Backstory Radio: Scales of Justice: A History of Supreme Court Nominations

Nearly every president has had the opportunity to name a nominee to the United States Supreme Court. But what makes someone an ideal candidate to become a Supreme Court justice? High schoolers test their prior knowledge about the...

Students examine the historical background of Supreme Court decisions and the basic principles behind legislation. As part of the lesson, students discover legal concepts and terms and write sentences using the vocabulary they have...

How can you get a case argued before the Supreme Court of the United States? Learners research the way a court case ends up in the highest court in the 20th installment of a 50-part series covering the United States government and...

After oral arguments and the lawyers go home, what actually happens in the Supreme Court? Justice Stephen Breyer describes how members of the court discuss cases and write opinions behind the scenes. Though their discussions involve...

Students have freedom of speech—or do they? Using an actual court case and research materials on the Supreme Court, young legal scholars examine the Supreme Court's role and history. Then, they argue a case the court declined to hear and...

An empowering resource shows an interview with Justice Day O'Connor and explains her path to the Supreme Court, as well as her personal feelings on becoming the first female to hold the position. Scholars also listen to a short...

Exhaustive web site from Georgetown University that contains a large number of resources for researching U.S. Supreme Court nominations. The nomination and confirmation process, biographies and bibliographical information are...

How do Supreme Court justices determine which cases to consider? What happens when the Supreme Court decides not to take a case?  The lesson explores important questions and others in the field of criminology. It focuses on the...

People often hear the words precedent and Supreme Court together, but why? A resource on the Supreme Court includes a variety of discussion questions, handouts that guide young historians, a video about Nixon and the court system, and...

A social justice lesson focuses on the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia which struck down laws that prohibited marriages between African Americans and white Americans. The lesson begins with class members examining a photograph of...