Curated OER
A History of Conflict Resolution and the Jury System
Students study the history of the jury system in the United States. They enact a number of different types of trials including trial by jury. They complete a worksheet that compares the trials systems before writing a persuasive essay...
US National Archives
Docsteach: From Dred Scott to Civil Rights Act of 1875: Eighteen Years of Change
In 1857, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Dred Scott decision that African-Americans were not citizens of the United States. Yet within 18 years, Black Americans would not only have citizenship, but would be guaranteed the right to...
Other
Janet Reno vs. American Civil Liberties Union
A complete transcript outlining the court case between Janet Reno, U.S. Attorney General, and the American Civil Liberties Union, in which the Communications Decency Act was declared unconstitutional.
Illinois Institute of Technology
Oyez.org: Oyez Directory
The OYEZ Directory offers hyperlinks to Supreme Court cases. Choose the topic you'd like to search under, like "Attorneys," or "Civil rights," for example.
ReadWriteThink
Read Write Think: Bill of Rights Day Is Observed
Contains plans for seven lessons that ask students to examine Supreme Court cases that have impacted civil liberties in the United States. Students work in groups and report their findings using PowerPoint presentations. In addition to...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Supreme Court: Expanding Our Civil Rights: Gideon v. Wainwright
This is a synopsis of the landmark Supreme Court case of Gideon v. Wainwright, which ruled that states must provide defense attorneys to any indigent criminal defendant charged with a felony. The decision was written by Justice Hugo Black.
Other
International Civil Rights Center: Explore History: Civil Rights Movement
In 1960, four students at North Carolina A&T University decided to protest segregation laws by staging a sit-in at the Woolworth store lunch counter. Their action sparked a nation-wide protest by students that spread from just...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Supreme Court: Expanding Civil Rights: Brown v. Board of Education
This is a detailed overview of the landmark Supreme Court case of Brown v. Board of Education which held that the racial segregation of children in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The...
Other
International Civil Rights Center and Museum: America's Civil Rights Timeline
Provides a timeline of the civil rights movement from the Dred Scott Supreme Court case in 1857 up to the affirmative action policy instated at the University of Michigan Law School in 1992.
Other
National Center for Science Education: Evolution and Creationism: Court Cases
A summary of the court cases related to the teaching of evolution and creation. It contains position statements in support of evolution education and opposed to creation in the science classrooms from scientific, educational, civil...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Supreme Court History: Expanding Civil Rights: Roe v. Wade (1973)
PBS' series on the Supreme Court covers several landmark cases, perhaps the most controversial of which is Roe v. Wade. Read about the case here, the reasons for the ruling that was made, and the exceptions to the ruling.
University of Groningen
American History: Documents: Slaughter House Cases 1873
Review background information about the Slaughter-House Cases then read the complete text of the majority opinion of the court and also the dissenting votes.
Digital History
Digital History: Chapter 7: Affirmative Action and the Case of Alan Bakke [Pdf]
Article presents an overview of the history behind the birth of 'affirmative action'. Includes a discussion of the Supreme Court case of Alan Bakke v. the University of California and student exercises that test comprehension of the topic.
NBC
Nbc Learn: Finishing the Dream
A collection of over one hundred archival video clips highlighting significant events in the history of the Civil Rights Movement since the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision in 1954. There are ten collections covering...
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University: Separate but Not Equal
Telling pictures of elementary schools for Blacks and Whites during the 50s and 60s. Discusses the situation in Prince Edward County that led to the Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County court case.
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...
Digital History
Digital History: The Civil Rights Movement Moves North
Summers of the late 1960s was a time of widespread violence and rioting in the nation's major inner cities. What was previously thought of as a problem of the South had spread nation-wide and was now demanding immediate attention.
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: The Supreme Court: Landmark Cases: Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
PBS provides a detailed overview of the landmark Supreme Court case of Griswold v. Connecticut which dealt with the right to marital privacy. The opinion was written by Justice William Douglas.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: u.s. Supreme Court Plessy v. Ferguson [Pdf]
Read this concise discussion of the landmark Supreme Court decision, Plessy v Ferguson. Find a synopsis of the case, the majority opinion of the court, and the dissenting opinion by Justice Harlan.
Other
Us Courts: Sixth Amendment Activities
Activities for the classroom in which students apply landmark Supreme Court cases to contemporary scenarios related to the right to counsel and right to a fair trial. With plan for teachers, word bank, and links to related resources.
Other
Fred T. Korematsu Institute: Korematsu v United States
Here's a biography of civil rights activist, Fred Korematsu, who protested his arrest and conviction in 1942 for his refusal to report to an internment camp for Japanese Americans. Find about his lifelong fight to clear his name and for...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: America's Melting Pot
As part of the study of Civil Liberties, the students will do research on Civil Rights Supreme Court Cases and amendments that changed America. In groups, students will use various websites, books and newspaper articles to acquire...
Wikimedia
Wikipedia: The Slaughter House Cases
Learn about the historically important 1873 Slaughter-House Cases on civil rights, which became the first Supreme Court interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Classroom: The Pursuit of Justice
This book analyzes 30 Supreme Court cases chosen by a group of Supreme Court justices and leading civics educators as the most important for American citizens to understand. An additional 100 significant cases included in state history...