Please rate each of the members of your group, including. Please be honest, so I can properly assess the performance of each student on this project.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Tonight's HW - Due Tuesday 12/15
Tonight's HW:
1. Carefully read the PROJECT REQUIREMENT SHEET which we discussed in class today.
2. Complete the group checklist. Please print one copy, and turn it into me (per group)
3. Begin research on your cases. Remember, in most cases, it's two people to a case. You have until 12/17 (Thursday) for your group to complete the CASE WORKSHEET
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Supreme Court Project '09
Hello, R.U.S.H. Students:
Based on the work that we have done in class recently, we are now going to apply what we've learned to a major assessment piece.
Here is a link to the folder, containing all of the files necessary to complete the project.
You will be working in teams for this project. Here is a link to the list of teams. Members are NON-NEGOTIABLE, so please do not ask if you can switch.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
12/11/09 and EXTRA CREDIT ASSIGNMENT
Supreme Court Mini-Project Day 2
http://web000.greece.k12.ny.us/SocialStudiesResources/Social_Studies_Resources/USHG_Thematic_Essays/USHG_Thematic_Essay_06.02.pdf
Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs addressing the task below, and a conclusion.
Theme: Supreme Court Cases Concerning Constitutional Civil Liberties
The United States Supreme Court has played a major role in either
expanding or limiting constitutional civil liberties in the United States.
Task:
Identify two Supreme Court cases that have had an impact on civil
liberties in the United States.
For each case identified:
•Discuss the facts of the case
•Identify a specific constitutional civil liberty issue addressed by the
Supreme Court
•Discuss how the decision of the Supreme Court either expanded or limited a specific constitutional civil liberty in the United States
You may use any appropriate Supreme Court case from your study of United States
history. Some suggestions you might wish to consider include
Plessy v. Ferguson(1896),
Schenck v. United States (1919),
Korematsu v. United States (1944),
Brownv. Board of
Education of Topeka(1954),
Mapp v. Ohio(1961),
Gideonv. Wainwright(1963),
Miranda v.Arizona (1966),
Tinkerv. Des Moines School District(1969),
New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985).
You are not limited to these suggestions.
Here's a list of links to help you with your research:
http://www.twyman-whitney.com/apgovpol/landmarkcases2006.htm#CIVILLIBERTIES An excellent listing of all the cases involving Civil Liberties. Start here!
http://landmarkcases.org/ - A listing of the major SC cases in US History. TONS of background information.
http://northport.k12.ny.us/~patch/regreview.html - A list of the important SC cases you need for the Regents Exam. Many of these cases deal with Civil Liberties.
http://tourolaw.edu/patch/CaseSummary.asp - Another good link dealing with the cases.
Complete ALL of the questions related to EACH CASE!
GO THE EXTRA MILE!
EXTRA CREDIT!
CLICK THE LINK BELOW FOR THE THEMATIC ESSAY. Using the cases we've worked on (that's the easy thing to do), or other ones that you find interesting, complete the following task!
http://web000.greece.k12.ny.us/SocialStudiesResources/Social_Studies_Resources/USHG_Thematic_Essays/USHG_Thematic_Essay_06.02.pdf
Write a well-organized essay that includes an introduction, several paragraphs addressing the task below, and a conclusion.
Theme: Supreme Court Cases Concerning Constitutional Civil Liberties
The United States Supreme Court has played a major role in either
expanding or limiting constitutional civil liberties in the United States.
Task:
Identify two Supreme Court cases that have had an impact on civil
liberties in the United States.
For each case identified:
•Discuss the facts of the case
•Identify a specific constitutional civil liberty issue addressed by the
Supreme Court
•Discuss how the decision of the Supreme Court either expanded or limited a specific constitutional civil liberty in the United States
You may use any appropriate Supreme Court case from your study of United States
history. Some suggestions you might wish to consider include
Plessy v. Ferguson(1896),
Schenck v. United States (1919),
Korematsu v. United States (1944),
Brownv. Board of
Education of Topeka(1954),
Mapp v. Ohio(1961),
Gideonv. Wainwright(1963),
Miranda v.Arizona (1966),
Tinkerv. Des Moines School District(1969),
New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985).
You are not limited to these suggestions.
Here's a list of links to help you with your research:
http://www.twyman-whitney.com/apgovpol/landmarkcases2006.htm#CIVILLIBERTIES An excellent listing of all the cases involving Civil Liberties. Start here!
http://landmarkcases.org/ - A listing of the major SC cases in US History. TONS of background information.
http://northport.k12.ny.us/~patch/regreview.html - A list of the important SC cases you need for the Regents Exam. Many of these cases deal with Civil Liberties.
http://tourolaw.edu/patch/CaseSummary.asp - Another good link dealing with the cases.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Supreme Court Mini-Project
This assignment is due no later than 11:59 PM Thursday Night. It is worth 1/2 a test (2 weighted points). If you finish by the end of class Thursday, not only will you have "no homework," but you will get 5 extra points on your grade for the assignment!
CLICK HERE FOR THE ASSIGNMENT. Download a copy, or copy/paste, creating your own google doc.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Tonight's HW 12/8/09
Here's your assignment for this evening. Please post your answers, instead of writing them by hand.
1. Read the Background Information on the Supreme Court Case Tinker vs. United States(1969). The information can be found below.
2. After reading the information about the case, answer the questions that follow.
Background Info
John and Mary Beth Tinker attended public school in Des Moines, Iowa. In December of 1965 a community group in Des Moines decided to protest American involvement in the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands. The Tinkers agreed to wear their black armbands to school. However, principals in the school district, aware of the students' plans created a rule that any student wearing an armband to school would be suspended unless the student removed the armband. Although the Tinkers knew about this rule, they decided to come to school wearing armbands anyway. After refusing to take the armbands off, John and Mary Beth Tinker were sent home by the principal. Their suspension lasted until they agreed to come back to school without the armbands.
The Tinkers filed a suit in the U.S. District Court to stop the school principals from enforcing the rule in the future. Although the District Court said that this type of protest was a form of expression protected under the First Amendment's freedom of speech clause, the Court sided with the school officials, saying that the rule was needed to "prevent the disturbance of school activities." The Tinkers appealed their case to the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, but they lost. The Tinkers decided to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The fundamental question of the case came down to this: Does the First Amendment's promise of free speech extend to the symbolic speech of public school students? And, if so, in what circumstances is that symbolic speech protected? The First Amendment to the Constitution says, "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech." The Fourteenth Amendment extends this rule to state government as well, of which schools are a part. However, the First Amendment does not say which kinds of speech are protected. It also does not specify what types of expressive actions should be considered as speech.
The question of what kind of speech or action is protected under the First Amendment has been considered many times by the Supreme Court of the United States. Generally, the Court has held that the First Amendment protects adult symbolic speech that does not harm or threaten to harm. However, at the time of Tinker, it was unclear whether students' rights in this area were different.
In 1968 the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear the Tinker's case and consider whether the Des Moines public schools ban on armbands was an unconstitutional violation of the students' right to free speech. The Court's decision in Tinker v. Des Moines was handed down in 1969.
1. Read the Background Information on the Supreme Court Case Tinker vs. United States(1969). The information can be found below.
2. After reading the information about the case, answer the questions that follow.
- Do you think that the school policy banning armbands was fair? Why or why not?
- The students knew they would be suspended if they wore armbands to school and chose to do so anyway. Why do you think they ignored the rule?
- The First Amendment says "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech." Why do you think the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that certain actions should have the same protection as verbal speech? Are these reasons valid?
- Pretend that students in your school wanted to protest the school-wide ban on smoking. Should they be allowed to protest by wearing T-shirts that read "Up with 'Butts'!"? Why or why not?
Post your responses to the questions. Looking forward to seeing what you have to say.
Background Info
John and Mary Beth Tinker attended public school in Des Moines, Iowa. In December of 1965 a community group in Des Moines decided to protest American involvement in the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands. The Tinkers agreed to wear their black armbands to school. However, principals in the school district, aware of the students' plans created a rule that any student wearing an armband to school would be suspended unless the student removed the armband. Although the Tinkers knew about this rule, they decided to come to school wearing armbands anyway. After refusing to take the armbands off, John and Mary Beth Tinker were sent home by the principal. Their suspension lasted until they agreed to come back to school without the armbands.
The Tinkers filed a suit in the U.S. District Court to stop the school principals from enforcing the rule in the future. Although the District Court said that this type of protest was a form of expression protected under the First Amendment's freedom of speech clause, the Court sided with the school officials, saying that the rule was needed to "prevent the disturbance of school activities." The Tinkers appealed their case to the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, but they lost. The Tinkers decided to appeal the case to the Supreme Court of the United States.
The fundamental question of the case came down to this: Does the First Amendment's promise of free speech extend to the symbolic speech of public school students? And, if so, in what circumstances is that symbolic speech protected? The First Amendment to the Constitution says, "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech." The Fourteenth Amendment extends this rule to state government as well, of which schools are a part. However, the First Amendment does not say which kinds of speech are protected. It also does not specify what types of expressive actions should be considered as speech.
The question of what kind of speech or action is protected under the First Amendment has been considered many times by the Supreme Court of the United States. Generally, the Court has held that the First Amendment protects adult symbolic speech that does not harm or threaten to harm. However, at the time of Tinker, it was unclear whether students' rights in this area were different.
In 1968 the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear the Tinker's case and consider whether the Des Moines public schools ban on armbands was an unconstitutional violation of the students' right to free speech. The Court's decision in Tinker v. Des Moines was handed down in 1969.
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