Background:
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest
court in the federal judicial system and has both original
and appellate jurisdiction. Historically, the Supreme
Court's most influential role has been through the exercise
of judicial review. The Court's power to declare acts
of the legislative and the executive branches unconstitutional
and therefore null and void has enabled Supreme Court
Justices to act as policy makers.
Title IX is a United States law enacted on June 23,
1972 that states: "No person in the United States
shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation
in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination
under any education program or activity receiving Federal
financial assistance." Looking at the issues and
concerns that prompted Congress to pass gender equity
legislation will enable students to debate the significance
of judicial review and the Supreme Court on interpreting
and reinterpreting the meaning of the Constitution and
the laws of the United States.
Objectives:
- Students will be able to identify terms associated
with the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court
of the United States.
- Students will be to analyze landmark Supreme Court
decisions and identify the impact of the Supreme Court
on the Constitution and law in the United States as
the Justices exercise the power of judicial review.
- Students will research and gain an understanding
the history of the gender assumptions and issues that
led to passage of Title IX of the Educational Amendments
in 1972.
- Students will be able to identify the arguments
(pro and con) related gender equity, and the substance
of the challenges to the law after its enactment.
- Students will participate in the legislative and
judicial process through a mock Congressional hearing
and a mock appeal before the Supreme Court.
Student Exercise One: Understanding
the Supreme Court's Appellate Jurisdiction
- Have the students define the following terms: jurisdiction
(original and appellate), plaintiff, standing, civil
law, criminal law, class-action suit, writ of certiorari,
brief, amicus curiae, per curiam opinion, opinion
of the Court, concurring opinion, dissenting opinion,
stare decisis, remedy, judicial review, activist approach,
strict-constructionist approach. An understanding
of these terms will help students understand the appellate
role of the Supreme Court. This issue of History
Now has several articles that put these terms
in context.
- Using one or more of the following landmark decision(s),
outline and discuss the appellate jurisdiction and
the power of judicial review of the Supreme Court.
For a good overview of landmark Supreme Court decisions,
see the interactive feature in this issue of History
Now -- 15 Supreme
Court Cases Every High School Student Should Know.
- Marbury v. Madison
- McCulloch v. Maryland
- Plessy v. Ferguson
- Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
- Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States
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