Dec 30, 2009
Assignment: Imagine that your school principal has just announced a new school rule for detention. Students who get detention are not allowed to explain themselves, even if they did nothing wrong. Instead, they must sit in the principal's office during lunch. They are not allowed to eat lunch, not allowed to talk at all, and must listen to Frank Sinatra music during the entire period. Your teacher has asked you to prepare a written report on whether this new rule violates the U.S. Constitution.
Preparation: Begin your research by reading the Bill of Rights, which contains the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, along with the Fourteenth Amendment. These amendments contain many rights that might apply to the principal's new rule. Do you see any that might help? Continue your research by looking in Supreme Court Drama: Cases That Changed America for essays and cases on the freedom of speech, cruel and unusual punishment, and students' rights in school. Consult the library and Internet web sites for additional research material. Does it seem to matter whether you are in a public or private school?
Presentation: After you have gathered your information, prepare a report that explains what you found. Does the principal's new rule violate the Constitution? Why or why not? Explain your conclusions by referring to specific amendments from the Constitution and specific cases from Supreme Court Drama.
Assignment: Pretend you were in a bookstore that was being robbed. When the police arrived to arrest the criminal, they accidentally arrested you. During the arrest they treated you roughly and broke your arm. Your lawyer has informed you that you may sue the police to recover damages in either state or federal court. Before deciding which court system to use, you must do some research about both systems.
Preparation: Begin by reading the Introduction to Supreme Court Drama: Cases That Changed America so you can learn about the federal and state court systems in general. Continue with library and Internet research for more information about these systems. Then figure out which courts you need to use for your case. For the state system, use the library and Internet to find your local trial court for civil cases. Then find your state court of appeals and supreme courts in case you lose in the trial court. For the federal system, find the federal district court and U.S. court of appeals for your area. Write to the state supreme court and the U.S. court of appeals to find out what percentage of cases make it from those courts to the U.S. Supreme Court each year.
Presentation: Write a letter to your attorney explaining what you found. Tell her where you need to file your case if you choose the state system, and where you need to take appeals in that system. Do the same for the federal system. Tell her what your chances are of getting to the U.S. Supreme Court with your case.
Activity: Imagine that a new religious group called Planterism has moved into your community. Planters are a group of men who worship trees, flowers, and other plant life. Once every week they hold an all-night ceremony during which they burn a tree as a sacrifice for all living plants. The ceremony disturbs neighbors who are trying to sleep and threatens to eliminate rare trees in your town.
Your mayor or other local leader decides he does not like Planters, so he enacts the following law:
Everyone in this town must follow Christianity, Judaism, or some other popular religion. Anyone who follows a false religion, including Planterism, is guilty of a felony. Anyone who burns a tree as a sacrifice during a religious ceremony is guilty of a felony. Anyone who disturbs the peace with a religious ceremony at night is guilty of a felony.
Violation of this law by men is punishable by life in prison without a trial. If the local police suspect a man is violating this law, they shall enter his house immediately without a warrant, arrest him, and take him to jail for imprisonment. Violation of this law by women is punishable by thirty days in jail only after a jury finds the woman guilty in a fair trial.
Your teacher has instructed the class to convene a Supreme Court to determine whether this law violates the U.S. Constitution.
Preparation: Select nine members of your class to be justices on the Court. The rest of your class should divide into three teams. One team will represent the mayor, who will argue in favor of the law. The second team will represent a group of Planters who want to challenge the law. The third team will represent a group of Christians, who want to burn palms on Palm Sunday, a religious holiday that happens once a year.
The justices and all three teams should begin by reading the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Continue by reading Supreme Court Drama: Cases That Changed America for essays and cases on the freedom of religion, the establishment clause, search and seizure, cruel and unusual punishment, governmental power, due process of law, and gender discrimination. Supplement this with research from library materials and Internet web sites. You may want to assign small groups from each team to handle specific issues.
Presentation: When everyone has completed the research, all three teams should prepare to argue before the Supreme Court. The team representing the mayor should explain why the law should be upheld. The teams representing the Planters and the Christians should explain why the law should be struck down as unconstitutional. During the argument, the justices are allowed to ask questions of each team. After every team has made its argument, the justices should meet to discuss the case and to make a ruling. Is the law unconstitutional? Which parts are valid and which are not?
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