“Court Case Madness”
Civil Rights & Liberties Tournament Project
During Unit 2, students will be learning about the application and practice of the Constitution in relation to civil rights
and liberties. The last three days of the unit will be devoted to a tournament over which court case is most significant in
affecting American society. Court cases will be bracketed out over the course of three days, with a final four show down
on the final day. Each student will be responsible for writing a brief on one court case, presenting that case in front of
the class, and arguing for its significance in American society. After each match-up, the class will vote for which court
case is more significant; this court case “wins” and will move on to the next round. The rounds will continue until the
final two cases face off and the most significant case in American history is decided.
The project will count as one test grade and will include two components: writing a case brief and presenting and
arguing the significance of their case.
Writing a Case Brief (50 points)
Students will be tasked with writing a case brief of one assigned court case that deals with civil rights or civil liberties.
The brief will not exceed one page typed with 11-12 point font. The following are the elements essential to a useful
brief.
1. Name of the case (Petitioner/Respondent) and year
2. Facts of the case
• What happened in this case? Where? When?
• Who are the parties involved?
• How did the lower courts rule in this case?
• Other relevant/precedent case(s), if applicable
3. Constitutional or Legal Question (provided in the court case summary document)
• Who was the actor?
• Who was the recipient of the action?
• What is the action that caused the controversy?
• What is the specific part of the Constitution/statute involved?
Once the students have answered these questions, they should then develop the question (or issue) the
court had to address in the case. The question should include all of the components. The question should be
phrased in such a way as to elicit a “yes” or “no” response.
4. Formulate Arguments for Both Sides of the Issue
Students will identify the arguments of the petitioner and of the respondent. One way to begin this step is to
have students identify the values/goals of each side. Rarely is a case strictly between good versus evil. More
often, cases involve significant conflict between competing, equally important values (for example, freedom of
speech versus the right of privacy or order)
5. Court decision and reasoning
The Court’s answer to the constitutional/legal issue stated in part two above is the focus here. Students will
identify the court’s reasons and rationale for its decisions.
Significance Statement: In addition, students will have to evaluate and argue how their court case has had a significant
effect on American society. Students will be assessed on their accuracy and detail of the five elements of their brief and
their significance statement. Students may reference other significant court cases and/or events that justify their own
court cases’ significance.
Presentation of Case (45 points)
Each student will have three minutes to present their case on their assigned day. The presentation must include a
summary of their brief and an argument as to why their case has had a significant effect on American society. Students
must also be prepared to answer questions related to their case and continue to argue for their case’s significance,
should they move on to another round. Students are allowed one note card while presenting. Students will be assessed
on their ability to accurately and concisely summarize the issue and ruling of the case, as well as articulate a strong
argument for their case’s significance in American society. Students who fall short or run long of the three minutes
provided will be penalized.
Citing Resources (5 points)
Students may use a variety of sources in order to write a successful brief. Students will be provided with links on the
Class Website to summaries of each court case provided by the State Bar of Texas Law-Related Education Department.
Students will also have access to a PowerPoint presentation over civil rights and liberties and their textbook. In addition,
students may use additional reputable sources for additional information. Each resource utilized must be cited in MLA
format on a separate page or back of the brief. Proper citation will be necessary to earn the full 5 points.
Tournament Schedule
Thursday, 9/17: Day 1 (8 cases bracketed)
Barron v. Baltimore, Gitlow v. New York, Engle v. Vitale, Lemon v. Kurtzman, Reynolds v. U.S., Oregon v. Smith, Griswold
v. Connecticut, Roe v. Wade
Friday, 9/18: Day 2 (12 cases bracketed)
New York Times v. Sullivan, Gideon v. Wainwright, Mapp v. Ohio, Weeks v U.S., Grutter v. Bollinger, Plessy v. Ferguson,
Brown v. Board of Education, Miranda v. Arizona, Roth v. U.S., Schneck v. U.S., Texas v. Johnson, Tinker v. Des Moines.
Monday, 9/21: Day 3 (Final Four)
*For those students who do not have their court case bracketed, they will need to be ready to present on Thursday,
9/17.
Case Brief Due Date
ALL case briefs will be due at the beginning of class on Thursday, 9/17, regardless to whether or not you are not
presenting until Friday. This is in order to provide all students an equal amount of time to prepare their brief.
Tutorials
As always, tutorials will be made available for students if they would like to discuss their court case more in depth, or if
they would like to receive feedback on their case brief. Students can come after school from 2:45-3:15pm or during C or
D Lunches.
Adapted from State Bar of Texas Law Related Education Department’s Hatton W. Sumners Supreme Court Case Book and Case Study
Method.
Additional Explanation for Constitutional or legal question…
For example, in Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969) involving students who wore black armbands to school to
protest U.S. involvement in Vietnam, the answer to the above questions would be:
Actor = Board of Education
Recipient = students
Action = suspended from school for wearing armbands
Part of Constitution = freedom of speech of the First Amendment
Once the students have answered these questions, they should then develop the question (or issue) the court
had to address in the case. The question should include all of the components. For example, in Tinker, the
question before the Supreme Court was:
“Does a Board of Education [actor] violate the First Amendment freedom of speech [part of
Constitution] of students [recipients of action] when it suspends the students from school for wearing
black armbands [action]?”
The question should include all of the components. The question should be phrased in such a way as to elicit a “yes” or
“no” response. Using the example above, a “yes” response would be a ruling for the students, and a “no: response
would be a ruling for the Board of Education.