Judicial Learning Center
Understanding the Types of Cases
Most young scholars are aware of the criminal courts system, but the United States Constitution allows for a much broader role. What other roles do courts play in settling other questions? A case study and WebQuest-style activities...
Facing History and Ourselves
Taking Ownership of the Law
The work of building and maintaining a democracy is, in the words of Justice William Hastie, "never finished." To better understand what Hastie sees as an ongoing building process, class members listen to a seven-minute podcast about two...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Revolution '67, Lesson 1: Protest: Why and How
To some people, protesting is as American as apple pie, but the factors that lead to protests can be as confusing to veteran activists as to today's youth. Revolution '67 explores the riots in Newark, New Jersey as a case study. Using...
School Improvement in Maryland
Supreme Court Case Overview I
As part of a study of the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution, class members examine four Supreme Court decisions—Gitlow v. New York, Mapp v. Ohio, Gideon v. Wainwright, and Griswold v. Connecticut—that incorporated the due...
American Institute of Physics
Physicist Activist: Dr. Elmer Imes and the Civil Rights Case of Juliette Derricotte
Elmer Imes was not only a brilliant physicist but also a civil rights activist. After an introductory lecture, groups read two articles about a traffic accident that killed one Fisk University student and injured several others. The...
Personal Genetics Education Project
DNA, Crime and Law Enforcement
Civil rights meets biotechnology in a instructional activity that scrutinizes the collection of DNA of citizens who have been arrested, but not yet convicted of a crime. Real-life cases are examined in which the DNA of a relative was...
Curated OER
Lesson 4: The Judiciary: A Brief Introduction to the Courts System
Focusing on the judicial branch of government, the fourth lesson in this series explores the structure of the US courts system. Beginning with an engaging activity based on the short story The Lady or the Tiger, learners go on to examine...
Teaching for Change
A Documents-Based Lesson on the Voting Rights Act
How did the Voting Rights Act affect the daily lives of American citizens? A document-based lesson developed by the Student Non-Violent Coordinating committee (SNCC) presents a case study of the impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 on...
Alabama Department of Archives and History
New York Times Co. v Sullivan: The Alabama Case that Changed Libel Law
Malice aforethought? Can the New York Times be held libel for false claims appearing in its ads? The Supreme Court case New York Times v Sullivan changed the interpretation of the First Amendment. Class members examine these changes and...
Newseum
The Freedom to Make a Change
As part of a study of the First Amendment, young historians research instances when individuals or groups used the First Amendment to change the United State's laws or policies. Teams are each assigned a different case study. With the...
Teaching Tolerance
Using Photographs to Teach Social Justice | Confronting Unjust Practices
A powerful photograph of the Freedom Riders of 1961 launches an examination of the de jure and de facto injustices that the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s addressed. Young historians first watch a video and read the Supreme...
Teaching Tolerance
Racial Disparity in the Criminal Justice System
Explore the impact of the war on drugs in a thought-provoking lesson for high school academics. Young historians delve into the world of the criminal justice system and the racial disparity that occurs in the US. The resource provides...
Judicial Branch of California
Separate But Equal - Is It Black or White?
The story of Ruby Bridges and the case of Brown vs. The Board of Education are fantastic tools for discussing the concept of separate but equal. Kids tackle some big questions about what is fair, what is civil, and what rights or laws...
Facing History and Ourselves
Emmett Till: Choosing to Remember
Mamie Till, the mother of Emmett Till and civil rights activist, believed that her son's murder was the last straw before public outrage over racial injustice spilled over into the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century. A history...