Delaware Model Unit Gallery Template
This unit has been created as an exemplary model for teachers in (re)design of course
curricula. An exemplary model unit has undergone a rigorous peer review and jurying
process to ensure alignment to selected Delaware Content Standards.
Unit Title:
Expansion of Freedom
Designed by:
District:
Betsy Bare
Indian River School District
Content Area:
Social Studies
Grade Level:
7
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Summary of Unit
Students should understand that democracy means rule by the people and that majority
votes are just an arbitrary indicator of what the people want. Although that principle is
central to the American political system, it is not absolute. People, including large numbers
of them (i.e., majorities), sometimes act out of anger, prejudice, or ignorance and are not
always well informed. By limiting the principle of majority rule, Americans have attempted
to balance the interests of individuals with the common good.
Majority rule places a very important constraint on governmental authority, but it is
completely insufficient to protect individual liberty. Every student destined to become an
American citizen should understand that the majority can be as much of a tyrant as any
dictator. They should understand that the addition of the Bill of Rights to the U.S.
Constitution was motivated by the recognition that citizens need protection from abuse of
governmental authority, even when the government is theoretically obedient to the will of
the majority of the citizens.
There are many instances in American history where minority groups once did not receive
the same protections as the majority. The benchmark is somewhat misleading in speaking
of the ―rights of minorities,‖ because minorities are not now accorded any more or less
rights than members of a majority. What we now call the rights of minorities is founded on
individual rights. The Constitution does not specify group rights. So understanding this
benchmark really comes down to understanding the meaning and purpose of the Bill of
Rights with the expectation that students should also appreciate how these rights protect
minorities from discrimination. There are many examples of how the rights of minorities
were expanded by political documents and rulings that protected individuals from
discrimination.
_______________________________________________________________________
1
Stage 1 – Desired Results
(What students will know, do, and understand)
_______________________________________________________________________
Delaware Content Standards
Civics Standard Two 6-8a: Students will understand that the concept of majority rule
does not mean that the rights of minorities may be disregarded and will examine and
apply the protections accorded those minorities in the American political system.
Big Ideas
Majority Rule
Expansion of Freedom
Unit Enduring Understandings
Students will understand that the principles and ideals of the American democratic
system are designed to promote the freedoms of the American people.
Unit Essential Questions
How might the majority threaten individual and minority rights?
Why are citizens protected by the Constitution?
Should individual rights be limited?
Knowledge and Skills
Students will know…
Why the principle of majority rule is limited by the U.S. Constitution.
The interests of individuals are balanced with the common good
How the Bill of Rights protects minorities from discrimination.
Students will be able to…
Identify the protections awarded to minorities by the Constitution.
Analyze the individual protections in the Bill of Rights.
Construct support for the necessity of protecting individual rights.
2
Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence
(Evidence that will be collected to determine whether or not Desired Results
are achieved)
_______________________________________________________________________
This summative assessment is a transfer task that requires students to use knowledge and
understandings to perform a task in a new setting and context.
The assessment and scoring guide should be reviewed with students prior to any
instruction. Students should do the assessment after the lessons conclude.
Essential Questions Addressed by the Transfer Task
Should individual rights be limited?
Prior Knowledge
Now that you have learned about the protections guaranteed
in the Bill of Rights, you are ready to apply that knowledge in
order to explain how the protections apply in everyday life.
Problem
A former inmate of a Delaware prison has filed an appeal with
the United States Supreme Court. He believes his right to
vote, provided by the Constitution, has been unfairly denied.
Role/
Perspective
The former inmate has asked you to represent him in his
case. You will assume the role of a lawyer who will present
his argument.
Product/
Performance
Prepare a briefing outlining your client‘s argument. Your
briefing will be presented to the United States Supreme Court
who will determine if his rights have been unfairly denied.
Criteria for an
Exemplary
Response
Be sure to include:
Outline the inmate‘s argument and support with details.
Refer to the Bill of Rights or previous court cases as
evidence for your explanation and conclusion.
Vocabulary that describes how the concepts of majority
rule and minority rights are involved in the case.
3
Rubric
Scoring Rubric
Score Point 3
Score Point 2
Score Point 1
Thoroughly
developed
argument that is
clear and well
supported with
details or
examples.
Partially
developed
argument that is
somewhat clear
and adequately
supported with
details or
examples.
Minimally
developed
argument that is
not clear and
poorly supported
with details or
examples.
knowledge of
the Bill of
Rights/court
cases.
Cites specific and
relevant rights
embedded in the
Bill of Rights or
court cases.
Makes vague but
appropriate
references to
rights embedded
in the Bill of Rights
or court cases.
Cites rights
lacking
connection to the
Bill of Rights or
court cases.
use of contentappropriate
vocabulary.
Specific contentappropriate
vocabulary that
effectively
communicates
understanding of
Civics content and
concepts.
Vague or nonspecific contentappropriate
vocabulary that
may communicate
understanding of
Civics content and
concepts.
No contentappropriate
vocabulary and
does not
communicate
understanding of
Civics content and
concepts.
Product
reveals…
development of
the client’s
argument.
Above the Standard: 8–9 points
Meets the Standard: 6-7 points
Below the Standard: 3–5 points
Student Self-Assessment and Reflection
When students are required to think about their own learning, to articulate
what they understand and what they still need to learn, achievement
improves.
– Black and William, 1998; Sternberg, 1996; Young, 2000.
How a teacher uses the information from assessments determines whether that assessment
is formative or summative. Formative assessments should be used to direct learning and
instruction and are not intended to be graded.
The Checks for Understanding at the end of each instructional strategy should be used as
formative assessment and may be used as writing prompts or as small-group or whole-class
discussion. Students should respond to feedback and be given opportunities to improve
their work. The rubrics will help teachers frame that feedback.
4
Stage 3 – Learning Plan
(Design learning activities to align with Stage 1 and Stage 2 expectations)
_______________________________________________________________________
Lesson One
Essential Question
 How might the majority threaten individual and minority rights?
Instructional Strategies
Strategy 1: Gathering Information
Simulation/Think-Pair-Share
Majority Pizza
Warm-Up: If a group has to make a decision but it has to choose from several
alternatives, what is the best rule to use for determining which alternative will be adopted?
Inform students that they are to play the roles of students of the month who have earned a
reward. That reward will be one (and only one) pizza.
Think-Pair-Share: Ask students to work in collaborative pairs to define the term ―majority
rule.‖ Have volunteers share their definitions. Continue the sharing until students agree on
a common class definition then write the definition on the board.
Small Group Work: Place students in small, odd-numbered groups (e.g., five). Distribute
copies of Handout 1, Pizza Order Form. Read the directions aloud while the class follows
along silently. Let the students discuss, lobby, and choose the type of pizza they want.
Emphasize that they are to use the principle of majority rule to determine their final choice.
After the students have selected and announced their choice, tell them that a student who is
absent is severely allergic to one of the toppings they have selected. Ask them to discuss
the following question: Should the group‘s choice of pizza remain? Explain why or why not.
Whole Group Discussion: Is our class definition of majority rule one that should be used
to make decisions in a democratic society?
Revision: Ask each group to revise the class definition of majority rule.
Debriefing Questions:
Did the group ever consider the interests of the minority (vegetarians, those who cannot
have milk products, those allergic to a choice, etc.)?
How might the needs of the minority be met? (For example: What if someone cannot
eat cheese? How can they still get pizza?)
Should the minority be represented? Explain your answer.
Adapted from Delaware Social Studies Education Project and www.learningtogive.org
http://learningtogive.org/lessons/unit47/lesson3.html
5
Check for Understanding
 How did you add to, modify, or delete from your original definition of majority rule?
Explain why you made the change.
Rubric
2 – This response gives a valid addition, modification, or deletion with an accurate and
relevant explanation.
1 – This response gives a valid addition, modification, or deletion with an inaccurate,
irrelevant, or no explanation.
Strategy 2: Gathering Information
Cooperative Learning Teams/Graphic Organizers
Students work in collaborative pairs to brainstorm minority groups in America. After
sharing, the class creates a list. Examples could include women, people with disabilities,
etc.
Paper-Pass Strategy: Participating in a paper pass allows students to actively activate
prior knowledge and discuss misperceptions.
First, the teacher writes the name of the minority group and the questions below on
separate sheets of oversized poster paper:
What problems or issues did these minorities face?
Have the problems/issues been solved? Yes/No and Why?
 If yes, what actions, laws, etc., have taken place?
 If no, what does your group propose be done?
How does the government or other groups work to protect minorities?
Then, students are divided into cooperative learning teams of 3-4 students and one poster
sheet is distributed to each group. The students are asked to brainstorm answers to the
questions and write them below the question. Everyone in the group should have an
opportunity to contribute.
After, a pre-established period of time (e.g., 4-5 minutes) the groups pass their sheet
clockwise to the next group. Each group will then repeat the brainstorming process for each
of the minority groups.
Once all groups have had the opportunity to comment on the questions, each group will
present a poster to the class. Discuss the statements as a class and analyze if there are
any contradictory statements, need for additional research to validate information, etc.
Check for Understanding
 Why should the rights of minorities and individuals be protected? Explain your
answer.
Rubric
2 – This response gives a valid reason with an accurate and relevant explanation.
1 – This response gives a valid reason with an inaccurate, irrelevant, or no explanation.
6
Strategy 3: Extending & Refining
Analyzing Perspectives
Prior to the activity, two signs should be posted on either side of the room. One will say
―agree‖ and the other will say ―disagree.‖
Students will stand in a straight line in the classroom. As the teacher reads each scenario
(see handout), the students will move to the ―agree‖ or ―disagree‖ side of the room based
on their perspective. After each scenario is read, the class should discuss why some
students agreed and others disagreed with the scenario.
Guiding discussion questions should include:
Why did people agree/disagree with the scenario?
How are people affected by the scenario?
Scenario 1: All athletes are allowed to miss three days of school a year to recover from
their long and grueling sports seasons.
Scenario 2: Students who earn an ―A‖ in their first marking-period class are not required
to take a final exam.
Scenario 3: All band members are allowed to miss one class a day to practice their
instrument.
Scenario 4: Student council homeroom representatives/alternates are given the power to
cut the lunch line on a daily basis.
Scenario 5: The student council has decided the 7th grade dance will have a country music
theme.
Debriefing Activity: Each student will select one of the scenarios and complete an
analyzing perspectives graphic organizer (see below).
Topic
Your Perspective
Supporting Details
Opposite Perspective
Supporting Details
Conclusion Statement
Organizer adapted from the Learning Focused Strategies Notebook, Learning Focused Solutions, Inc. Copyright
2005
Check for Understanding
 Why do people have different perspectives? Explain your answer.
Rubric
2 – This response gives a valid reason with an accurate and relevant explanation.
1 – This response gives a valid reason with an inaccurate, irrelevant, or no explanation.
7
Strategy 4: Application
Collaborative Teams – No Vehicles in the Park
Begin the class by informing the students that questions have arisen regarding how a new
law should be interpreted, so they will also be judges today.
Pass each student a copy of Handout 1. When discussing, stress that the goal is to
determine what the lawmakers intended, not what he or she thinks the law should be.
Judges can share with students the difficulties inherent in this duty.
Ask students to read the first two paragraphs of Handout 1. You may either have students
read it to themselves or you may ask for a volunteer to read aloud. See teacher attachment
which provides guiding questions to lead class discussion.
Additional discussion questions include:
What is the law we are to interpret?
What exactly does it say?
What is the law designed to do?
What is the purpose of the law?
Review the definition of a vehicle: Something on wheels that carries people or things.
Divide the students into groups of 3-4. Assign each group a number. (For example, name
group 1 the "First Circuit Court," group 2 the "Second Circuit Court," group 3 the "Third
Circuit Court," etc.) Tell the class they will work in groups to consider the cases on Handout
1. For each hypothetical situation, ask each group to decide if the law has been violated or
if they will interpret the law to allow an exception. Tell each group to appoint a
spokesperson or Chief Judge to report their decision (or everyone may take turns
reporting). Tell them they will be expected to give their reasons for each of their answers.
Ask students if they understand the group assignment. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for the
groups to work.
Debriefing Questions
Why would a community want a law about vehicles in the park?
What is the purpose of the park and does the law protect that purpose?
Retrieved from Washington state courts
http://www.courts.wa.gov/education/lessons/?fa=education_lessons.display&displayid=Nov
ehc
Check for Understanding
 How can laws protect rights of individuals? Support your answer with an example.
Rubric
2 – This response gives a valid explanation with an accurate and relevant example.
1 – This response gives a valid explanation with an inaccurate, irrelevant, or no example.
8
Lesson Two
Essential Questions
 Why are citizens protected by the Constitution?
Instructional Strategies
Strategy 1: Gathering Information
Think-Pair-Square and Carousel Brainstorming
Before the class begins, the teacher should have the following rights listed individually on
pieces of poster paper and posted around the room:
Right to freedom of expression
Right to freedom of religion
Right to be treated equally
Right to be treated fairly
Right to vote
Think-Pair-Square: This activity helps students who are new to cooperative learning.
First, pose the following question to the students: What rights does the United States
Constitution give to its citizens? Each student will take approximately one minute to
brainstorm their response on their own. Then, the students pair up with another student,
and they discuss their answers or solutions together. Finally, each partner group shares
their responses.
The teacher should assign 5-6 students to each group (with no more than five groups). If
you have a class with more than 30 students, consider making ten groups with fewer
students.
Then, each group will circle the room (with a different color marker) and describe what
they think the right means, give real-life examples, and explain why it is important
to protect this right. Have these tasks written on the board so the students clearly
understand what they should be writing on each poster. The students should read the
information the previous groups have written before recording their comments.
After each group has had the opportunity to record their comment on the poster papers,
assign one or two groups to present a poster to the class.
The class presentations serve as the check for understanding for this strategy.
Adapted from http://in.learningtogive.org/lessons/unit93/lesson2.html
Strategy 2: Extending and Refining
Categorizing/Constructing Support
Before the activity, the teacher should cut up the cards (see attachment) so each group has
a complete set of cards.
Working in cooperative learning teams, the students will be presented with the cards. Their
task is to classify the amendments with the real-life scenarios. It is advised to model one of
the amendments for them. A printout of the handout will serve as an answer key.
Once students have completed the task, have them select one of the amendments. They
will complete a constructing support graphic organizer which will outline their position on
why the amendment is important and give two reasons or examples.
9
Have the students pair up with a partner and trade papers. The students should then
comment on their partner‘s reasons or examples. Do they agree or disagree it is important?
Why?
A snapshot of the organizer is shown below. It is also available in the attachment section.
Organizer adapted from the Learning Focused Strategies Notebook, Learning Focused
Solutions, Inc. Copyright 2005
Lesson adapted from: adapted from:
http://learningtogive.org/lessons/unit166/lesson3_attachments/1.html
http://icivics.org/teachers/lesson-plans/bill-rights-you-mean-ive-got-rights
Check for Understanding
 How do the amendments in the Bill of Rights protect individual freedom? Support
your answer with a specific amendment from the Bill of Rights.
Rubric
2 – This response gives a valid explanation with an accurate and relevant example that uses
a specific amendment from the Bill of Rights.
1 – This response gives a valid explanation with an inaccurate, irrelevant, or no example
that uses a specific amendment from the Bill of Rights.
10
Strategy 3: Extending and Refining
Think/Pair/Square
Warm-up: Have students answer the following question in their journals: Should there be
restrictions for voting? Explain your answer.
Explain to the students that in the past the United States has placed certain restrictions on
who is eligible to vote. Conduct a Think/Pair/Square strategy: Have students brainstorm
requirements that should be in place for people who vote in the United States. Have them
share their ideas with a partner. Then, have the pair team up with another pair to share
ideas. Each foursome should decide on the top three requirements and share as a class and
discuss.
Inform the class they will be voting to decide where they will be going on their upcoming
class trip. Choices could include amusement/water park; Washington, D.C.; New York City;
Delaware State Fair; etc.
Inform the students they will have to meet the requirements if they want their vote to
count. Have all the students stand. If the students do not meet the requirements, they
have to sit down.
The teacher may adapt these conditions if necessary:
1. The first requirement to vote is you must be wearing jeans.
2. The second requirement to vote is you must have brown hair.
3. The third requirement to vote is you must be a female.
4. The fourth requirement to vote is you must be wearing blue.
You may continue until there are only a few students (if any) standing. Have these
students decide the location of the trip. Ask the class if a diminished pool of voters
concerns them.
Discuss with the class how the students sitting must feel. Was the voting fair? Why or why
not? What could be done to make it fair for all?
This class discussion serves as the check for understanding in this section.
Strategy 4: Extending and Refining
Jigsaw
In this strategy, students will be analyzing situations where voting restrictions have been
put in place to discriminate against certain minority groups. The students will follow the
steps outlined below to complete the assignments.
Voting Right Scenarios
 Poll Tax
 Religion Exclusion
 Literacy Test
 14th Amendment
The jigsaw method of cooperative learning allows each student to be responsible for one
aspect of a larger concept. Accountability is essential to this process because the other
students in their group cannot learn all of the information without their input. Good
classroom management is important to the success of this strategy. Following are the steps
to a successful jigsaw learning experience:
11
1. Place students in groups of 4 to 5 participants. (Teachers with larger class sizes may
consider two students from every group become an expert in each area.)
2. Appoint one student as the group leader.
3. Hand out a voting scenario to each group.
4. Each group member will read the information, discuss, and become an ―expert‖ in
that subcategory.
5. Students should complete the first square of the organizer (based on their scenario)
as a group.
6. Have students break away from the larger group and meet with other students who
are analyzing other voting scenarios.
7. The ―expert groups‖ will present to each other their observations, analysis,
conclusions, etc.
8. Each ―expert‖ will complete their organizer based on the explanations of the
―experts.‖
9. Have students go back to their original groups. Discuss scenarios as a class. Why
were their restrictions? Have they been solved? Are there still voting restrictions in
the U.S. today?
Conduct a summarizing Think-Pair-Share strategy. Pose the following statement to
students: ―Each person‘s rights reach only to the boundary of someone else‘s rights.‖
Have students record in their journal what they think the statement means. Have them pair
up with a partner and share their ideas.
12
The role of the teacher is to float between the groups, answering questions, asking
questions, and redirecting when needed.
Check for Understanding
 How have voting laws restricted the rights of minorities? Support your answer with
historical evidence.
 ―Is it, or when is it, appropriate to limit the rights individuals are guaranteed by the
Constitution?‖
Rubric (First Question)
2 – This response gives a valid explanation with accurate and relevant historical evidence.
1 – This response gives a valid explanation with an inaccurate, irrelevant, or no historical
evidence.
Strategy 5: Extending and Refining
Online Simulation
Students are asked to work in cooperative groups to research historical Supreme Court
cases. In this strategy, the class will participate in an online, interactive simulation to give
them background information on the role of the Supreme Court.
It is highly recommended the teacher preview the site prior to teaching the lesson. The
students are responsible for analyzing the situation and discussions by the justices.
Strategy 6: Application
Case Studies – Moot Courts
In groups of 3-4, students will research and present a summary of the court cases below.
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
New Jersey v. T.L.O. (1985)
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
Students can present using Microsoft PowerPoint, poster paper, etc. The class should
discuss each individual court case as presentations are made. After everyone has had an
opportunity to share, the group will discuss the similarities and differences of the court
cases.
Each presentation should include the following:
Background information
Identification of majority/minority
Summary of argument
Relation to amendment/right
Decision of Supreme Court
Does the group agree with the result?
Students can conduct research from the following sites:
http://www.streetlaw.org/en/landmark.aspx
http://library.thinkquest.org/2760/cases.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0101289.html
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/historynow/04_2008/interactive.php
13
A recommended before, during, and after reading strategy is below:
Source: Neufeld, Paul. Comprehension Instruction in Content Area Classes. The Reading
Teacher, Vol, 59, No. 4; December 2005/January 2006; pages 302-312.
Getting Ready to Read
While I’m reading
A four-step process:
1. Establish the purpose
of reading
2. Read the title and skim
the text to get an
understanding of the
format, graphics, etc.
3. Activate prior
knowledge
4. Begin making
predictions
Neufeld‘s suggested
questions:
1. ―Why am I reading this
text? How should my
purpose affect the way
I read the text?
2. ―What does this text
appear to be about?
What are some of the
major topics covered in
the text? How is the
text organized?‖
3. ―What do I already
know or think I know
about this topic?‖
4. ―I think this text is
going to be about…‖
1. Pay attention to the
text format
2. Summarize what is
read
1. Check for understanding
2. Review text and/or research
the topic using other sources
When I’m done reading
Neufeld‘s suggested
questions:
1. ―Do I see keywords
associated with
specific text
structures? How is the
text organized, e.g.
enumeration, time
order, compare and
contrast, cause and
effect, problem/
solution‖?
2. Summaries can be
oral, written, or
visual.
Neufeld‘s suggested questions:
1. ―Is what I just read clear to
me? Do I ‗get it‘? What
about the text is still fuzzy or
unclear? Can I answer who,
what, when, where, and why
questions about the text?‖
2. ―What strategies could I use
to help me better understand
what I‘m reading?‖ Other
suggestions: ―Reread part or
all the text, look ahead in the
text, examine other resources
on this topic, seek help from
another person.‖
You may also choose to use the information provided in the attachment section. If the
reading level in the text attached is too difficult, you may adapt the reading level of the text
at the Streetlaw.com webpage.
After completing the reading on the assigned court case, students should participate in the
online simulation Argument Wars. This game allows the students to argue their selected
case. This activity will reinforce the information they have learned and assist them when
creating their presentations. This game could be played individually or with a partner.
Check for Understanding
 How are minorities protected by individual rights? Support your answer with
historical evidence.
 Why are U.S. citizens provided certain rights by the U.S. Constitution? Support your
answer with historical evidence.
14
Rubric (each question)
2 – This response gives a valid explanation with accurate and relevant historical evidence.
1 – This response gives a valid explanation with inaccurate, irrelevant, or no historical
evidence.
15
Lesson Three
Essential Question
 Should individual rights be limited?
Delaware Social Studies Standards
Integrated in the Instructional Strategies
 History Standard One 6-8a: Students will examine historical materials relating to a
particular region, society, or theme; analyze change over time, and make logical
inferences concerning cause and effect.
 History Standard Two 6-8a: Students will master the basic research skills
necessary to conduct an independent investigation of historical phenomena.
Instructional Strategies
Strategy 1: Gathering Information
Simulation “Majorities Rule!”
Before the lesson, the teacher should prepare paper badges for the students to wear during
the simulation. Approximately 75% of the students should wear a ―Majs‖ and 25% should
wear a ―Mins.‖
Warm-up: Have students brainstorm reasons why people have been discriminated against.
Are the reasons justified? Explain.
Divide the class into two groups—the "Majs" and the "Mins." Randomly assign 75% of the
students in class to the "Majs" group and the remaining 25% to the "Mins" group. Give
those assigned to the Majs one color paper badges (e.g., red) with the term "Majs" written
on them and those assigned to the Mins group different colored paper badges (e.g., blue)
with the term "Mins" written on them. Ask the students to tape the badges to their shirts.
Tell the students that they will be engaging in a debate today during which they will be
asked to argue and vote for or against a series of proposals. Tell the students that they
should argue and vote for those proposals that appear likely to benefit their group.
Present the students with Proposal A. Have them debate and vote on the proposal. Be sure
to explain to the student that the outcome of the voting will be based on the principle of
majority rule. Repeat this procedure for Proposal B.
Allow the students in the Majs group to create a proposal of their own that creates benefits
for themselves. At the same time, let the Mins group piece together a proposal that creates
a protection against the kinds of discriminatory acts that are embedded within Proposals A
and B.
Debriefing Questions (teacher leads class discussion/reflection)
How did it feel to be part of each group?
What was the difference between the Majs and the Mins? What might the terms be
abbreviations for?
What is the difference between majority and minority?
What is the meaning of the term majority rule?
Does the principle of majority rule as it is relates to the American political system imply
that the will of the majority must always guide public policy? Should it?
16
Which, if any, of the proposals discussed today were fair? Which, if any, of the proposal
were unfair or discriminatory? Explain why.
What are some of the protections that minorities are accorded in the American political
system to safeguard their rights and ensure equal justice (e.g.,. propose and lobby for
passage of bills that protect the interests of minorities, sue in civil court, run for office,
and recruit other members of their interest group to do the same, etc.)?
Retrieved from Delaware Social Studies Education Project
http://www.udel.edu/dssep/lessons_and_resources/Majorities%20-%206-8.htm
Check for Understanding
 How can the majority threaten the rights of individuals? Support your answer with
an example.
Rubric
2 – This response gives a valid explanation with an accurate and relevant example.
1 – This response gives a valid explanation with an inaccurate, irrelevant, or no example.
Strategy 2: Extending and Refining
Making Comparisons
Prior to the lesson, the teacher should create folders of information for the students. Each
group will either have a Jim Crow or Women‘s Suffrage folder. Each folder should contain
the pictures and text document that relate to their topic. In addition, each folder should
have enough copies of the photo analysis worksheet and compare/contrast graphic
organizer for every student.
Picture Analysis: Each group should have copies of the pictures in the attachment
section. The following websites provide additional pictures:
http://www.history.com/topics/the-fight-for-womens-suffrage
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/suffrage/history.htm
http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/
Have students analyze the pictures and record their observations on the organizer—Photo
Analysis Worksheet. Ask students:
What predictions can you make about the laws and movement based on the pictures?
17
Have students work in collaborative pairs to read background information on Jim Crow laws
and the women‘s suffrage movement and compare the effects they had on minorities/
individuals. Assign half the groups the Jim Crow laws and the other half the women‘s
suffrage movement. Students should also complete their own research on the topics using
the websites listed above. See attachment section for background information relating to
Jim Crow laws and women‘s suffrage movement. It is recommended to use the before,
during, and after reading strategy listed in Lesson 2, Strategy 5 to assist students with the
background information.
After completing half of the organizer, students will pair up with another group who
completed the organizer for the other set of pictures and share results. Together the two
groups should complete their organizer and write a summary paragraph outlining the
similarities and differences.
18
Making Comparisons
Organizer adapted from the Learning Focused Strategies Notebook, Learning Focused
Solutions, Inc. Copyright 2005
Check for Understanding
 Why should the rights of individuals be protected? Explain your answer
Rubric
2 – This response gives a valid reason with an accurate and relevant explanation.
1 – This response gives a valid reason with an inaccurate, irrelevant, or no explanation.
Strategy 3: Extending and Refining
Constructing Support
Warm-Up Acrostic Activity: Divide the students into groups of two to three students.
Assign each group the term ―civil rights‖ or ―voting rights‖ and have them write the term
vertically down a piece of poster paper. Students then work to generate a word, phrase,
picture, etc., that begins with each letter of the vertical word. Have the groups share their
responses.
19
Have students select one of the following acts to analyze:
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
The National Voting Rights Act of 1965
Students read the information about their act (located in the attachment section) and
complete a constructing support organizer to demonstrate the need for the legislation (how
does it protect the rights of minorities). It is recommended to use the before, during, and
after reading strategy listed in Lesson 2, Strategy 5, to assist students with the background
information.
Organizer adapted from the Learning Focused Strategies Notebook, Learning Focused
Solutions, Inc. Copyright 2005
Check for Understanding
 How have the rights of individuals been protected by political documents or rulings?
Support your answer with evidence.
Rubric
2 – This response gives a valid explanation with accurate and relevant evidence.
1 – This response gives a valid explanation with inaccurate, irrelevant, or no evidence.
20
Strategy 4: Application
Cause-and-Effect Timeline
Working in collaborative pairs, students will construct a cause-and-effect timeline using the
following events:
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Voting Rights Act of 1965
Jim Crow Laws
Women‘s Suffrage Movement
Students will complete the timeline and provide the cause and effect of certain legislation or
movements and evidence supporting the explanation of why the event occurred. They will
be using the information and material from Strategies Two and Three. This timeline may be
completed on poster paper or students may complete electronically on a computer. It is
also recommended that students add pictures, graphics, newspaper headlines, etc., on their
timelines.
Differentiation: It may benefit some students to provide them with the causes and effects
and have them classify them into the correct boxes.
After completing, students should present their timelines to the class. Teacher note: there
may be multiple ―causes‖ for the effects.
Check for Understanding
 Why has legislation protecting minorities changed over time? Support your response
with a specific example.
Rubric
2 – This response gives a valid explanation with an accurate and relevant example.
1 – This response gives a valid explanation with an inaccurate, irrelevant, or no example.
21
Resources and Teaching Tips
Lessons adapted from:
 Learningtogive.org
 Washington State Courts
 Delaware Social Studies Education Project
Some of the additional resources provided by:
 www.icivics.org
 www.streetlaw.org
 www.usconstitution.net
 www.ourdocuments.gov
Differentiation



Stage 2 and 3 allow students to demonstrate understanding with choices, options, and/or variety in the
products and performances without compromising the expectations of the Content Standards.
Instruction is varied to address differences in readiness, interest, and/or learning profiles.
Accommodations and differentiation strategies are incorporated in the design of Stage 2 and 3.
Linguistic
Internet resources, acrostic, graphic organizers
(learns by reading and
writing)
Logical/Mathematical
Categorizing
(likes classifying and
categorizing, patterns, and
relationships)
Auditory/Musical
Think/pair/share, think/pair/square, simulations
(learns by listening, likes
rhythm and song)
Visual/Spatial
(learns by drawing and
designing, using videos,
maps, charts, etc.)
Graphic organizers, picture analysis, cause-and-effect
Timeline
Tactile/Kinesthetic
(likes to use tactile methods
of learning)
Carousel brainstorming, jigsaw
Interpersonal
Simulations, think/pair/shares and think/pair/square
activities, graphic organizers, jigsaw, collaborative
partners, collaborative teams, case study analysis
(likes to work with others)
Intrapersonal
(likes working independently)
Naturalist
(learns by investigating and
questioning, particularly in
nature)
Analyzing perspectives, constructing support, internet
searches
Students are asked to analyze and question
throughout the unit
22
Content Connections
(Content Standards integrated within instructional strategies)
ELA 3.1a1 (5-8): Identify and locate a variety of sources including printed materials,
personal interviews, oral reporting forums, and technological forms of information.
Civics Standard Three 6-8a: Students will understand that civil rights secure political
freedom while property rights secure economic freedom and that both are essential
protections for United States citizens.
Civics Standard Two 6-8b: Students will understand the principles and content of major
American state papers such as the Declaration of Independence; United States Constitution
(including the Bill of Rights); and the Federalist Papers.
History Standard Two 6-8a: Students will master the basic research skills necessary to
conduct an independent investigation of historical phenomena.
23
Attachment Section
24
Lesson One: Strategy One
Handout 1
Pizza Order Form
Directions:
1. Silently decide which kind of pizza you wish to order from the list of options
presented below on the order form. Circle your choices on the order form.
2. Select one person in your group to lead the discussion described in steps 3-4. Select
another person to serve as a recorder. The recorder should write down each
person‘s choices.
3. Give each person a chance to describe his or her choice with the others in your
group. Once everyone has described the choices, lobby for your choice.
4. Using the principle of majority rule, choose the pizza you will order from the
following options:
Pizza Order Form
Pizza Vendor
(select one)
Domino’s Pizza
Grotto‘s Pizza
Papa John‘s Pizza
Pat‘s Pizza
Pizza Hut
Porto Fino Pizza
Season‘s Pizza
Type of Crust
(select one)
Thin Crust
Stuffed Crust
Deep Dish
Square
Type of Topping
(select two)
Anchovies
Banana Peppers
Bacon
Black Olives
Beef Topping
Green Olives
Chicken
Green Peppers
Ham
Jalapeños
Italian Sausage
Mushrooms
Meatball
Pineapple
Pepperoni
Red Onion
Tomatoes
25
Lesson One: Strategy Three
Scenario Handout
Scenario 1: All athletes are allowed to miss three days of school a year to
recover from their long and grueling sports seasons.
Scenario 2: Students who earn an ―A‖ in their first marking-period class
are not required to take a final exam.
Scenario 3: All band members are allowed to miss one class a day to
practice their instrument.
Scenario 4: Student council homeroom representatives/alternates are
given the power to cut the lunch line on a daily basis.
Scenario 5: The student council has decided the 7th grade dance will have
a country music theme.
26
Lesson One: Strategy Three
Analyzing Perspectives
Topic
Your Perspective
Supporting
Details
Opposite
Perspective
Supporting
Details
Conclusion
Statement
Organizer adapted from the Learning Focused Strategies Notebook, Learning Focused
Solutions, Inc. Copyright 2005
27
Lesson One: Strategy Four
Application
Handout 1
No Vehicles in the Park
The town of Beautifica has a lovely park in its center. The city council wishes to preserve
the feeling of nature, undisturbed by city noise, traffic, pollution, and crowding. It is a place
where people can go to find grass, trees, flowers, and quiet. In addition, there are
playgrounds and picnic areas. In order to make sure the park stays as it is the city council
passed a law, called an ordinance. At all entrances to the park, the following sign is posted:
"NO VEHICLES IN THE PARK."
The law seems clear, but some disputes have arisen over the interpretation of the law. The
definition of vehicle is something on wheels that carries people or things. You are a judge
and the following cases have come before you. Decide how you would interpret the law to
determine whether the law has been violated in each of the following cases.
a. John Smith lives on one side of the town and works on the other side. To save 10
minutes, he drives through the park.
b. There are many trash barrels in the park so that people may deposit all litter,
thereby keeping the park clean. The sanitation department drives their trucks in to
collect the trash.
c. An ambulance has a dying car accident victim in it and is racing to the hospital. The
shortest route is through the park, so the ambulance drives through.
d. Two police cars are chasing a suspected bank robber. One cuts through the park, so
she can get in front of the suspect's car and trap him between the patrol cars.
e. Some children are riding their bicycles in the park.
f.
Some disabled persons in motorized wheelchairs are coming to the park.
g. Mr. Thomas is jogging in the park with his baby in a jogger baby stroller. This
stroller allows Mr. Thomas to jog or run quite fast at the same time as he is pushing
the stroller.
h. A monument to the town's citizens who died in the Vietnam War is being built. A
tank, donated by the government, is placed in the park as part of the monument.
28
Lesson One: Strategy Four
Application (for Teacher)
Guiding Questions for Handout 1
a. John Smith lives on one side of the town and works on the other side. To save 10
minutes, he drives through the park.
 Should the law be interpreted to allow John to drive through the park? Why or
why not?
 Is it important for John to be at work on time?
 Wouldn't it save energy and gas if he is allowed to go through the park?
 Suppose he will lose his job if he is late one more day and he overslept?
 What might happen if you allow only John to drive through the park?
b. There are many trash barrels in the park so that people may deposit all litter,
thereby keeping the park clean. The sanitation department drives their trucks in to
collect the trash.
 Should the law be interpreted to allow the sanitation department to drive through
the park?
 Why or why not?
 Will people come to a dirty park?
 Isn't it unhealthy to allow trash to pile up in the park?
 How will that trash get removed if sanitation trucks cannot come into the park?
 What other alternative trash control methods do you have?
c. An ambulance has a dying car accident victim in it and is racing to the hospital. The
shortest route is through the park, so the ambulance drives through.
 Should the law be interpreted to allow the ambulance to drive through the park?
Why or why not?
 Suppose that, if the ambulance is not permitted to cut through the park, the
patient will die?
 Does it make any difference if there are many emergencies in Beautifica so that
ambulances would cut through the park on a frequent basis?
 If you decide to let emergency vehicles in the park, how do you define an
emergency vehicle?
d. Two police cars are chasing a suspected bank robber. One cuts through the park, so
she can get in front of the suspect's car and trap him between the patrol cars.
 Should the law be interpreted to allow the police car to drive through the park?
Why or why not?
 What if the robber had already shot an innocent bystander?
 Does it matter if this is the only opportunity for the police to catch him?
 Does the police car qualify as an emergency vehicle? Why or why not?
e. Some children are riding their bicycles in the park.
 Will you interpret the law to allow the children to ride their bicycles in the park?
Why or why not?
 Would it matter that the children used their bicycles as transportation to the
park? Why or why not?
29


f.
Would it matter if several children's bikes had been stolen from the bike rack at
the entrance to the park?
Would it matter if there was a special bike path in the park?
Some disabled persons in motorized wheelchairs are coming to the park.
 Will you interpret the law to allow persons in wheelchairs to use the park? Why
or why not?
 Should there be any difference between motorized or non-motorized wheelchairs?
 How else would these persons be able to use the park?
g. Mr. Thomas is jogging in the park with his baby in a jogger baby stroller. This
stroller allows Mr. Thomas to jog or run quite fast at the same time as he is pushing
the stroller.
 Will you interpret the law to allow the jogger baby stroller in the park? Why or
why not?
 What about other baby strollers?
 Wouldn't it be unfair to parents with infants and small children not to be able to
bring strollers into the park?
h. A monument to the town's citizens who died in the Vietnam War is being built. A
tank, donated by the government, is placed in the park as part of the monument.
 Will you interpret the law to allow the tank to be placed in the park? Why or why
not?
 Is there anything wrong with monuments being put in parks?
 Do you think the fact that this monument is a vehicle should prevent it from
being placed in the park to honor the town's citizens?
Should laws should be written in great detail or if laws should be flexible to adapt to
changing situations? Can they be both?
30
Lesson Two: Strategy Two
Categorizing
Cards
First Amendment – Establishment Clause, Free
Exercise Clause; freedom of speech, of the
press, and of assembly; right to petition
Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and to petition
the Government for a redress of grievances.
Second Amendment – Militia (United States),
Sovereign state, Right to keep and bear arms
A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the
security of a free State, the right of the people
to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.
Fourth Amendment – Protection from
unreasonable search and seizure
The right of the people to be secure in their
persons, houses, papers, and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not
be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but
upon probable cause, supported by oath or
affirmation, and particularly describing the
place to be searched, and the persons or
things to be seized.
Fifth Amendment – due process, double
jeopardy, self-incrimination, eminent domain
No person shall be held to answer for any
capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on
a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury,
except in cases arising in the land or naval
forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service
in time of War or public danger; nor shall any
person be subject for the same offence to be
twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall
be compelled in any criminal case to be a
witness against himself, nor be deprived of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of
law; nor shall private property be taken for
public use, without just compensation.
should be cut up and put in envelope.
The Postmaster General of the United
States has a cross and a nativity scene
installed at all Post Offices throughout
the country during Christmas time.
Government funds are being used to
purchase the cross and nativity scene.
The mayor of a predominantly Jewish
town demands that the cross and
nativity scene be removed from her
town.
A man in Cleveland, Ohio is arrested
after he shot an intruder who broke into
his home. He was arrested for illegally
using a handgun inside city limits. He is
now on trial in Cleveland.
A car is stolen on the block of West
Street. The police believe a group of
teenagers are responsible. They search
every house on the block that has a
teenager living at home.
1. A town needs more land to build a
new elementary school. A woman's
property is needed but he wants to
keep it. The town forces her to sell
and gives her twice the property's
actual value. She sues to get her
land back.
2. The government tries a man for
murder and loses the case. A jury
says he is innocent. The district
attorney who prosecuted the case is
mad and promises to keep trying
him until they get a jury to convict
him. The defendant thinks this is
unfair.
31
Sixth Amendment – Trial by jury and rights of
the accused; Confrontation Clause, speedy
trial, public trial, right to counsel
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall
enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by
an impartial jury of the State and district
where in the crime shall have been committed,
which district shall have been previously
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the
nature and cause of the accusation; to be
confronted with the witnesses against him; to
have compulsory process for obtaining
witnesses in his favor, and to have the
Assistance of Counsel for his defense.
Seventh Amendment – Civil trial by jury
In suits at common law, where the value in
controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the
right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no
fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States,
than according to the rules of the common
law.
Eighth Amendment – Prohibition of excessive
bail and cruel and unusual punishment.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor
excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual
punishments inflicted.
A young woman is being tried for
treason. She is accused of selling plans
for building a nuclear warhead to Iran.
The judge believes it would be
dangerous to let the public hear her
ideas. He refuses to allow anyone to
view the trial.
A dentist is being sued for $500,000 for
damage caused to a young child during
surgery. The dentist wants a jury to
hear the case, but the judge refuses his
request and decides the case himself.
A prisoner is beaten by prison guards
while he was handcuffed. He gave the
guards no reason to beat him and he
suffered major injuries to his head and
back.
Some situations adapted from: http://www.teaching9-11.org/LessonOgawa.cfm
32
Strategy 2: Extending and Refining
Categorizing/Constructing Support
Organizer adapted from the Learning Focused Strategies Notebook, Learning Focused
Solutions, Inc. Copyright 2005
33
Lesson Two: Strategy Four
Jigsaw
Voting Restrictions
As you are briefed by the experts, record a summary of the restriction including:
 Who was discriminated against?
 What happened?
 Where did it happen?
 When did this occur?
 Why was the restriction put in place?
Who:
Who:
What:
What:
Where:
Where:
When:
When:
Why:
Why:
Who:
Who:
What:
What:
Where:
Where:
When:
When:
Why:
Why:
34
Lesson Two: Strategy Four
Jigsaw
Literacy Test
Most citizens register to vote without regard to race or color by signing their name and
address on something like a postcard. But it was not always so. Prior to passage of the
federal Voting Rights Act in 1965, southern, and some western, states maintained elaborate
voter registration procedures whose primary purpose was to deny the vote to those who
were not white. In the South, this process was often called the ‗literacy test‘. It was more
than a test; it was an entire system designed to deny African Americans the right to vote.
The first implicit literacy test was South Carolina's notorious "eight-box" ballot, adopted in
1882. Voters had to put ballots for separate offices in separate boxes. A ballot for the
governor's race put in the box for the senate seat would be thrown out. The order of the
boxes was continuously shuffled, so that literate people could not assist illiterate voters by
arranging their ballots in the proper order. The adoption of the secret ballot constituted
another implicit literacy test, since it prohibited anyone from assisting an illiterate voter in
casting his vote.
In 1890, Southern states began to adopt explicit literacy tests to disenfranchise voters. This
had a large differential racial impact, since 40-60% of blacks were illiterate, compared to 818% of whites. Poor, illiterate whites opposed the tests, realizing that they too would be
disenfranchised. To placate them, Southern states adopted an "understanding clause" or a
"grandfather clause," which entitled voters who could not pass the literacy test to vote,
provided they could demonstrate their understanding of the meaning of a passage in the
constitution to the satisfaction of the registrar, or were or were descended from someone
eligible to vote in 1867, the year before blacks attained the franchise.
Discriminatory administration ensured that blacks would not be eligible to vote through the
understanding clause. However, illiterate whites also felt the impact of the literacy tests,
since some of the understanding and grandfather clauses expired after a few years, and
some whites were reluctant to expose their illiteracy by publicly resorting to them.
Congress abolished literacy tests in the South with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and
nationwide in 1970.
Source: http://www.umich.edu/~lawrace/disenfranchise1.htm
http://www.iowa.gov/government/crc/docs/Literacy%20Test.doc
35
Lesson Two: Strategy Four
Jigsaw
Poll Tax
Poll tax receipt
Source: http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/1-segregated/white-only-1.html
The 24th Amendment Ended the Poll Tax
January 23, 1964
Imagine that you are finally old enough to vote in your first election. But, do you have
enough money? Money, to vote? Not long ago, citizens in some states had to pay a fee to
vote in a national election. This fee was called a poll tax. On January 23, 1964, the United
States ratified the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting any poll tax in elections
for federal officials.
Many Southern states adopted a poll tax in the late 1800s. This meant that even though the
15th Amendment gave former slaves the right to vote, many poor people, both blacks and
whites, did not have enough money to vote.
"Do you know I've never voted in my life, never been able to exercise my right as a citizen
because of the poll tax?"
"Mr. Trout" to Mr. Pike, interviewer, Atlanta, Georgia. American Life Histories, 1936 - 1940.
More than 20 years after "Mr. Trout" spoke those words, the poll tax was abolished. At the
ceremony in 1964 formalizing the 24th Amendment, President Lyndon Johnson noted that:
"There can be no one too poor to vote." Thanks to the 24th Amendment, the right of all U.S.
citizens to freely cast their votes has been secured.
Source: http://www.americaslibrary.gov/jb/modern/jb_modern_polltax_1.html
36
Lesson Two: Strategy Four
Jigsaw
Religious Exclusion
In several British North American colonies, before and after the 1776
Declaration of Independence, Jews, Quakers and/or Catholics were excluded
from the franchise and/or from running for elections.
The Delaware Constitution of 1776 stated that "Every person who shall be
chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of
trust, before taking his seat, or entering upon the execution of his office,
shall (…) also make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: I, A B. do
profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the
Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy
scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration."
The 1778 Constitution of the State of South Carolina stated that "No person
shall be eligible to sit in the house of representatives unless he be of the
Protestant religion", the 1777 Constitution of the State of Georgia (art. VI)
that "The representatives shall be chosen out of the residents in each county
(…) and they shall be of the Protestant religion‖.
With the growth in the number of Baptists in Virginia before the Revolution,
the issues of religious freedom became important to rising leaders such as
James Madison. As a young lawyer, he defended Baptist preachers who were
not licensed by (and were opposed by) the established state Anglican
Church. He carried developing ideas about religious freedom to be
incorporated into the constitutional convention of the United States.
In 1787, Article One of the United States Constitution stated that "the
Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of
the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature". More significantly,
Article Six disavowed the religious test requirements of several states,
saying: "[N]o religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any
Office or public Trust under the United States."
In Maryland, voting rights and eligibility as candidates were extended to
Jewish Americans in 1828.
Source: www.wikipedia.org
37
Lesson Two: Strategy Four
Jigsaw
U.S. Constitution – Amendment 14 – Citizenship Rights
Ratified 7/9/1868
1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State
wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor
shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without
due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the
equal protection of the laws.
2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according
to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in
each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at
any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of
the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and
Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is
denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one
years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged,
except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of
representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the
number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male
citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
This is an excerpt from the Amendment
Source: http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am15
38
Lesson Two: Strategy Six
Application
Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
Between midnight and 8:00 a.m. on June 3, 1961, a burglary occurred at the Bay Harbor
Pool Room in Panama City, Florida. In the course of the burglary, a window was smashed
and the cigarette machine and jukebox were broken into. A witness claimed to have seen
Clarence Earl Gideon in the poolroom early that morning. When Gideon was found nearby
with a pint of wine and some change in his pockets, the police arrested him. They charged
him with breaking and entering.
Gideon was a semi-literate drifter who could not afford a lawyer. When he appeared at the
Florida Circuit Court for trial, he asked the judge to appoint one for him. Gideon argued that
the Court should do so because the Sixth Amendment says that everyone is entitled to a
lawyer. The judge denied his request, claiming that the state doesn't have to provide a poor
person with a lawyer unless "special circumstances" exist. Gideon was left to represent
himself. He had been arrested many times before, so he understood some of the legal
procedures. However, he did a poor job of defending himself. For instance, his choice of
witnesses was unusual—he called the police officers who arrested him to testify on his
behalf. He lacked skill in questioning witnesses, which made it difficult for him to present his
case.
Gideon was found guilty of breaking and entering and petty larceny, which is a felony in
Florida. He was sentenced to five years in a Florida state prison. While there, he began
studying law in the prison library. Gideon's study of the law reaffirmed his belief that the
Circuit Court's refusal to appoint counsel for him constituted a denial of his rights. With that
in mind, he filed a petition with the Supreme Court of Florida for habeas corpus, which is an
order to free him because he had been illegally imprisoned. That petition was rejected, but
Gideon persevered. From his prison cell, he handwrote a petition asking the Supreme Court
of United States to hear his case. The Court allowed him to file it in forma pauperis, or free
of charge. After reading the petition, they agreed to hear his case.
When the Supreme Court of the United States agrees to hear a case, it does so because the
case "presents questions whose resolution will have an immediate importance far beyond
the particular facts and parties involved" (Lewis 25). The justices were interested not simply
with the merits of Gideon's case, but with the larger issue of whether poor people charged
with noncapital offenses are entitled to a free lawyer in state criminal trials. In a 1942 case,
Betts v. Brady, the Court had ruled that in state criminal trials, the state must supply an
indigent defendant with a lawyer only if special circumstances exist. These special
circumstances include complex charges, incompetence, and illiteracy on the part of the
defendant. Gideon did not claim any of these special circumstances, so for the Court to rule
in his behalf, they would need to overturn Betts v. Brady. The Supreme Court of the United
States asked both sides to present arguments on the issue of "Should Betts v. Brady be
overturned"?
Lewis, Anthony. Gideon's Trumpet. New York: Random House, 1964.
Questions to Consider
1. What were the charges against Gideon?
2. Did Gideon seem to be capable of defending himself? Could a lawyer have helped
him? If so, how?
39
3. What was unique about the petition that Gideon filed with the Supreme Court of the
United States?
4. Why did the Supreme Court of the United States agree to hear Gideon's case?
Summary of the Decision
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Gideon in a unanimous decision. Justice Black wrote
the opinion for the Court, which ruled that the right to the assistance of counsel in felony
criminal cases is a fundamental right, and thus must be required in state courts as well as
federal courts. Justices Harlan and Clark wrote concurring opinions.
The Court rejected part of their prior decision in Betts v. Brady (1942). In that case, the
justices had ruled that indigent defendants need only be provided with a lawyer under
special circumstances. The decision accepted the portion of the Court‘s ruling in Betts which
stated that the parts of the Bill of Rights that are ―fundamental and essential to a fair trial‖
are made binding on the states by the Due Process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
They specifically noted, however, that ―the Court in Betts was wrong … in concluding that
the Sixth Amendment‘s guarantee of counsel was not one of these fundamental rights.‖
The Court said that the best proof that the right to counsel was fundamental and essential
was that ―[g]overnments … spend vast sums of money to … try defendants accused of crime
… Similarly, there are few defendants charged with crime[s]… who fail to hire the best
lawyers they can get to prepare and present their defenses.‖ This indicated that both the
government and defendants considered the aid of a lawyer in criminal cases absolutely
necessary. In addition, the opinion noted that the Constitution places great emphasis on
procedural safeguards designed to guarantee that defendants get fair trials. According to
the opinion, ―this noble idea cannot be realized if the poor man charged with a crime has to
face his accusers without a lawyer to assist him.‖ The Court concluded that the Sixth
Amendment guarantee of a right to counsel was fundamental and essential to a fair trial in
both state and federal criminal justice systems. In all felony criminal cases, states must
provide lawyers for indigent defendants.
In his concurring opinion in Gideon, Justice Clark agreed that Betts v. Brady should be
overturned, and that the Sixth Amendment must be interpreted to require states to provide
counsel for criminal defendants. Under Betts, states were only required to provide lawyers
for criminal defendants under special circumstances, which included capital cases. Justice
Clark noted that the Constitution does not make any distinction between capital and
noncapital cases, but requires procedural protections for defendants meeting the standard
of due process of law in both situations. The procedural protections required therefore
should not be different depending on whether the defendant was charged with a capital
crime or a noncapital crime, according to Justice Clark.
In his concurring opinion, Justice Harlan also agreed that the right to counsel in criminal
cases is a fundamental and essential right. He explained that Betts v. Brady mandated that
there must be special circumstances present, such as complex charges, incompetence or
illiteracy of defendants, or the possibility of the death penalty as a sentence, to require
states to provide criminal defendants with counsel. He then argued that ―the mere
existence of a serious criminal charge constituted in itself special circumstances.‖ Since,
according to Justice Harlan, all felony criminal trials involved special circumstances, states
should be required to provide lawyers for indigent defendants.
Retrieved from: http://www.streetlaw.org///en/Case.8.aspx
40
New Jersey v. T.L.O (1985)
In 1980, a teacher at Piscataway High School in New Jersey found two girls smoking in a
restroom. One of the girls was T.L.O., a freshman who was 14 years old. Smoking in the
restrooms was a violation of school rules (but was permitted in other areas of the school).
The teacher took the two girls to the principal's office, where they met with Assistant Vice
Principal Theodore Choplick. The second girl admitted that she had been smoking. T.L.O.
said she had not been smoking and said that she did not smoke at all.
Choplick took T.L.O. into his office and instructed her to turn over her purse. He opened the
purse and found a pack of cigarettes. He took the cigarettes out of the purse and showed
them to T.L.O. He accused her of having lied about smoking in the restroom. As he removed
the cigarettes, he noticed a package of cigarette rolling papers. He believed that cigarette
rolling papers were a sign of involvement with marijuana. Therefore, he decided to search
further in T.L.O.'s purse. He found the following items: a small amount of marijuana, a pipe,
empty plastic bags, a significant amount of money in one-dollar bills, a list of students who
owed T.L.O. money, and letters implicating T.L.O. in dealing marijuana.
Choplick then called T.L.O.'s mother and the police. The mother came to the school. The
police asked her to take her daughter to the police station. Choplick gave the items from the
purse to the police. At the police station, T.L.O. admitted that she had been selling
marijuana at school. As a result of her admission and the evidence from the purse, the
State of New Jersey brought delinquency charges against T.L.O. in the Juvenile and
Domestic Relations Court of Middlesex County.
T.L.O. tried to have the evidence from her purse kept out of court, saying that the search
violated the Fourth Amendment. She also argued that her confession should be suppressed,
because it resulted from the illegal search. The juvenile court turned down her Fourth
Amendment arguments, although it did agree that the Fourth Amendment applies to
searches by school officials. However, it held that a school official may search a student if
that official has a "reasonable suspicion that a crime has been or is in the process of being
committed, or reasonable cause to believe that the search is necessary to maintain school
discipline or enforce school policies."
The juvenile court concluded that Choplick's search was reasonable. Choplick was justified
in searching the purse, the Court said, because of his reasonable suspicion that T.L.O. had
violated school rules by smoking in the restroom. When he opened the purse, evidence of
marijuana use was in plain view. This justified the further search of the purse. T.L.O. was
found to be a delinquent and, in January 1982, she was sentenced to one year of probation.
T.L.O. appealed her case in the New Jersey courts. The Supreme Court of New Jersey found
that Choplick's search was unreasonable. The state appealed.
In 1983, the Supreme Court of the United States granted the State of New Jersey's petition
for certiorari. In 1985, the Court handed down its decision.
Questions to Consider:
1. Read the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Using the words of the
Amendment, try to make an argument that the search of T.L.O.'s purse was a
violation of her Fourth Amendment rights.
2. Now try to make an argument that the Fourth Amendment does not apply to
students in public schools at all.
3. Under the circumstances outlined above, does the search of T.L.O.'s purse seem
"reasonable" to you? Why or why not?
41
4. What procedures are in place in your school governing searches of students? Could a
search like the one in this case happen in your school?
5. How should the Supreme Court of the United States rule in this case?
Summary of the Decision
In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of New Jersey and the school, and
against T.L.O. Justice White wrote the majority opinion. The majority concluded that
school officials do not need a warrant to justify a search as long as the search was
reasonable under the circumstances. Justices Brennan, Marshall and Stevens dissented.
The Fourth Amendment‘s prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures applies to
public school officials because they act under the authority of the state. In addition
students have a reasonable expectation of privacy for the property they bring with them to
school. They have not ―waived all rights to privacy in such items merely by bringing them
onto school grounds.‖
However, the justices said the privacy interest of students must be balanced against the
interest of teachers and school officials in maintaining order and discipline in school. Trying
to achieve a balance between these interests, the Supreme Court ruled that school officials
should not be required to obtain a warrant to conduct a search of a student suspected of
breaking school rules because this would ―unduly interfere with the maintenance of the swift
and informal disciplinary procedures needed in the schools.‖
The Court decided that schools officials do not need to have probable cause to believe that a
student has violated school rules in order to initiate a search, even though probable cause is
required for police to initiate a search of children or adults outside of school. Instead,
school officials are only required to have a ―reasonable suspicion‖ that a student has
violated school rules in order to search that student. A search will be deemed reasonable if,
when it is started, ―there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that the search will turn up
evidence that the student has violated … either the law or the rules of the school.‖ In
addition, the scope of the search must be ―reasonably related to the objectives of the search
and not excessively intrusive in light of the age and sex of the student and the nature of the
infraction.‖ The Court concluded that ―the legality of a search of a student should depend
simply on the reasonableness, under all the circumstances, of the search.‖
Applying this standard to T.L.O., the Court ruled that the search was reasonable. It was
reasonable for the vice principal to believe that T.L.O. had been smoking in the bathroom in
violation of school rules because a teacher witnessed it. Thus the vice principal had
adequate grounds to search T.L.O.‘s purse for cigarettes. While doing so, he came across
evidence suggesting that T.L.O. was selling marijuana in the school. This gave him grounds
to search the rest of her purse for drugs.
In his dissent, Justice Brennan first argued that the same probable cause standard that is
applied outside of schools should be applied inside schools. The Fourth Amendment states
that ―the right of the people to be secure … against unreasonable searches and seizures
shall not be violated.‖ According to Justice Brennan‘s interpretation, the Fourth Amendment
explains what it means by ―unreasonable‖ by specifying that ―no Warrants shall issue but
upon probable cause.‖ Thus, searches that take place without probable cause, including
those based only on ―reasonable suspicion,‖ are unreasonable, and violate the Fourth
Amendment.
Justice Stevens also dissented. Like Justice Brennan, he believed that the Court‘s new
standard of ―reasonable suspicion‖ was inappropriate. Instead of allowing school officials to
search a student based on the reasonable suspicion that the student was breaking a school
42
rule, Justice Stevens would require that the student be suspected of ―violating the law or
engaging in conduct that is seriously disruptive of school order, or the educational
process.‖ Smoking in the bathroom was not a ―violent or disruptive activity,‖ he argued, so
an immediate search was unnecessary.
Retrieved from: http://www.streetlaw.org/en/Case.14.aspx
43
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
Gregory Lee Johnson participated in a political demonstration during the Republican National
Convention in Dallas, Texas, in 1984. The demonstrators were protesting the policies of the
Reagan Administration and of certain companies based in Dallas. They marched through the
streets, shouted slogans, and held protests outside the offices of several companies. At one
point, another demonstrator handed Johnson an American flag.
When the demonstrators reached Dallas City Hall, Johnson poured kerosene on the flag and
set it on fire. During the burning of the flag, demonstrators shouted "America, the red,
white, and blue, we spit on you." No one was hurt, but some witnesses to the flag burning
said they were extremely offended. One witness picked up the flag's burned remains and
buried them in his backyard.
Johnson was charged with violating the Texas law that prohibits vandalizing respected
objects. He was convicted, sentenced to one year in prison, and fined $2,000. He appealed
his conviction to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas, but he lost this appeal.
He then took his case to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which is the highest court in
Texas that hears criminal cases. That court overturned his conviction, saying that the State
could not punish Johnson for burning the flag because the First Amendment protects such
activity as symbolic speech.
The State had said that its interests were more important than Johnson's symbolic speech
rights because it wanted to preserve the flag as a symbol of national unity, and because it
wanted to maintain order. The court said neither of these state interests could be used to
justify Johnson's conviction.
The court said, "Recognizing that the right to differ is the centerpiece of our First
Amendment freedoms, a government cannot mandate by fiat a feeling of unity in its
citizens. Therefore that very same government cannot carve out a symbol of unity and
prescribe a set of approved messages to be associated with that symbol . . ." The court also
concluded that the flag burning in this case did not cause or threaten to cause a breach of
the peace.
The State of Texas asked the Supreme Court of the United States to hear the case. In 1989,
the Court handed down its decision.
Questions to Consider
1. Read the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. What part of the Amendment is
relevant to this case?
2. What do you think is meant by "symbolic speech"? What are some other examples?
3. What argument could you make that flag burning is likely to cause violence and
therefore should be against the law?
4. What argument could you make that flag burning is symbolic speech that should be
protected by the First Amendment?
5. How should the Supreme Court of the United States decide this case? Why?
Summary of the Decision
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled for Johnson. Justice Brenan wrote the opinion
for the majority, ruling that Johnson‘s act of burning the American flag was protected by the
First Amendment because it was expressive conduct. Justices Rehnquist, Stevens, White
and O‘Connor dissented.
44
The justices in the majority first considered whether expressive conduct was protected by
the First Amendment, which only explicitly guarantees ―freedom of speech.‖ Noting that the
Court has ―long recognized that [First Amendment] protection does not end at the spoken
or written word,‖ they added that conduct may be ―sufficiently imbued with elements of
communication to fall within the scope of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.‖ Conduct
is sufficiently expressive when ―an intent to convey a particularized message was present,
and the likelihood was great that the message would be understood by those who viewed
it.‖ Given the context of political protest in which Johnson‘s conduct occurred, the justices
concluded that it was sufficiently expressive to invoke First Amendment protection.
The Court acknowledged that while ―the government generally has a freer hand in
restricting expressive conduct than it has in restricting the written or spoken word,‖ it still
cannot prohibit certain conduct just because it disapproves of the ideas expressed. The
justices declared that ―if there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment, it is
that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society
finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.‖ The government must have reasons for
regulating the conduct that are unrelated to the popularity of the ideas it expresses.
The Court considered two central arguments asserted by Texas. The first was that the
government can prevent expressive speech to prevent breaches of the peace. According to
Supreme Court precedent, speech can be prohibited when it would incite ―imminent lawless
action.‖ The justices decided that the Texas law prohibiting flag burning did not limit its
prohibition to situations in which it would incite ―imminent lawless action,‖ and no such
violent disturbance of the peace occurred when Johnson burned the flag. This reason was
therefore not sufficient.
Second, Texas argued that the reason for prohibiting flag burning was to preserve the flag
as a symbol of national unity. The Court decided, however, that the Court had never
―recognized an exception to [the First Amendment] even where our flag has been
involved.‖ They acknowledged that while the government does have an interest in
encouraging its citizens to treat the flag with respect, this interest did not justify the
criminal prosecution of a man who burned the flag as part of a political protest.
A better way to encourage respect for the American flag would be to persuade people to
recognize its unique symbolic value. The justices urged that there is ―no more appropriate
response to burning a flag than waving one‘s own, no better way to counter a flag burner‘s
message than by saluting the flag that burns, no surer means of preserving the dignity even
of the flag that burned than by ... according its remains a respectful burial.‖ The Court
concluded that ―we do not consecrate the flag by punishing its desecration, for in doing so
we dilute the freedom that this cherished emblem represents.‖
In his dissenting opinion, Justice Rehnquist acknowledged the special place the flag holds as
the ―visible symbol embodying our nation,‖ noting that ―millions and millions of Americans
regard it with an almost mystical reverence.‖ Because of its unique position, Rehnquist
concluded that it was constitutionally permissible to prohibit burning the flag as a means of
symbolic expression. He argued that Texas‘s prohibition on flag burning did not regulate
the content of Johnson‘s message, but only removed one of the ways in which this message
could be expressed. Johnson was left with ―a full panoply of other symbols and every
conceivable form of verbal expression‖ to convey his message. A ban on flag burning is
thus consistent with the First Amendment, Justice Rehnquist concluded, because it is not
directed at suppressing particular ideas, but rather seeks only to protect the special
significance of the flag as the symbol of the United States.
Retrieved from: http://www.streetlaw.org/en/Case.16.aspx
45
Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
In the early 1950s, Linda Brown was a young African American student in the Topeka,
Kansas school district. Every day she and her sister, Terry Lynn, had to walk through the
Rock Island Railroad Switchyard to get to the bus stop for the ride to the all-black Monroe
School. Linda Brown tried to gain admission to the Sumner School, which was closer to her
house, but her application was denied by the Board of Education of Topeka because of her
race. The Sumner School was for white children only.
Under the laws of the time, many public facilities were segregated by race. The precedentsetting Plessy v. Ferguson case, which was decided by the Supreme Court of the United
States in 1896, allowed for such segregation. In that case, a black man, Homer Plessy,
challenged a Louisiana law that required railroad companies to provide equal, but separate,
accommodations for the white and African American races. He claimed that the Louisiana
law violated the Fourteenth Amendment, which demands that states provide "equal
protection of the laws." However, the Supreme Court of the United States held that as long
as segregated facilities were qualitatively equal, segregation did not violate the Fourteenth
Amendment. In doing so, the Court classified segregation as a matter of social equality, out
of the control of the justice system concerned with maintaining legal equality. The Court
stated, "If one race be inferior to the other socially, the constitution of the United States
cannot put them on the same plane."
At the time of the Brown case, a Kansas statute permitted, but did not require, cities of
more than 15,000 people to maintain separate school facilities for black and white students.
On that basis, the Board of Education of Topeka elected to establish segregated elementary
schools. Other public schools in the community were operated on a nonsegregated, or
unitary, basis.
At the time of the Brown case, a Kansas statute permitted, but did not require, cities of
more than 15,000 people to maintain separate school facilities for black and white students.
On that basis, the Board of Education of Topeka elected to establish segregated elementary
schools. Other public schools in the community were operated on a nonsegregated, or
unitary, basis.
The Browns felt that the decision of the Board violated the Constitution. They sued the
Board of Education of Topeka, alleging that the segregated school system deprived Linda
Brown of the equal protection of the laws required under the Fourteenth Amendment.
No State shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
—Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution
Thurgood Marshall, an attorney for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP), argued the Brown's case. Marshall would later become a Supreme Court
justice.
The three-judge federal district court found that segregation in public education had a
detrimental effect upon black children, but the court denied that there was any violation of
Brown's rights because of the "separate but equal" doctrine established in the Supreme
Court's 1896 Plessy decision. The court found that the schools were substantially equal with
respect to buildings, transportation, curricula, and educational qualifications of teachers.
The Browns appealed their case to the Supreme Court of the United States, claiming that
the segregated schools were not equal and could never be made equal. The Court combined
the case with several similar cases from South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware. The ruling
in the Brown v. Board of Education case came in 1954.
46
Questions to Consider
1. What right does the Fourteenth Amendment give citizens?
2. What problems did Linda Brown encounter in Topeka that eventually resulted in this
case?
3. What precedent did the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) ruling establish? How was that
precedent related to Brown?
4. This case is based on what the concept of "equality" means. What are the conflicting
points of view on this concept in this case?
Summary of the Decision
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Brown. The Court found the
practice of segregation unconstitutional and refused to apply its decision in Plessy v.
Ferguson to ―the field of public education.‖ Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote the opinion for
the Court.
The Court noted that public education was central to American life. Calling it ―the very
foundation of good citizenship,‖ they acknowledged that public education was not only
necessary to prepare children for their future professions and to enable them to actively
participate in the democratic process, but that it was also ―a principal instrument in
awakening the child to cultural values‖ present in their communities. The justices found it
very unlikely that a child would be able to succeed in life without a good education. Access
to such an education was thus ―a right which must be made available to all on equal terms.‖
The justices then assessed the equality of the facilities that the Board of Education of
Topeka provided for the education of African American children against those provided for
white children. Ruling that they were substantially equal in ―tangible factors‖ that could be
measured easily, (such as ―buildings, curricula, and qualifications and salaries of teachers),
they concluded that the Court must instead examine the more subtle, intangible effect of
segregation on the system of public education.
Departing from the Court‘s earlier reasoning in Plessy, the justices here argued that
separating children solely on the basis of race created a feeling of inferiority in the ―hearts
and minds‖ of African American children. Segregating children in public education created
and perpetuated the idea that African American children held a lower status in the
community than white children, even if their separate educational facilities were
substantially equal in ―tangible‖ factors. This feeling of inferiority reduced the desire to
learn and achieve in African American children, and had ―a tendency to retard their
educational and mental development and to deprive them of some of the benefits they
would receive in a racially integrated school system.‖ Concluding that ―separate education
facilities are inherently unequal‖, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public
education denied African American children the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by
the Fourteenth Amendment.
One year later, the Court addressed the implementation of its decision in a case known as
Brown v. Board of Education II. Chief Justice Warren once again wrote an opinion for the
unanimous court. The Court acknowledged that desegregating public schools would take
place in various ways, depending on the unique problems faced by individual school
districts. After charging local school authorities with the responsibility for solving these
problems, the Court instructed federal trial courts to oversee the process and determine
whether local authorities were desegregating schools in good faith, mandating that
desegregation take place with ―with all deliberate speed.‖
Retrieved from: http://www.streetlaw.org/en/Case.4.aspx
47
Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
Ernesto Miranda was a poor Mexican immigrant living in Phoenix, Arizona in 1963. A
Phoenix woman was kidnapped and raped. She identified Miranda in a police lineup. Miranda
was arrested, charged with the crimes, and questioned by the police for two hours. The
police officers questioning him did not inform him of his Fifth Amendment right against selfincrimination or of his Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of an attorney. The Fifth
Amendment states that no person "shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness
against himself. . . ." The Sixth Amendment states that, "In all criminal prosecutions, the
accused shall enjoy the right . . . to have the assistance of counsel for his defense."
As a result of the questioning, Miranda confessed in writing to the crimes. His statement
also said that he was aware of his right against self-incrimination. During his trial, the
prosecution used his confession to obtain a conviction, and he was sentenced to 20 to 30
years in prison on each count.
Miranda appealed his case to the Arizona Supreme Court. His attorney argued that his
confession should have been excluded from trial because he had not been informed of his
rights, nor had an attorney been present during his interrogation. The police officers
involved admitted that they had not given Miranda any explanation of his rights. The state
argued, however, that because Miranda had been convicted of a crime in the past, he must
have been aware of his rights. The Arizona Supreme Court denied Miranda's appeal and
upheld his conviction.
The case comes down to this fundamental question: What is the role of the police in
protecting the rights of the accused, as guaranteed by the Fifth and Sixth Amendments to
the Constitution? The Supreme Court of the United States had made previous attempts to
deal with these issues. The Court had already ruled that the Fifth Amendment protected
individuals from being forced to confess. They had also held that persons accused of serious
crimes have a fundamental right to an attorney, even if they cannot afford one. In 1964,
after Miranda's arrest, but before the Court heard his case, the Court ruled that when an
accused person is denied the right to consult with his attorney, his or her Sixth Amendment
right to the assistance of a lawyer is violated. But do the police have an obligation to ensure
that the accused person is aware of these rights before they question that person?
In 1965, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear Miranda's case. At the
same time, the Court agreed to hear three similar cases. The Court combined all the cases
into one case. Since Miranda was listed first among the four cases considered by the Court,
the decision came to be known by that name. The decision in Miranda v. Arizona was
handed down in 1966.
Questions to Consider
1. What rights of the accused does the Fifth Amendment protect? The Sixth
Amendment?
2. If the police had informed Ernesto Miranda of these rights, do you think he might
have done anything differently?
3. Individual rights must be balanced against the values of society at large. For
instance, the right to free speech must be balanced against our desire for an orderly
society. This is why demonstrations, while protected by the First Amendment, can
have certain restrictions placed on them. In Miranda, what values or goals of society
must be balanced against the right against self-incrimination and the right to
counsel?
48
4. You are probably learning about the rights of the accused in a government or history
class. Some would argue that it is the individual's responsibility to know what his or
her rights are under the Constitution, and the government can assume that accused
persons know their rights without informing them after they are arrested. Do you
think the government should have to inform each individual who is arrested of his or
her rights? Why or why not?
Summary of the Decision
In a 5-4 opinion, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Miranda. The majority opinion,
written by Chief Justice Earl Warren, concluded that defendants arrested under state law
must be informed of their constitutional rights against self-incrimination and to
representation by an attorney before being interrogated when in police custody. Justices
Clark, Harlan, Stewart and White dissented.
In their majority opinion, the justices explained that the Fifth Amendment right against selfincrimination is fundamental to our system of justice, and is ―one of our Nation‘s most
cherished principles.‖ This guarantee requires that only statements freely made by a
defendant may be used in court. The justices described some of the techniques used by
police officers in interrogations. They observed that ―the modern practice of in-custody
interrogation is psychologically rather than physically oriented,‖ and cited the advantage
police officers hold in custodial interrogations (interrogations that take place while the
subject is in police custody). Because of these advantages, they concluded that ―the very
fact of custodial interrogation exacts a heavy toll on individual liberty, and trades on the
weakness of individuals.‖
The Court ruled that in order to reconcile the necessary practice of custodial interrogations
with the guarantees of the Fifth Amendment, police must ensure that defendants are aware
of their rights before they are interrogated in custody. Because the right against selfincrimination is so important to our system of justice, a case by case determination made
by police officers of whether each defendant understands his or her rights is not sufficient.
Before interrogating defendants in police custody, they must be warned 1) that they have
the right to remain silent 2) that anything they say may be used against them in court, 3)
that they have the right to an attorney, either retained by them or appointed by the court,
and 4) that they may waive these rights, but they retain the right to ask for an attorney any
time during the interrogation, at which point the interrogation can only continue in the
presence of a lawyer.
The Supreme Court reasoned that because the right against self-incrimination is so
fundamental, and because it is so simple to inform defendants of their rights, any
statements made by defendants during a custodial interrogation in which the defendant has
not been read his ―Miranda rights‖ are inadmissible in both state and federal courts.
Justice Harlan wrote the main dissent. He argued that the newly created rules did not
protect against police brutality, coercion or other abuses of authority during custodial
interrogations because officers willing to use such illegal tactics and deny their use in court
were ―equally able and destined to lie as skillfully about warnings and waivers.‖ Instead, he
predicted that the new requirements would impair and substantially frustrate police officers
in the use of techniques that had long been considered appropriate and even necessary,
thus reducing the number of confessions police would be able to obtain. He concluded that
the harmful effects of crime on society were ―too great to call the new rules anything but a
hazardous experimentation.‖
Retrieved from: http://www.streetlaw.org/en/Case.9.aspx
49
Lesson Two: Strategy Six
Application
Name: ___________________________
Court Case: _______________________
Background Information
Identification of
Majority/Minority
Summary of Argument
Relation to Amendment/
Right
Decision of Supreme Court
Does the group agree with
the result?
50
Lesson Three: Strategy One
Majorities Rule!
Simulation Proposals
Proposal A:
There are two high schools that students in this district may attend. High
School A is very prestigious. Students who attend High School A tend to be
accepted into good universities and get high paying jobs. High School B has
had little success in getting students into colleges. Students who attend High
School B tend to earn less than two-thirds of what students from High
School A earn after graduating. Only half of the students in this class will be
accepted into High School A.
Students belonging to the Majs group must earn a 70 or above to qualify for
acceptance into High School A. Students in the Mins group must earn an 85
or above to qualify for acceptance into High School A. Students not meeting
the requirements will be assigned to High School B.
Proposal B:
School administrators have identified a problem at school that they are
determined to solve. The problem is that students are running out of
classrooms when the lunch bell rings to get to the cafeteria so that they can
be first in the lunch lines.
This proposal attempts to solve that problem by requiring all students to be
seated in the cafeteria before being allowed to get in the lunch line. Once
students are seated, the students in the Majs group will be given permission
to get into the lunch line. After all of the Majs have been served the Mins will
be permitted to get in line.
51
Lesson Three: Strategy Two
Photo Analysis Worksheet
Step 1. Observation
A.
Study the photograph for 2 minutes. Form an overall impression of the photograph and then examine
individual items. Next, divide the photo into quadrants and study each section to see what new details
become visible.
___________________________________________________________________________
Use the chart below to list people, objects, and activities in the photograph.
B.
People
Objects
Activities
Step 2. Inference
Based on what you have observed above, list three things you might infer from this photograph.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Step 3. Questions
A.
What questions does this photograph raise in your mind?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
B.
Where could you find answers to them?
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
Designed and developed by the
Education Staff, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC 20408.
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets/photo.html
52
Lesson Three: Strategy Two
Jim Crow Laws
Document #1
Source: http://www.lz95.org/msn/faculty/jlippert/images/waterfountain.jpg
Document #2
Source: http://feldmeth.net/JimCrowInDurhamNC.jpg
Document 3:
Source: http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what/108.htm
53
Document #4:
Source: http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what/103.htm
Document #5:
Source: http://thisfragiletent.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/jim-crow-2.jpg
Document #6:
Source: http://worldofwonder.net/2009/04/06/6a4dcd78.jpg
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Lesson Three: Strategy Two
Women’s Suffrage Movement
Document #1
Suffragettes marching in front of the White House, 1918. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS
Source: http://www.bookrags.com/research/womens-suffrage-movement-aaw-03/
Document #2
Source: http://womenshistory.about.com/library/pic/bl_p_opposed_suffrage_hq.htm
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Document #3
Source: A Suffrage Cartoon Originally published before 1910, original copyright: E. W.
Gustin
Courtesy of the Library of Congress. Modifications © 2003 Jone Johnson Lewis. Licensed to
About.com.
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/graphics/suffrage_cartoon1.jpg
Document #4
Source:
http://staff.harrisonburg.k12.va.us/~cwalton/solpracticetests/USHistory/suffrageparade.jpg
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Lesson Three: Strategy Two
Jim Crow Laws
From the 1880s into the 1960s, a majority of American states enforced segregation through
"Jim Crow" laws (so called after a black character in minstrel shows). From Delaware to
California, and from North Dakota to Texas, many states (and cities, too) could impose legal
punishments on people for consorting with members of another race. The most common
types of laws forbade intermarriage and ordered business owners and public institutions to
keep their black and white clientele separated.
A sampling of laws from various states:
Nurses No person or corporation shall require any white female nurse to nurse in wards or
rooms in hospitals, either public or private, in which negro men are placed. Alabama
Buses All passenger stations in this state operated by any motor transportation company
shall have separate waiting rooms or space and separate ticket windows for the white and
colored races. Alabama
Railroads The conductor of each passenger train is authorized and required to assign each
passenger to the car or the division of the car, when it is divided by a partition, designated
for the race to which such passenger belongs. Alabama
Restaurants It shall be unlawful to conduct a restaurant or other place for the serving of
food in the city, at which white and colored people are served in the same room, unless
such white and colored persons are effectually separated by a solid partition extending from
the floor upward to a distance of seven feet or higher, and unless a separate entrance from
the street is provided for each compartment. Alabama
Pool and Billiard Rooms It shall be unlawful for a negro and white person to play together
or in company with each other at any game of pool or billiards. Alabama
Intermarriage All marriages between a white person and a negro, or between a white
person and a person of negro descent to the fourth generation inclusive, are hereby forever
prohibited. Florida
Cohabitation Any negro man and white woman, or any white man and negro woman, who
are not married to each other, who shall habitually live in and occupy in the nighttime the
same room shall each be punished by imprisonment not exceeding twelve (12) months, or
by fine not exceeding five hundred ($500.00) dollars. Florida
Education The schools for white children and the schools for negro children shall be
conducted separately. Florida
Barbers No colored barber shall serve as a barber [to] white women or girls. Georgia
Amateur Baseball It shall be unlawful for any amateur white baseball team to play
baseball on any vacant lot or baseball diamond within two blocks of a playground devoted to
the Negro race, and it shall be unlawful for any amateur colored baseball team to play
baseball in any vacant lot or baseball diamond within two blocks of any playground devoted
to the white race. Georgia
Parks It shall be unlawful for colored people to frequent any park owned or maintained by
the city for the benefit, use and enjoyment of white persons...and unlawful for any white
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person to frequent any park owned or maintained by the city for the use and benefit of
colored persons. Georgia
Circus Tickets All circuses, shows, and tent exhibitions, to which the attendance of...more
than one race is invited or expected to attend shall provide for the convenience of its
patrons not less than two ticket offices with individual ticket sellers, and not less than two
entrances to the said performance, with individual ticket takers and receivers, and in the
case of outside or tent performances, the said ticket offices shall not be less than twentyfive (25) feet apart. Louisiana
Housing Any person...who shall rent any part of any such building to a negro person or a
negro family when such building is already in whole or in part in occupancy by a white
person or white family, or vice versa when the building is in occupancy by a negro person or
negro family, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be punished
by a fine of not less than twenty-five ($25.00) nor more than one hundred ($100.00) dollars
or be imprisoned not less than 10, or more than 60 days, or both such fine and
imprisonment in the discretion of the court. Louisiana
Hospital Entrances There shall be maintained by the governing authorities of every
hospital maintained by the state for treatment of white and colored patients separate
entrances for white and colored patients and visitors, and such entrances shall be used by
the race only for which they are prepared. Mississippi
Prisons The warden shall see that the white convicts shall have separate apartments for
both eating and sleeping from the negro convicts. Mississippi
Education Separate free schools shall be established for the education of children of African
descent; and it shall be unlawful for any colored child to attend any white school, or any
white child to attend a colored school. Missouri
Militia The white and colored militia shall be separately enrolled, and shall never be
compelled to serve in the same organization. No organization of colored troops shall be
permitted where white troops are available, and while white permitted to be organized,
colored troops shall be under the command of white officers. North Carolina
Transportation The...Utilities Commission...is empowered and directed to require the
establishment of separate waiting rooms at all stations for the white and colored races.
North Carolina
Fishing, Boating, and Bathing The [Conservation] Commission shall have the right to
make segregation of the white and colored races as to the exercise of rights of fishing,
boating and bathing. Oklahoma
Lunch Counters No persons, firms, or corporations, who or which furnish meals to
passengers at station restaurants or station eating houses, in times limited by common
carriers of said passengers, shall furnish said meals to white and colored passengers in the
same room, or at the same table, or at the same counter. South Carolina
Child Custody It shall be unlawful for any parent, relative, or other white person in this
State, having the control or custody of any white child, by right of guardianship, natural or
acquired, or otherwise, to dispose of, give or surrender such white child permanently into
the custody, control, maintenance, or support, of a negro. South Carolina
Education [The County Board of Education] shall provide schools of two kinds; those for
white children and those for colored children. Texas
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Intermarriage All marriages of white persons with Negroes, Mulattos, Mongolians, or
Malaya hereafter contracted in the State of Wyoming are and shall be illegal and void.
Wyoming
Retrieved from: http://academic.udayton.edu/race/02rights/jcrow02.htm
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Women’s Suffrage Movement
American women's efforts to win the vote were significantly influenced by both the Civil War
and World War I. The organized suffrage movement was in its beginning stages in 1861
when the pressures of the Civil War forced activists such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and
Susan B. Anthony to choose between concentrating their energies on such activities as
organizing fundraisers to support Union troops or focusing on suffrage laws and property
rights for married women. In World War I the choice was the same, although the context
and the response were different. In August 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified.
Partly as a result of the war, all American women finally received the right to vote.
Nineteenth-Century Efforts
Before the Civil War, the idea of women voting was a radical concept that threatened the
traditional male role as head of the household. In 1848, at the Seneca Falls Convention in
New York, activists from the Northeast began a seventy-year struggle for what seemed to
them a natural right of all Americans. In the document written for this meeting by Elizabeth
Cady Stanton, "The Declaration of Rights and Sentiments," women laid claim to the need for
judicial, religious, and civil equality with men. The most controversial of the resolutions held
that men had denied them their "inalienable" right to the franchise and that women had a
duty to seek the right to vote. By the 1850s, suffragists, sometimes affiliated with
antislavery and temperance groups, were actively lobbying at the state level for
constitutional changes at the same time that they traveled throughout the United States
giving speeches to raise the women's consciousness of the importance of the vote.
Connecting freedom for slaves with their own civic emancipation, women had great hopes
for the postwar period.
These hopes were not realized. Instead, women were not included in the postwar settlement
that included the ratification of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments. The courts
continued to deny that citizenship included the right to vote, although as women activists
such as Stanton and Anthony noted that their conditional citizenship included the obligation
to pay taxes. Another argument used by opponents was that women did not serve in the
military and hence did not merit the vote. By the end of the nineteenth century, four
Western states—Idaho, Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming—had enfranchised women, in most
cases after elaborate, expensive campaigns by the suffrage associations at the state level.
Twentieth-Century Movements
In the twentieth century, the focus turned to a crusade by the National American Woman's
Suffrage Association to pass a national amendment, the Susan B. Anthony Amendment
authorizing suffrage, which had been presented to Congress annually from 1870 on, but
until 1914 the resolution never had sufficient support for an affirmative vote, much less the
requisite two-thirds majority.
Inspired by the radical tactics used by women in Great Britain, a group of younger American
women led by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns formed the National Woman's Party in 1915. They
emphasized attention-getting parades and other forms of publicity as well as pressure
tactics that made women's suffrage an unavoidable topic even for those who opposed it.
When World War I began in April 1917, the more conservative National American Woman's
Suffrage Association for a time submerged its suffrage activities in war work. The
association supported war work and efforts to inspire female patriotism even at the cost of
suffrage efforts. Women who had little to do with the suffrage campaign were drawn into
wartime work outside the home, and their contributions became an important part of the
suffragists' argument that women deserved the vote.
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Meanwhile, Paul and her activists challenged Woodrow Wilson's government. Beginning in
1917, these women made the case, often using President Wilson's own words on their
banners, that the war was being fought for democracy. Quoting Wilson, a favorite banner
read, "We shall fight for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their
own governments."
The National Woman's Party stationed pickets outside the White House until embarrassed
officials began arresting and imprisoning them on frivolous charges such as impeding access
to sidewalks. In prison, Alice Paul insisted that they were political prisoners. When privileges
such as writing letters and not wearing prison uniforms were denied, the Paul and other
women in jail began hunger strikes, which, in an overreaction by the government, led to
their being force-fed. Still, Wilson—who believed that suffrage was a state and not a federal
issue—withheld his support from a national amendment. Finally, in early 1918, under
pressure from both of the suffrage associations, he urged a compliant Congress to pass
what became, when it was ratified in the summer of 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment.
Source: http://www.bookrags.com/research/womens-suffrage-movement-aaw-03/
Transcript of 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women's Right to Vote
(1920)
Sixty-sixth Congress of the United States of America; At the First Session,
Begun and held at the City of Washington on Monday, the nineteenth day of May, one
thousand nine hundred and nineteen.
JOINT RESOLUTION
Proposing an amendment to the Constitution extending the right of suffrage to
women.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), That the following
article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution, which shall be valid to all intents
and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislature of three-fourths of
the several States.
"ARTICLE ————.
"The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or by any State on account of sex.
Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation."
Source:
http://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?flash=true&page=transcript&doc=63&titl
e=Transcript+of+19th+Amendment+to+the+U.S.+Constitution%3A+Women%27s+Right+
to+Vote+%281920%29
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Lesson Three: Strategy Two
Making Comparisons
Organizer adapted from the Learning Focused Strategies Notebook, Learning Focused
Solutions, Inc. Copyright 2005
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Lesson Three: Strategy Three
Constructing Support Organizer
Position: Why is this legislation important?
Reason/Examples: How does it protect minorities?
Adapted from LFS organizer
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Strategy 3: Extending and Refining
Constructing Support
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
This ―act to enforce the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution‖ was signed into law 95
years after the amendment was ratified. In those years, African Americans in the South
faced tremendous obstacles to voting, including poll taxes, literacy tests, and other
bureaucratic restrictions to deny them the right to vote. They also risked harassment,
intimidation, economic reprisals, and physical violence when they tried to register or vote.
As a result, very few African Americans were registered voters, and they had very little, if
any, political power, either locally or nationally.
In 1964, numerous demonstrations were held, and the considerable violence that erupted
brought renewed attention to the issue of voting rights. The murder of voting-rights
activists in Mississippi and the attack by state troopers on peaceful marchers in Selma, AL,
gained national attention and persuaded President Johnson and Congress to initiate
meaningful and effective national voting rights legislation. The combination of public
revulsion to the violence and Johnson's political skills stimulated Congress to pass the voting
rights bill on August 5, 1965.
The legislation, which President Johnson signed into law the next day, outlawed literacy
tests and provided for the appointment of Federal examiners (with the power to register
qualified citizens to vote) in those jurisdictions that were "covered" according to a formula
provided in the statute. In addition, Section 5 of the act required covered jurisdictions to
obtain "preclearance" from either the District Court for the District of Columbia or the U.S.
Attorney General for any new voting practices and procedures. Section 2, which closely
followed the language of the 15th amendment, applied a nationwide prohibition of the
denial or abridgment of the right to vote on account of race or color. The use of poll taxes in
national elections had been abolished by the 24th amendment (1964) to the Constitution;
the Voting Rights Act directed the Attorney General to challenge the use of poll taxes in
state and local elections. In Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections, 383 U.S. 663
(1966), the Supreme Court held Virginia's poll tax to be unconstitutional under the 14th
amendment.
Because the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was the most significant statutory change in the
relationship between the Federal and state governments in the area of voting since the
Reconstruction period following the Civil War, it was immediately challenged in the courts.
Between 1965 and 1969, the Supreme Court issued several key decisions upholding the
constitutionality of Section 5 and affirming the broad range of voting practices for which
preclearance was required.
The law had an immediate impact. By the end of 1965, a quarter of a million new black
voters had been registered, one-third by Federal examiners. By the end of 1966, only 4 out
of the 13 southern states had fewer than 50 percent of African Americans registered to
vote. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was readopted and strengthened in 1970, 1975, and
1982.
Source: http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=100
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Strategy 3: Extending and Refining
Civil Rights Act of 1964
In a nationally televised address on June 6, 1963, President John F. Kennedy urged the
nation to take action toward guaranteeing equal treatment of every American regardless of
race. Soon after, Kennedy proposed that Congress consider civil rights legislation that would
address voting rights, public accommodations, school desegregation, nondiscrimination in
federally assisted programs, and more.
Despite Kennedy‘s assassination in November of 1963, his proposal culminated in the Civil
Rights Act of 1964, signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson just a few hours after
House approval on July 2, 1964. The act outlawed segregation in businesses such as
theaters, restaurants, and hotels. It banned discriminatory practices in employment and
ended segregation in public places such as swimming pools, libraries, and public schools.
Passage of the act was not easy. House opposition bottled up the bill in the House Rules
Committee. In the Senate, opponents attempted to talk the bill to death in a filibuster. In
early 1964, House supporters overcame the Rules Committee obstacle by threatening to
send the bill to the floor without committee approval. The Senate filibuster was overcome
through the floor leadership of Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, the considerable
support of President Lyndon Johnson, and the efforts of Senate Minority Leader Everett
Dirksen of Illinois, who convinced Republicans to support the bill.
Source: http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=97
Major Features of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title I
Barred unequal application of voter registration requirements, but did not abolish literacy
tests sometimes used to disqualify African Americans and poor white voters.
Title II
Outlawed discrimination in hotels, motels, restaurants, theaters, and all other public
accommodations engaged in interstate commerce; exempted private clubs without defining
"private," thereby allowing a loophole.
Title III
Encouraged the desegregation of public schools and authorized the U. S. Attorney General
to file suits to force desegregation, but did not authorize busing as a means to overcome
segregation based on residence.
Title IV
Authorized but did not require withdrawal of federal funds from programs which practiced
discrimination.
Title V
Outlawed discrimination in employment in any business exceeding twenty five people and
creates an Equal Employment Opportunities Commission to review complaints, although it
lacked meaningful enforcement powers.
Source: http://www.congresslink.org/print_basics_histmats_civilrights64text.htm
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Lesson Three: Strategy Four
Cause/Effect Timeline
Date: _____________
Date: _____________
Date: _____________
Date: _____________
Event: ____________
Event: ____________
Event: ____________
Event: ____________
____________
____________
____________
____________
Causes
Effects
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