Weekly Online Lesson Online Lesson Archive Grade Level: 8-12 Subject: Government/Law

The U.S. Supreme Court

"Indecision 2000" continues this week as legal battles over the outcome of the 2000 Presidential election move to America's highest court. On Friday, November 24, the Supreme Court agreed to consider constitutional questions arising from a previous ruling by the Florida State Supreme Court, which forced Secretary of State Katherine Harris to accept manually recounted ballots after the state’s November 14 deadline. The case will be heard December 1.

GOP lawyers argue that Article II of the U.S. Constitution explicitly gives full power to a state’s Legislature — not its Supreme Court — over the appointment of presidential electors. Article II says: “Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of electors ... .”

In its order Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court asked lawyers to present arguments on that and on a related question: Did the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling devising election procedures after the election violate voters’ due-process rights? At issue is a federal law that requires election procedures to be resolved before Election Day.

In this week's online lesson you will learn more about the structure and role of the United States Supreme Court.

Structure of the U.S. Federal Courts

The Federal Judiciary refers to America's federal court system. Included in this branch of government are trial courts, appellate courts (courts of appeals), and the Supreme Court. Visit the web site of the Federal Judiciary and study the graphic of the structure of the United States Federal Courts. Are there any federal courts outside the judicial system?

Return to the main page and click Frequently Asked Questions. Click on each of the questions about Federal Judges and read each answer. What is the term for a Supreme Court justice? Who appoints them?

The Role of the Supreme Court

What is the role of the Supreme Court in relation to the other two branches of the federal government? Find out at the USCC+ Database site, The United States Supreme Court. This site is divided into six sections; click and read the first four:

I. The Court and Constitutional Interpretation. In terms of defending the Constitution of the United States, what power does the Supreme Court have? What kinds of cases does the Supreme Court hear?

II. The Court as an Institution. Where did the Supreme Court originally meet? How many Chief Justices have there been in the history of the court?

III. The Court and Its Traditions. Explain the symbols on the traditional seal of the Supreme Court. Why do all Justices shake hands at the beginning of the day?

IV. The Court and Its Procedures. On what day does a Term of the Supreme Court begin? Who announces the entrance of the Justices and what is said?

The Justices of the Supreme Court

It's time to learn more about the nine extraordinary men and women who serve as Justices of the Supreme Court. A good Web resource for this is the Oyez Project of Northwestern University. When the site opens click Justices, and then click the name of each Justice, listed by order of seniority. From there you can study the Appointment, Family, Education/Experience, and Biographical Sketch of each Justice. Who is the current Chief Justice and when was he appointed? Do his opinions suggest he is more conservative or liberal in his views?

While you are at the Oyez Project site, take a virtual tour of the U.S. Supreme Court Building (requires Quicktime 4.1). Along the tour you will view 360-degree panorama images of each part of the building.

Supreme Court Decisions

It's too early to tell how the Supreme Court Justices will rule on Florida's manual vote count, but you can search the Legal Information Institute's Supreme Court Collection to learn how the court has ruled on important issues in the past. Scroll down the list of topics and click any topic that interest you.

If you click Education, for example, you will see a list of cases and dates. One of the most important civil rights cases was Brown v. Board of Education, in which discrimination in public schools was ruled unconstitutional. Click the + symbol next to that case to see an expanded view and read the judgments.

Go back to the topics list and click Voting. What cases regarding voting have come before the Supreme Court in the past? What were the judgments?

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