Sunday, April 8, 2012

Case Study: Due Process & Equal Protection Clause

BIG IDEA:
In order to understand the due process clause of the 5th Amendment and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment, it is helpful to analyze prior court cases. We already covered in the first challenge cases such as Texas vs. Hernandez (1954), Brown v. Board of Education (1954), and Lawrence v. Texas (2003).  We are going to examine additional cases.   

DIRECTIONS:
A. Determine the cases you are responsible for as a group.

1                                  Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000), Nguyen v. INS (2001)
2                                  Lau v. Nicholas (1974), Kadrmas v. Dickinson public school (1988)
3                                  Olmstead v. L.C. (1999), Bragdon v. Abbott (1998)
4                                  Regents  of the University of CA v. Bakke (1978), Grutter v Bollinger (2003)
5                                  Craig v Boren (1976), Loving v. Virgina (1967)
6                                  UAW v. Johnson Controls (1991), Saenz v. Roe (1999)
7                                  Romer vs Evans (1996), Plyer v. Doe (1982)

 B. Review of Facts: The facts of the case serve as the basis for classroom discussion. Therefore, the inquiry process should start by carefully reviewing and clarifying all of the facts. Use Google to find information about the court case. Answer the following questions:

1. Describe each of the three tiers of the equal protection clause and both types of due process?                           
2. What happened in this case? Who are the parties?



3. What facts are important? Is there information missing?
4. Why did the people involved act the way they did?

C. Frame the Issue: An issue should be posed in the form of a question. While most cases revolve around a legal issue, you should also consider issues of public policy, values in conflict, and practical reality. For example, a case study involving abortion might involve the following issues:
Legal: Is abortion legal? If so, under what circumstances?
Public Policy: Should abortion be legal? Why or why not?
Values in Conflict:  Which value is more important, a woman's right to privacy or an unborn child's right to life Why?

Practical: What are the options open to someone faced with an unwanted pregnancy?

5.  What is the issue (or issues) the Court is deciding?

 
D. Discuss the Arguments: Once you have focused on the issues, develop and discuss the arguments that can be made for and against each of the various points of view. When discussing the arguments, students consider questions such as the following:

6. What are the arguments in favor of and against each point of view?
7. What might be the consequences of each course of action? To the parties? To society?
8.  What decision did the Court make?  By what vote? 
9.  What was their reasoning for the decision?  If there was a dissent opinion, what was their reasoning?   


E. Reach a Decision: A decision is the answer to the issue or issues posed by the case.

10. Do you agree or disagree with the majority opinion?  Why or why not?

F. Share out Poster

Poster should include
·       Catchy headline that frames the issue
·       visuals to symbolize (interpretive level) the case study (A-E)

Share out should include
·       Case Summary
·       Majority decision and minority decisions with reasoning
·       Agree or Disagree and why

*One side is for one case the other side is for the other case.

ROLES:
·       Facilitator:  Check for understanding regarding the 10 questions and make sure the group can answer questions regarding the case
·       Harmonizer:  Get group consensus on questions #5, 8, 9, and 10
·       Resource:  Get group to focus in on equal protection and/or due process when discussing the case
·       Reporter:  Organize the group to do poster and prepare to share out

RULE OF THREE:
For Preparation
·       Playing the roles properly
·       Answering the 10 questions in your notebook
·       Preparing the poster
For Share-Out
·       Case Summary
·       Majority decision and minority decisions with reasoning
·       Agree or Disagree and why

QUESTIONS:  Facilitator can ask.





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