Process
There will be twelve steps in this process. Working in groups of four, you and your group will choose a modern - era (last sixty years) Supreme Court case which affects youngsters of school - age.
You will be assigned a role within your group of one of the following:
A.) Case Preparation (Background)
B.) Petitioner Attorney
C.) Respondent Attorney
D.) Supreme Court Justice
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Step One
*Group selection and role assignments. This will be done in the classroom.*
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Step Two
Before you know what you will be describing, arguing, or deciding it will be important to have an understanding of Supreme Court procedures.
You will create an outline of Supreme Court procedures. This should include how a case gets to the Supreme Court, the rules for argument, and what types of opinions are prepared. This will help the Attorneys and Justices in your group Are you ready ? Let's go !
Go to the graphic
The Path to the Supreme Court
*Diagram the path on paper showing all courts and make sure all arrows are lined up properly. Keep this to be turned in with your outline.*
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Step Three
Now that you understand the path cases travel before getting to the Supreme Court, the roles each of you will play will require a knowledge of certain legal words that are vital to Supreme Court procedure.
Required vocabulary
- Brief
- Civil Case
- Concurring Opinion
- Dissenting Opinion
- Docket
- Majority Opinion
- Petitioner
- Precedent
- Respondent
- Stare Decisis
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Step Four
We are getting closer to getting our cases to take before the court, but first we must (the Attorneys in particular) get an understanding of the rules and procedures that the Supreme Court follows before our arguments.
*Prepare on your outline a study aide that can be used by Attorneys and all participants in your case to prepare them for how the Supreme Court operates. Examples would be How long does each side get for oral argument ? Are the proceedings open to the public ?*
When finished with notes from this site to be added to your outline, connect to:
Either of these two sites above could also help you with the required vocabulary if you had trouble.
O.K., good things take time. Good work so far. Now we are ready to get into the meat and potatoes of our quest. The selection and analysis of our cases !!!
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Step Five
With all your preparation on Supreme Court procedures, let's now put it to use.
*Your group will choose a key Constitutional issue regarding young people, along with the accompanying case. By researching the case, you will be able to develop an informed opinion on the issue.* All groups must have a different case !
Here are the issues and cases to choose from:
Should schools have the right to censor student newspapers?
Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier
Should Congress set a national drinking age?
South Dakota v. Elizabeth H. Dole
Should school officials have the right to search your property?
New Jersey v. TLO
Can public schools ban political protests?
Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District
Should universities have the right to use admissions quotas?
Regents of the University of California v. Bakke
Should the government require students to salute the flag?
West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette
Should school-initiated prayer be permitted in the public school system?
Engel v. Vitale
Should students be entitled to all due process rights?
Goss v. Lopez
Should books be removed from school libraries simply because school officials deem them offensive?
Board of Education v. Pico
Do students' First Amendment rights allow them to make obscene speech in school?
Bethel School District # 43 v. Fraser
Can students use a school's loudspeaker system to offer student-led, student-initiated prayer?
Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe
Should random drug tests of students involved in extracurricular activities be permitted?
Veronia School District v. Acton or Board of Education of Independent School District # 92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls
Should colleges and universities have a legitimate interest in promoting diversity?
Grutter v. Bollinger
Should youths between 15 and 18 years of age be executed for crimes committed during this time?
Roper v. Simmons
Is corporal punishment administered in schools unconstitutional?
Ingraham v. Wright
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Step Six
*Now that you have your case you will need to find out the following information as preparation for your opinion briefs: ( Reference your Supreme Court Procedures outline to see what a brief is)*
A,) Background of the case. What are the circumstances surrounding this becoming
a court case originally well before it got to the Supreme Court?
This should be very specific and detailed so there is no questions in the minds of
the judges as to what happened. Include the year the circumstances occured and
why it was originally argued as a court case at a lower level.
B.) Arguments that both sides have so that a favorable ruling will be delivered on
their case. Make sure to include the Constitutional citings as much as possible.
This simply means what part of the Constitution is being brought into question.
Without some type of violation of the Constitution, this would not even be an
issue being considered by the S. Court.
C.) Decision reached by the S. Court. This would be the majority
opinion of the Justices. This would include the Constitutional basis
for the decision as well as the date argued, date decision rendered, tallies of
how each justice voted, and basics of any dissenting or concurring opinions.
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Step Seven
*Go to this site to see how your case is classified by type. Example would be Free Speech. There is then additional information about your case. Not all cases may be on here, but check before you move to the next web site.*
SocialStudiesHelp
*Now go through each of the following resources to obtain as much ammunition as you can for the above task in Step Six.*
Cornell Website
Landmark Cases
This next site is a great multimedia resource. In addition to a case summary, this abstract provides a Participants link to learn about the people involved and the attorneys who argued the case. You can also see a picture of the court at the time the case was decided to see how each Justice voted on the case. You can also listen to recordings of some of the actual oral arguments. Here is the site:Oyez
If you have trouble connecting with the Oyez link above try by URL here: http://www.oyez.org/oyez/frontpage.php
Other landmark case sites include:
http://www.cfsd.k12.az.us/~ogwww/wadman/land.html
http://www.southalabama.edu/univlib/guides/landmark.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/us/supreme-court/cases
Landmark cases about students
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Step Eight
Do not neglect your responsibilities as Attorneys and Justices of utilizing the Constitution in your arguments and decisions. *In order to help you with clarifications on your Constitutional citings visit
Interactive Constitution *
This will allow you to quickly navigate the Constitution by Article or Amendment to find the actual wording you will need.
Wow ! You have learned a great deal about the Supreme Court's influence on young people with researching just one case. It is now time to prepare for the final part of the quest as you and the rest of the class will help each other out in developing an understanding of the role the Judicial Branch plays in shaping American policy.
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Step Nine
It is now time to put together what you have learned during this Supreme Court quest.
*You will get together with your group members in class to conference. Your group will plan and perform a short skit for the class.* The dates for the skit performances are TBA.
What will the skit be about?
The skit will serve as an introduction for the class on the circumstances surrounding your case. (What originally happened to make this a legal issue to begin with?)
*All members of your group should be involved. Some form of props and costuming are required. Skit times should be three to five minutes in length.*
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Step Ten
*Immediately after your skit is completed your group will present the pertinent case information to the class.* In essence, the class is serving as the Justices and your job will be to help them arrive at a decision.
Example : Should the Government Require Students to Salute the Flag?
It is at this step that the roles assigned to you within your group will come into play.
*One person in your group will be responsible for each of the following:*
A.) Case background that led it to the Supreme Court.
B.) Arguments in favor of the key Constitutional issue.
C.) Arguments against the key Constitutional issue.
D.) Supreme Court Decision and reasoning on the issue.
*Your group should cover letters A-C above first in that order, but leave letter D for the very last part of your presentation after Step Eleven.
Length of time to shoot for would be five to seven minutes for letters A-C. This will include your group helping the rest of the class reference and review the applicable Constitutional parts in their Constituional handbooks.*
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Step Eleven
As you have learned, the Supreme Court Justices often interrupt the Attorneys presenting the oral arguments to ask questions. The class members will not be permitted to interrupt you to do this during your presentation, however, they will be allowed to ask questions during this Step. *In order to facilitate this, you will now oversee the running of a class debate on your issue. This will be a big help for the class members in preparing their opinion briefs on your case.* Time length is open - ended, but a reasonable time to look to wrap up this debate would be at around ten minutes.
*At the conclusion of the debate, your group member in charge of the official Supreme Court decision and reasoning on your case will review this with the class.* Be sure the count in numbers is reviewed. Examples: Court ruled 7-2 in favor, 5-4 against etc.
Debate Rubric
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Step Twelve
*The final part of our Supreme Court quest will be your own individual preparation of court briefs in which you render a decision on each issue/case.* This would include not only your case, but those of the other groups as well. This is why it is so important to do a thorough job with your group so your classmates have an easier time writing their briefs, and vice - versa.Your briefs must include which parts of the Constitution are at issue, and your arguments regarding them. One paragraph minimum, but two or three are welcome if desired. All your briefs taken together will be evaluated as one grade. This is an individual, not group grade.