This article emphasizes the following points concerning policies of the Detroit Board of Education: (1) conflicts over religion and education have been part of politics since 1842; (2) these conflicts were political rather than consitutional; and (3) until 1948 decisions regarding religion were based on "institutional" considerations…

Current debates about the Constitution fall into the three following categories: (1) reappraisals of consitutional origins; (2) disagreements on hermeneutical principles used in contemporary applications; and (3) discussions of contemporary events whose consequences for law and political stability could not have been foreseen by the Constitution's…

Discusses the history of the following movements' attitudes towards the Constitution: (1) abolition; (2) feminism; (3) trade unions; (4) socialism and communism; and (5) civil rights and anti-war. Maintains that the tensions in these movements' towards the Constitution represent basic contradictions in the document itself. (PS)

Presents a lesson in multiple parts designed to explain the importance of standardized weights and measures and to demonstrate how governmental activities have changed standards and influenced commerce. (JDH)

Contains three essays on civic responsibility and the two-year college's role in civic education. Includes "Warren Burger and the Power of the Constitution," an interview with Burger by Dale Parnell; "Educating for Citizenship," by Herbert M. Atherton; and "Sustaining the Nation's Commitment to Civic Responsibility,"…

A federal judge has ruled that the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) program of mandatory, random drug tests of athletes is constitutionally sound and that the NCAA does not act as a state agent. A University of Washington runner involved in the litigation will appeal the decision. (MSE)

This article offers a class activity on separation of powers and checks and balances within the U.S. government. Based on Franklin Delano Roosevelt's attempt to push through legislation for the New Deal of the 1930s by "packing" the U.S. Supreme Court, the activity includes worksheets and teaching suggestions. (JDH)

Reviews the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of the Hazelwood School District (Missouri) versus Cathy Kuhlmeier, where the Court heard arguments on whether a school-sponsored student publication is protected under the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution. Includes related cases, teaching procedures, and selected resources. (JDH)

Reviews the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case of the Hazelwood School District (Missouri) versus Cathy Kuhlmeier. Offers quotes from the majority and minority opinions. (JDH)

Interprets the Hazelwood School District (Missouri) censorship case. Contends that, because classrooms are places where ideas and expressions are presented to be studied and challenged, special limitations on the free speech rights of students are misplaced. Advocates a differentiated standard for free speech in schools, a standard that is fully…

Analyzes political indoctrination of children from a legal point of view and discusses four models of child-parent state relationship. Argues for a compromise interpretation of the Constitution; which would prohibit public schools, as agents of government, from indoctrinating children, while setting no limits on parents. (NH)

The arguments in favor of and against monetary redress for survivors of America's wartime internment camps are presented. Pro-redress arguments emphasize the injustices done the victims. Anti-redress arguments focus on the duties for citizenship and the reasonable actions politicians might have concluded were necessary to win the war. (PS)

In New Jersey vs. T.L.O. (1985) the Supreme Court clarified and limited the student's Fourth Amendment rights against "unreasonable searches and seizures." When school officials act alone and on their own authority, they need not obtain a warrant but may conduct a search based on the lesser standard of "reasonableness." (LHW)

Offers a collection of activity ideas for teaching elementary-level children about the concept of power. Strategies include role playing, discussion, and use of children's literature. (JDH)

Describes strategies such as discussion and role playing for teaching children about liberty (freedom) and related concept of responsibility. The strategies are suitable for grades K through 6 and are taken from the Kansas law-related education curriculum guide "Life/Liberty/Law." (JDH)