Offers a learning activity in which secondary students are given background on Supreme Court jurisdiction. Students are then presented with various situations in which they must decide "if the court would hear the case" or not. (BSR)

Explains that in the 1780s the main political issue in the United States was a solution to problems which would make possible the creation of a great continental power and provide for the settlement and legal organization of the lands west of the Appalachians. Elaborates by explaining the ordinances of the 1780s which brought about this change.…

Section 15 of the 1982 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guaranteed equality to Canadians by April 17, 1985. This study was designed to investigate preparation during the three-year deferral period by federal and provincial/territorial governments to harmonize legislation in the area of education with the Charter's guarantees. (MT)

Examines the work of the framers of the U.S. Constitution in their efforts to improve upon the Articles of Confederation and yet limit the power of unbridled government. (JDH)

Describes a lesson which relates the U.S. Constitution and state and federal actions to the everyday lives of high school students. Students use a time line of a person's life events in order to identify the points at which the state or federal government intervenes. The authority for this intervention is then sought in the U.S. Constitution. (JDH)

Examples in which federal legislation appears to have stepped beyond constitutional bounds in seeking to affect integral governmental functions and operations of the states. (Author/MLF)

The concept of a "government of laws and not of men," representing the philosophy called legal positivism, is developed historically as it might be presented to a secondary school class. Some of the practical benefits from the teaching of the philosophy of law are also discussed. (JH)

In 1970, the Legislative Reorganization Act authorized the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to open their committee meetings to both radio and television. Three factors increased interest in implementing media coverage of such meetings: feasibility of televised coverage, public cynicism and hostility generated by misinformation and…

Gives an overview of the university (especially its admission system) in both the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States and analyzes how their legislative constitutions are applied to key problems of access to higher education. Discusses some starting points for promising investigations into comparative (constitutional) law. (Editor/RK)

Presents a lesson that focuses on the development of federal powers in relation to state powers using the federally-imposed 55 m.p.h. speed limit as a case study. The activities provide for class discussion, role playing, and a moot court simulation. (BSR)

Argues for a substantial neutrality test to replace the absolute separation form of the tripartite test in construing and applying the establishment clause of the First Amendment. Available from Harvard Society for Law and Public Policy, Inc., Langdell Hall, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA 02138; $4.00 per issue. (Author/IRT)

The author argues that attention to the question of who should decide an intergovernmental immunity issue--the states, the federal courts, the federal executive, or Congress--illuminates the law of eleventh amendment immunities and intergovernmental tax and regulatory immunities and supports all but a handful of the results courts have reached.…

This paper argues that in recent years the number of aliens being denied nonimmigrant visas to the United States because of their liberal political views has increased. The roles of each of the branches of government in the procedure of denying visas are reviewed. The number of visa denials in the lower courts has risen dramatically since 1980,…

Minutes of a hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution are presented, beginning with opening statements from four United States senators (Hatch, Grassley, Thurmond, DeConcini) concerning the significance of the United States Constitution and its doctrine of the diffusion of powers. The core of the minutes includes the prepared…

This executive report describes the Commission's purpose, plans, and activities to commemorate the Bicentennial of the Constitution in 1987, emphasizing educational opportunities and the enlargement of public understanding and appreciation of the Constitution. The parts of the report include: the Commission (establishment, membership,…