Landmark Supreme Court Cases

Goal: Research a landmark Supreme Court Case and create a presentation

Agenda: 
Journal
Choose a Case
Read About It
Create Case Presentations

1. Journal 
What kinds of cases does the Supreme Court hear? Explain your answer.

2. Choose a Case 
Choose a case from this list of cases that you find interesting:

• Marbury v. Madison, 1803 
• Issue: Who can ultimately decide what the law is?
• Dred Scott v. Sandford, 1857
• Issue: Does Congress have the constitutional power to prohibit slavery in free territories? Also, does the Constitution give African Americans the right to sue in federal court?
• Brown v. Board of Education, 1954 
• Issue: Do racially segregated public schools violate the Equal Protection Clause?
• Miranda v. Arizona, 1966
• Issue: Are police constitutionally required to inform people in custody of their rights to remain silent and to an attorney?
• Loving v. Virginia, 1967
• Issue: Did Virginia's law against interracial marriage violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?
• Tinker v. Des Moines, 1969 
• Issue: Does the First Amendment prohibit public school officials from barring students' from wearing black armbands to symbolize anti-war political protest?
• Roe v. Wade, 1973
• Issue: Does the Constitution prohibit laws that severely restrict or deny a woman's access to abortion?
• Obergefell v. Hodges, 2015 
• Issue: Is same-sex marriage valid across all 50 states, or just in the 37 states that allow same-sex marriage? 
• Fisher v. University of Texas 
• Issue: Does the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment permit the consideration of race in undergraduate admissions decisions?

3. Read About It 
Read the page linked above and Google other information about it. Some more helpful sites you can consider using are:

• USCourts.gov: See more detail on your case 
• Supremecourt.gov: See the actual opinions written by justices

4. Create a Case Presentation 

• There is a slide template in Google Classroom called "Landmark Supreme Court Case"
• Use the template to inform the class about the case you chose. 
• You are working independently.
• You will be presenting these out loud to the class when I get back. 
• Do NOT choose the same case as your friends/table mates. 

Reminders: 

• Look at your grades in Powerschool and make sure everything is caught up. 
• LGBTQ+ Students apply for the SD Pride Youth Leadership Academy HERE! Ask me if you have questions.