FREEDOM OF SPEECH

A TIPS Project

by

Sylvia Allen, Stevenson H.S.

INTRODUCTION:

There have been many complaints from the people of Allentown that they are being disturbed by the constant ringing of Mosque and Church bells. A formal complaint has been lodged with the Town Council Offices of the City of Allentown, New York.

You are employees of the City of Allentown, New York. Your office has been inundated with calls from residences and businesses in the area stating that everyday they must listen to calls to prayer from the chimes of church bells once during the day and mosque bells five times throughout the day.

Some of the residents feel that the continual chiming and bell ringing are interfering with their right to peace and quiet. They feel that this constant bell ringing is excessive. You have put a team together to look into the complaints.

TASK:

Your team will a two-page position paper that cites at least two Supreme Court cases on Freedom of Speech. You will tell how this case helped you come to a conclusion about Freedom of Speech.

PROCESS:

You will work with a partner to:

- use the Landmark Cases and Findlaw websites and develop an understanding of cases that involve Freedom of Speech

- find articles on the internet that explore issues of Freedom of Speech.

- cite cases and explore two Supreme Court cases and examine Freedom of Speech issues

- write a position paper that will also include your team’s personal to the Supreme Court decision.

- prepare a 5 to 8 question survey to find out how the people of Allentown feel about this issue.

- present your findings to town council.

- use the Rubric at the end of this page to evaluate your work.

- give a 3-5 minute presentation of your work

THE QUESTION:

Do religious groups have the right to worship in whatever way they choose?

THE RESOURCES:

Some Suggested Websites:

www.Findlaw.com

www.landmarkcases.org/

www.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/Tips.htm

Cases:

Tinker Case

Fiener Case

Texas vs Johnson

Ladue vs Galleo

EVALUATION:

You will mark your work out of 100%

You will use the following rubric to evaluate your work:

RUBRIC

Objective Poor Adequate Satisfactory Excellent

40 - 55 56 – 65 66 – 80 81 - 100

Facts of the shows little shows some Shows passable shows outstanding

Case understanding understanding understanding grasp of the facts

Of the facts of the facts of the facts

Writing did not meet met the met the met all the

requirements requirements requirements requirements

Presentation not audible somewhat quite audible Exciting

unsure audible knowledgeable confident

CONCLUSION:

Write one paragraph to highlight the positive and negative aspects of participating in this activity. Would you like to have future lessons working with computer applications style?

STANDARDS:

NYS Social studies Standard 5 – Civics, Citizenship and Government

NYCDOE English Language Arts Standards E1c, E3c, E6a