Youth Outreach
Connecting the Separate Powers
Scholars demonstrate what they know about the separation of powers through role play. Two individuals act out a skit as the remaining class members discuss and decide whether the interaction they observed is an appropriate example...
Curated OER
Constitutional Convention Simulation
Why did the Founders make it so challenging to amend the US Constitution? To gain an understanding of why the process is so difficult, class members engage in a Constitutional Convention simulation. Groups draft, propose, and debate...
School Improvement in Maryland
Court Proceedings Civil Cases
What's the difference between civil and criminal law? How do the court proceedings differ in these two types of trials? How do the standards of proof differ? Why do these differences exist? As part of their examination of the...
Curated OER
Case Study: Constitutional Law
Posed here is an issue of land ownership and law from the year 1773. Learners can use what they know about the US Constitution, statehood, and Articles I, III, and IV to answer five questions regarding the scenario.
Center for Civic Education
Matching Game with the US Constitution
In September we celebrate Constitution Day. Begin the celebration with a grand conversation about the US Constitution. Follow up the in-depth discussion with a learning game in which scholars match terms to images such as...
Curated OER
Arrest
Young scholars become active participants in the legal process as they take on the roles of witnesses, jurors, and defendants in a trial simulation. An understanding and appreciation of the legal system is fostered through the experience.
Curated OER
How is Our Government Organized?
Young scholars explore rights of their clients. In this constitutional law lesson, students play an online game that requires them to review individual cases in order to determine the rights their clients have.
University of Missouri
Exploring Constitutional Conflicts: Select Hot Constitutional Issues
Among other issues considered, Hot Constitutional Issues probes into the constitutionality of giving Washington, D.C. a vote in the House of Representatives, raised in 2009.
Bill of Rights Institute
Bill of Rights Institute: The Defense of Marriage Act
A lesson plan addressing what happens when Congress passes a law or an act, but the law is unconstitutional.
Illinois Institute of Technology
The Oyez Project: Katz v. United States
Katz v. United States altered the meaning of the 4th Amendment, the right to search and seizure, appealing his case in 1967 regarding the investigator's use of electronic surveillance. Oyez features the facts and recordings from the...
CPALMS
Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: What's Law Got to Do With It?
This tutorial explains the types of laws in the legal system of the United States. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: Jurisdiction of Federal Courts
This site describes the jurisdiction of the Federal Court system. The site breaks the court's jurisdiction into three main areas of institutional conflict: Federal Restraint of State Courts by Injunctions, Habeas Corpus: Scope of the...
University of California
Ucla: Freedom of Speech vs. Workplace Harassment Law
This site contains excerpts from public law review articles relating to the issues of freedom of speech and workplace harassment.
Other
Human and Constitutional Rights: Comparative Constitutional Rights Chart
This Comparative Constitutional Rights Chart is very interesting to check out. The rights are broken into categories, and most of the information is accessed through links, along with additional information.
Other
American Law 101: Sources of American Law
This website provides a nice overview of the five common sources of American law (common law, statutory law, administrative law, court rules, and constitutional law.
Other
Touro Law Center: William Marbury vs. James Madison
Transcript of the landmark court case that established the constitutional principle of judicial review. Judicial review is the concept that the federal judiciary has final power as to whether an act of the Congress or the Executive...
Cornell University
Cornell University: Law School: Constitutional Law Overview
This site from the Cornell University Law School provides an overview of constitutional law as it applies in the United States, with links to additional information.
Cornell University
Cornell University: Law School: Articles and Amendments
This resource gives a table of the Articles and Amendments of the United States Constitution.
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: Constitution
This site provides extensive information regarding several American constitutional issues such as: impeachment, war powers, interstate commerce, and the amendment process. Hyperlinks can be found throughout each constitutional issue to...
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: u.s. Supreme Court: Plessy vs. Ferguson
Transcript of the infamous Supreme Court decision that established the constitutionality of the principle of "Separate but equal," public facilities for members of different races. This was eventually overturned by the 1954 and 1955...
Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Rcfp: The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
This non-profit organization collects instances of First Amendment and Freedom of Information cases throughout the United States and reports on the facts and outcomes. An interesting cross section from this section of our law.
Other
Paul Bullen: Judicial Review
This site is a personal site from Paul Bullen that provides an essay titled "Justifications of Judicial Review and Recommendations for its Proper Practice," which addresses the process of judicial review in great depth.
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
Fordham University: Modern History Sourcebook: Joseph De Maistre
This site from the Fordham University provides a document of a conservative theorist arguing that constitutions and government are divinely inspired, not created alone by man.