Fast and Easy Lesson Plans for Civics Supreme Court Cases
Here are ten quick, easy and engaging ways to learn about the Supreme Court through the resources you can find at NYTimes.com. We encourage you to send us your thoughts about these suggestions by visiting our feedback page.
1. How does the Supreme Court affect your life? Read "10 Supreme Court Cases Every Teen Should Know" to learn about rulings on issues from prayer in school to corporal punishment to drug testing of student athletes. For example, what did Tinker v. DeMoines say about students' right to free speech, and how is it being applied in more recent cases in which fifth graders protested school uniforms or students in Alaska displayed a statement about drugs? Using what you learn, make a pamphlet, poster or podcast to teach students at your school about their constitutional rights as interpreted by our nation's highest court.
2. Supreme Court 101: What does the Supreme Court do? How was it established? How does it decide which cases to hear? How do the justices determine their opinions? What power does a Supreme Court ruling have to affect lives? Check out this PBS site about the history of the court for the basics. Or, brush up on related vocabulary with our Judicial Branch student crossword. You might also visit the Oyez Project, a multimedia database through which you can search Supreme Court cases and information about the justices, or our Constitution special for lesson plans and links to historical Times articles. (And to differentiate the role of the judicial branch from that of the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government, use our "Branching Out" handout to chart stories from The Times that are related to each.)
3. How much does a judge's personal experience affect the way he or she understands the law and makes decisions? Does being a woman change the way one decides a case? What effect might one's racial background have? Does going to an Ivy League school shape a justice's views? How about an early passion for Nancy Drew novels? All these are questions that have been asked about President Obama's nominee, Sonia Sotomayor.
Do you agree with President Obama that experience with overcoming barriers is important? Do you agree with him that "it is experience that can give a person a common touch and a sense of compassion; an understanding of how the world works and how ordinary people live. And that is why it is a necessary ingredient in the kind of justice we need on the Supreme Court"? Why or why not?
4. "If there is a sacred text in the American legal canon, it is the Supreme Court's 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education. It is the court's one undisputed triumph, and no Supreme Court nominee who expressed doubt about the decision would ever be confirmed," begins a 2006 article about this famous case and its contemporary applications.
Read the text of the original decision outlawing segregation in schools. Then watch a Times video on the 50th anniversary of the decision, or read both editorials from the nation's press on the day of the decision as well as an editorial on its 50th anniversary. Do you think the original promise of Brown v. Board of Education has been fulfilled? (Teachers, a Learning Network Lesson Plan on the 50th anniversary of Brown is also available.)
5. The confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor is shaping up to be a political battle. Decide what you think about Judge Sotomayor's candidacy by examining her notable opinions and articles. You might also view a timeline of her life or listen to the voices of some who know her personally. As you go, record what you like, don't like and have questions about on our "Met Her, Vet Her, Sotomayor!" handout. Then, write a letter voicing your opinion to your representatives.
6. What other interesting contested nominations have there been in American history? What was the timing from nomination to confirmation for many of the judges currently on the court? (See "Previous Nomination Timing" in the second graphic.) To help bring to life the stories of the historical Supreme Court Justice nominees examined in these two graphics, try writing a letter of advice from one of them to Ms. Sotomayor. In your letter, explore what a contemporary Supreme Court nominee could learn from the nominees of the past, paying particular attention to how long the nomination process usually takes and what has helped and hindered nominees in the past.
7. What is your opinion about each of the following?
-A woman has the right to an abortion under most circumstances.
-The death penalty is a just punishment for those who have murdered others.
-Adults have the right to own handguns with permits.
-An individual has the right to burn an American flag as an expression of symbolic speech.
-Public schools cannot sponsor religious activities (for example, a prayer broadcast over a public address system before a football game).
Each of these is a summary of a famous Supreme Court ruling. Choose an Supreme Court-related issue about which you feel strongly and create a graphic such as a timeline or a cause and effect chart to show the key issues and questions, landmark cases and decisions, and effects of those decisions on the lives of Americans.
8. What does it mean for a Supreme Court justice to interpret the Constitution "loosely" or "strictly"? Toward which do you think a justice should tend? Why? What is meant by the term "activist judge"? What defines a "liberal" or "conservative" judge?
Explore the political leanings of recent and current Supreme Court justices by examining the "Major Rulings of the 2007-2008 Term" graphic or go to the Opinions page of the Supreme Court site for recent rulings. How would you characterize today's court politically? Visit the "The Vanishing Liberal Justice" graphic to see a visual depiction of a University of Chicago study that found that four of the five most conservative justices since 1937, of a total of 43, are on the court now.
Try comparing the information in these two graphics with the 2006 graphic "Editorial Perceptions of Supreme Court Nominees" paying particular attention to how each justice's political leanings were viewed when they were appointed to the court. You may find some surprising information about how the justices' assumed political leanings have transformed over their years on the court. Use our "Justice Then and Now" handout to record your findings about how an individual's political leanings have changed over time.
9. A Justice is stepping down! Read the Room for Debate blog's "Judgment on Justice Souter" feature which highlights different opinions about Justice Souter's tenure on the Court from experts around the country. Pick four of these opinions and record the "Multiple Points of View" on the issue using our handout. Or do the same with the decisions of any other justice past or present. (Present and recent justices such as Thurgood Marshall, Sandra Day O'Connor and Antonin Scalia each have their own Times Topic page.)
10. What's important to you? Pick one of the issues that the Supreme Court has addressed in recent years using the Times "Notable Cases of the 2006-7 Term" or "Notable Cases of the 2007-8 Term". Explore all the information on your chosen issue and record your findings using our "Debatable Issues" handout.The banner image above, by Maira Kalman, is from a May 26, 2009 Op-Ed by long-time Supreme Court correspondent, Linda Greenhouse, headlined Every Justice Creates a New Court .
Source: https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/issues_in_depth/10SupremeCourtIdeas.html
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