore current events related to Court appointments in order to detail the importance placed upon the selection of Justices. They will also examine the criteria used in the nomination process and take a look at the parallels between the President's political views and those of the Supreme Court nominees.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court Today Essay, The Court Today Gateway, The History of the Supreme Court Essay
Investigation of the Warren Court
This lesson can be used for studying the period of Supreme Court history when Earl Warren served as Chief Justice and exploring what impact that court, and the outcomes of the cases it considered, have had on American society. It will lead students to explore a variety of resources including external web sites that have been evaluated by teachers for their resource value and a timeline of related cases.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court Today Essay, The Court Today Gateway, The History of the Supreme Court Essay
Choosing Supreme Court Justices in 2005
This lesson provides an insight into the process of choosing a United States Supreme Court Associate Justice or Chief Justice. It also examines the possible effects of upcoming nominations and confirmations on the Court's balance and personality in the future.
Target Grade Levels: High School, grades 9-12
For Use With: The Court Today Essay, The Court Today Gateway, The History of the Supreme Court Essay
Gateway
Explore teacher Web Resources on a wide variety of topics pertaining to the Supreme Court. The sites on this gateway have been recommended for their quality and resource value to teachers and students.
The Court and Gender: Employment and Careers
The Court and Gender: Civic and Social Rights
The Court and Gender: Reproduction and Privacy Rights
The Court and Gender: Family, Marriage, and Gender Differences
General Supreme Court Information