Day 1 (Sem II) - Beyond the Constitution

Civil Liberties and Civil Rights

Learning Targets:  Students will be able to....

• Explain how the U.S. Constitution protects individual liberties and rights.
• Describe the rights protected in the Bill of Rights.
• Explain the extent to which the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the First and Second Amendments reflects a commitment to individual liberty.

Through the U.S. Constitution, but primarily through the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment, citizens and groups have attempted to limit national and state governments to prevent them from infringing upon individual rights and from denying equal protection under the law. 

However, it has sometimes been argued that these legal protections have been used to slow reforms and restrict freedoms of others in the name of social order.

Opener:  Which of the following scenarios would be a violation of a student's civil liberties?  Which right, or amendment, does this scenario potentially violate?

1.  A student is told that their views regarding evolution are offensive and they must choose a different topic for a science project.
2.  A teacher forbids a student from leading a prayer group during passing period in the hallway.
3.  Student journalists are suspended for publishing personal, sensitive details about other students in the school newspaper.
4. Protesting a new policy requiring student uniforms, a group of students are forcibly removed from a school board meeting.
5. All students who wish to obtain a parking pass must first sign a contract that consents to a search of their vehicles at any time.
6. A new policy allows teachers to suspend students "on the spot" for up to 3 days.
7. School resource officers question a student about "hacking" into the district server.
8. A student is suspended for 10 days for stealing from the cafeteria, while another student is suspended later in the year for 1 day for the same crime.

Activity #1 - N-50 - Civil Liberty

LD - Individual rights and protections that protect citizens from unjust government actions or laws that would limit freedoms.

SD - 

Examples - Speech, privacy, safety, press, assembly

Non-Examples - Protections from other private citizens, government benefits

Related Terms - Bill of Rights, Limited Government, Civil Rights

Activity #2 - Use OSAM to analyze the cartoon below:

Close:  CPE Project

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18NnqsSptwaTuF2MyshwSaqRMj3yx-qhlrFN-CSACmw0/edit?usp=sharing