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Grade Level: 7-12
Subject: Social Studies
Lesson for October 19, 2009

Constitutional Rights

To vaccinate or not vaccinate? Citizen rights vs. public safety concerns.As the H1N1 virus spreads, so the debate heats up over whether or not to get vaccinated against it. Fuel for the debate is rooted in both history and modern times. In the 1970s, a vaccine for a strain of "swine flu" was distributed, which some claim resulted in severe side effects. In response, lawsuits were filed against the companies who had produced the vaccine. In 2009, some people are concerned about the possible risks of the H1N1 vaccines. Meanwhile, the vaccine makers are getting legal protection from the government to shield them from potential lawsuits. Between worrying about possible side effects and knowing compensation for side effects would be unlikely, many people are reluctant to be vaccinated.

For most adults, answering the vaccination question is personal. In New York, however, hundreds of thousands of health care workers are being directed to get vaccinated or risk losing their jobs. Some workers believe such forced vaccinations violate their constitutional rights. The state says health risks from being vaccinated are small, and that public safety is a greater concern.

How does the need to protect public safety weigh against protecting personal rights in the United States? The answer lies in the Bill of Rights and also in court decisions about the extent and the limits of those rights. When the U.S. Constitution was adopted, citizen protections were not addressed. Fortunately, the Bill of Rights was added in 1789, which included the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. These amendments safeguard the rights of free speech, religion, and the press, protect private property, and provide other protections.

In this lesson, you will dig into the Bill of Rights and learn how the courts have helped to define those rights over the years. You will also run your own law firm, matching rights violation cases to the right attorneys. Before you start, get 27 blank index cards and one or more pens or markers, which you will use to create a set of Amendment Cards.

Review the Bill of Rights

The Bill of Rights was adpoted in 1791.Begin your exploration with the National Constitution Center's Interactive Constitution. Here, you will focus specifically on the U.S. Constitution's amendments, which make up what is referred to as the Bill of Rights. Using the image button navigation near the top of the page, click the right arrow to move through the list of sections until you can click to view Amendment 1. Click the image button to review this amendment.

On one side of an index card write the number "1" and circle it. Then, copy the amendment text. Use the other side of the card to dissect key points about the amendment. To do that, click the first part of the amendment text, "Congress shall make no law", and copy that piece at the top of your index card. Read the explanation displayed in the bottom half of the screen. Write one sentence, below where you copied that piece of text, which summarizes what you learned in the explanation. Continue to dissect and summarize the rest of Amendment 1 on the card.

When you have completed Amendment 1, Proceed to Amendment 2. Prepare another index card, writing "2" and circling it on one side. Copy the amendment text, and then summarize its parts on the opposite side of the card.

Repeat this exercise for Amendment 3 through Amendment 27 until you have numbered, copied, dissected, and summarized all 27 amendments on your index cards. Note that for a few of the amendments, you may need extra index cards.

Lawyers must not only know basic laws but also research previous cases that support their arguments.Also, while you review these, you can read about some of the Viewpoints and Supreme Court Updates, for those amendments where those tabs are available.

When you are done, test your knowledge by Saving the Bill of Rights. Use your Amendment Cards as a reference, as needed.

Apply the Bill of Rights

Your next assignment is to Play Games at the Our Courts website. Specifically, you will play a young attorney in Do I Have a Right? As your law firm's leader, you will meet each potential client and decide if one of his or her constitutional rights has been violated. Then, you will need to figure out if an attorney's skills are a good match for taking the case to court. As your attorneys win cases, you will gain prestige points. You can use these to grow your law firm by hiring more lawyers, improving your waiting area, or purchasing newspaper ads.

This is a fast-paced game, so you may want to keep your Amendment Cards handy for reference to help you match attorney skills with client needs.

After your gaming session, choose three Amendment Cards that you think are the most important. In a circle with your classmates (either as an entire class or in a smaller group), share which amendments you selected and explain your reasons for picking them.

Newspaper Activities

Using current issues of the e-edition, find a news article that features an example of a possible rights violation. However, do not use an example in which a court has already rendered a decision. Imagine that you are still playing the role as a young attorney and review your Amendment Cards. Does the person (or people) involved have a right? If so, then choose the person or group of people to represent as their lawyer. To prepare your case, revisit the National Constitution Center's Interactive Constitution. During this visit, you will research the rights violation to find previous court cases that support your client's case. Use the search tools to either search the Constitution by topic or search by entering a keyword or phrase. For example, if following the H1N1 compulsory vaccination story, then you could type in "medical" as a keyword. The results should provide you a good starting point for the next step in your research—that is, references to relevant court cases. Use these references to dig deeper into what the courts decided related to one or more constitutional amendments. Using your research and Amendment Cards, write a persuasive essay that argues in favor of your client's right. Make sure to describe the rights violation and cite one or more specific court cases that support your argument.
