Coats v. Green Mock Trial
Name:_______________________
PART 1: Guided Questions for Watching McCulloch v. Maryland Segment
Directions: As you view the DVD clip, think about the following questions. Do not move
on to part 2 until your teacher asks you to do so:
A. Who were the major players in the case?
B. What was the main issue of conflict?
C. What did the Court decide in the case of McCulloch v. Maryland? What reasons did
the Court give for its decision?
PART 2: Coats v. Green Mock Trial
Directions: After reading the case out loud, students will assume the role of either the
Coats or Green legal team. This case tackles issues very similar to McColluch v.
Maryland. Once you are put in a group, you will be your group’s task to convince the
Supreme Court (your teacher) whose side is right. In order to do this, you need to
familiarize yourself with both sides’ arguments.
1. Individually: Prepare for your case by learning more about the background of the case
and McColluch v. Maryland. Read the material that is provided in the rest of this handout.
2. Individually: After reading, draft 3 arguments for each side. Include supporting
evidence from the material below.
3. As a Team you will…
a) Agree on your three arguments and supporting evidence
a. At least one of your arguments must make use of your team’s witness and
affidavit
b) Use your knowledge of the opposing side to come up with counter-arguments
Be prepared to present your arguments and counter-arguments next class. Good Luck!
Coats v. Green (2015)
Since the late 2000s, Pioneer High in South Temple, PA has experienced
problems with its students. Not only has school performance steadily dropped, but
several student-teacher brawls have reached the Internet through smartphones and
social media—making the school a national laughing stock.
By the beginning of 2015, community uproar prompted the South Temple
School Board to do something about it and they issued a new student conduct
policy. In addition to stricter rules and consequences for misconduct, the new
policy gave teachers, “the freedom to create their own rules if necessary for
the implementation of school policy.”
This caused some alarm among the student body and some parents. Many
feared that some teachers would go beyond disciplining students and would use
the loose policy to exact revenge—teachers like Mr. Froula who had his coffee
spiked with laxatives by the famous Brutal Boolin’ Squad. As a result, the School
Board came up with a compromise—the student conduct policy would remain asis, but there would be some additional safeguards for student rights. An amended
student conduct policy said that, “powers not given to administration/faculty
would be reserved to the Student Council.” One of the first measures passed by
Pioneer’s Student Council allowed for students to write disciplinary referrals
for their teachers if they should abuse school policy.
While most teachers were able to regain control of their classes without
heavy use of their new powers, teachers like Ms. Coats still struggled. In the
beginning of October, Ms. Coats unveiled to her class a series of new rules:
• Students cannot be excused from class without being escorted out by Ms.
Coats’ student-teacher or an administrator
• Hoodies and other “distracting” garments are banned
• Students have to put their phones in their lockers before coming to class,
those who fail to do so will be suspended
• No boolin’ allowed whatsoever
These rules were universally unpopular with all of Ms. Coats’ classes. On
October 20th these issues came to a head. Jeremy Green, alleged leader of the
Brutal Boolin’ Squad, decided to write Ms. Coats a referral, accusing her of
infringing on his rights as a student.
Relevant Excerpts of the Constitution:
The Necessary and Proper Clause (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18)
"The Congress shall have the Power ... To make all Laws which shall be necessary and
proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers and all other Powers vested in
this Constitution."
The Necessary and Proper Clause is also known as the "Elastic Clause" because its
meaning may be stretched to allow Congress to pass a variety of laws.
The Supremacy Clause (Article VI, Clause 2)
"This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance
thereof ... shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be
bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any state to the Contrary
notwithstanding."
This part of the Constitution specifically states that federal laws take priority over state
laws.
The Tenth Amendment
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it
to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the people."
Main Arguments for McCulloch:
•
•
Although the power to charter a
national bank is not specifically
mentioned in the Constitution, it
is one of the implied powers that
the Necessary and Proper Clause
grants Congress.
The bank is a "necessary and
proper" way for Congress to
conduct the financial affairs of
the country.
Main Arguments for Maryland:
•
The right of the national
government to establish a bank is
not specifically granted in the
Constitution.
•
It is also not an implied power,
so Congress had no right to
establish a national bank.
The power to establish banks is
reserved for the states.
•
•
•
If Maryland is allowed to tax the
bank, the state could destroy the
bank by taxing it so much that it
would have to close.
States are sovereign (they have
complete and permanent
authority over themselves), so
they have the authority to tax
institutions and businesses in
their borders.
Plaintiff: Affidavit of Jeremy Green
1. My name’s Jeremy Green and I was born in 1999. Lived in South Temple
all my life.
2. Our school is pretty wild man (haha). Kids throw chairs, get in fights with
teachers, they don’t care. But I do good in school—all Bs, maybe one or
two Cs. Teachers bug out on me sometimes and I don’t know why. I’m
loud in class sometimes but so is everyone else. Teachers say I’m a part of
that Brutal Boolin’ Squad but those are just rumors.
3. I tried to ignore all this mess until Ms. Coats went OD with the rules. Like,
she went crazy or something. Everybody hates the rules so I don’t know
why she has them. The class still acting bad as hell.
4. So, yeah, I wrote Ms. Coats up. Her rules don’t help anything. She just
use it to pick on kids like me.
5. She didn’t think I knew about Student Council. She making rules that the
Student Council is supposed to make, not her. We have student rights.
Defendant: Affidavit of Ms. Coats
1. My name is Margaret Coats and I was born in 1986. I lived in Haveford
most my life, but I’ve been in South Temple the last couple of years
teaching.
2. Teaching at Pioneer is definitely challenging, but I try to appreciate what
we have. We have a very supportive administration that is giving us the
tools to save our classrooms. I know most of the teachers are making their
own classroom rules and they’re seeing the results.
3. I waited to introduce my class’ new rules; most teachers laid them out at the
beginning of the school year, but there was so much that needed to change
that I didn’t know where to start. After my department chair observed a
class of mine that didn’t go too well, she told me about what the other
teachers were doing—what rules they had. I decided that I was going
to adopt all of them.
4. Of course the students don’t like the rules. They are so used to having their
way, but it’s been hurting them and the school. After a while, they will get
used to them and they will see the difference. So many classes at
Pioneer now are better behaved and studious.
5. I don’t discipline Jeremy anymore than my other students so, no, I haven’t
been “taking away his rights” like he says. I did not break any school
rules so he can’t write me up.
Coats v. Green Graphic Organizer
Coats
Argument
Evidence
CounterArgument
Green
Argument
Evidence
CounterArgument
Coats v. Green Graphic Organizer
Coats
Argument
Evidence
CounterArgument
Green
Argument
Evidence
CounterArgument