Sequence on the US Supreme Court

STEP 1 :
 read the text written by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
 recap what the author says

STEP 2 :
 in groups, look for information about the different founding documents mentioned in the article

  group 1 : The Ten Commandments & the author, Ruth Bader Ginsburg
  group 2 : The Magna Carta and The Charter of the United Nations (preamble)
  group 3 : The Bill of Rights , The American Declaration of Independence and the Constitution

YOUR TASK IN GROUPS : 1. Look for information about the circumstances in which each document was created, and for one group about the author of this document (pay attention to the age of the author when the document was written). 2. In the light of this document, what does your research bring to understand its contents ? 3. Discuss as a group what information is relevant and should be transmitted to the rest of the class so as to understand this document (and its author) better.

Jigsaw approach : Each group splits to re-form groups, each new group comprising at least one member from the former groups, so that everyone will in the end have all the information from every source.

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The creation of the US Supreme Court

Take notes about
 Key dates and how it was created
 Term of court dates
 Anything you consider relevant for the sequence and/or your general knowledge.

Life as a Justice of the Supreme Court

and answer these questions.
Part 1
 How is Sonia Sotomayor presented ? Why is it unexpected ?
 Why has she come to that show ?
 Explain the message that is given about role models.
 What other message is delivered ?
Part 2
 How are Justices before they were justices presented by Sonia Sotomayor ?
 What are the potential different meanings of the sentence "I won’t say which channel" ?
 Same with "we stay away from politics and religion, the two subjects that most people, if they don’t wan t to fight, should stay away from".
  Part 3
 What is Sonia Sotomayor’s advice to citizens ? Why ?
 What is Trevor Noah (the host)’s analysis of it ?
 Recap why it wouldn’t be a good idea to broadcast a Court’s dealings.
 Recap the conclusion does Trevor Noah reach, and Justice Sotomayor’s reaction.

MacBeth mock trial

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Group Task

Landmark cases are studied by pairs or groups of 3, but each group will debate on another case than the one they worked on.

Step 1 : Follow this link to find out what the question to SCOTUS was, and the subsequent decision. Note any fact that may be relevant to the case for when you’ll have to explain it to your classmates.

 Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
  Dredford vs. Sandford (1857)
 West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) :
  Brown vs. Board of education of Topeka (1954)
 Engel v. Vitale (1962)
  Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
  Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
 Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)
  Roe v. Wade (1973)
 U.S. v. Nixon (1974)
 Texas v. Johnson (1989)
 Wilson v. Arkansas (1995)
 Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)
 Bostock v. Clayton County (2020)

Step 2 : Groups of 3,5,7 or 9 (compulsorily an ODD number) will be given a question to debate. All members look for arguments on both sides for about 15mn. They’ll argue for a few minutes, then each of the 5,7 or 9 judges will then enunciate their argument concerning the case at hand, that must be different from the ones previously given. Each judge will then vote in favo(u)r or against the question, depending on whichever side has convinced them the most, and not necessarily the side they were assigned to argue.

After each debate, the group having studied the case will explain the ruling of the Supreme Court in context, and how it changed the law.

The slogan "one man one vote" seeks to obtain equal representation for all citizens. Click here to know more about a Supreme Court decision on this matter.