SUPREME COURT CASES

OF THE UNITED STATES

Introduction:

There have been several Supreme Court cases throughout the history of the United States. Marbury v. Madison established Judicial Review. Judicial Review is defined as the way the constitution is viewed by a particular justice of the Supreme Court. Loose interpretation means that you don’t follow the Constitution word for word. A strict interpretation means to follow the Constitution word for word. There have been specific cases that dealt with social issues, such as Brown v. Board of Education 1954, and had a profound impact on the history of America. Other cases have changed the way American’s view the President, such as, Nixon v. the United States. It’s up to you to choose the case that will impact you as public analysts.

Task

1. Individually choose one Supreme Court Case from American history (1800- present) to research.

2. Use the American History Public Policy Analyst to guide your research.

3. Create a five minute power point presentation explaining the background of the case, who was involved, and the outcome of the case, as well as the impact on U.S. history.

Ø Define the social problem.

Ø Include evidence of research

Ø Include all four steps of AHPPA

4. Include a conclusion in your power point that discusses the social problem and how it affects society today based on the evidence you gathered.

Process

Each group will use and complete the AHPPA that investigates the social problems that were ruled on in various U.S. Supreme Court. As Public Policy Analyst, you will use steps to complete your presentations. You will be responsible for completing the worksheets on the links below. You will use the web sites in the “resource” section along with outside material to complete the four worksheets. These four steps will form the outline for your power point presentation.

STEP # 1: Defining the Social Problem

STEP # 2: Gathering the Evidence

STEP # 3: Determining the Causes

STEP # 4: Evaluate the Policy

Resources

http://www.supremecourt.gov/

http://www.icivics.org/

www.streetlaw.org/en/landmark.aspx

www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/supreme_court/supreme_court.cfm

www.law.cornell.edu/supct/

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0101289.html

Evaluation

CATEGORY	EXCELLENT (4)	VERY GOOD (3)	SATISFACTORY (2)	NEEDS REVISION (1)
Organization	Information is very organized with detailed paragraphs and subheadings.	Information is organized with some detailed paragraphs.	Information is organized, but paragraphs lacked detail.	The information appears to be disorganized.
Sources	All sources (information and graphics) are accurately documented.	All information and graphics are accurately documented.	All information and graphics are documented.	Many sources are not documented.
Amount of Information (AHPPA Documents)	All topics are addressed and all questions answered with at least 2 sentences about each.	All topics are addressed and most questions answered with at least 2 sentences about each.	All topics are addressed, and most questions answered with 1 sentence about each.	One or more topics were not addressed.
Power Point Presentation	Discusses all aspects of the project.	Discussed most aspects of the project.	Discussed at least half the aspects of the project.	Discusses only one aspect of the project

STANDARDS

English Language Arts~

Standard 1: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding.

Standard 3: Students will read, write, listen, and speak for critical analysis and evaluation.

Social Studies ~

Key Idea 1:

The study of New York State and United States history requires an analysis of the development of American culture, its diversity and multicultural context, and the ways people are unified by many values, practices, and traditions.

Key Idea 2:

Important ideas, social and cultural values, beliefs, and traditions from New York State and United States history illustrate the connections and interactions of people and events across time and from a variety of perspectives.

Key Idea 3:

Study about the major social, political, economic, cultural, and religious developments in New York State and United States history involves learning about the important roles and contributions of individuals and groups.

Key Idea 4:

The skills of historical analysis include the ability to: explain the significance of historical evidence; weigh the importance, reliability, and validity of evidence; understand the concept of multiple causation; understand the importance of changing and competing interpretations of different historical developments.

American Supreme Court justices needed some tuition about modern technology when they heard oral arguments about a

Conclusion

By completing this webquest you should have learned about various social issues that were involved in Supreme Court Case decisions. You have become a historian and public policy analysts and have investigated the impact Supreme Court Case decisions have had on the American society as a whole.