A court in transition: with the death of Chief Justice William Rehnquist and Sandra Day O'Connor's pending retirement, the Supreme Court is about to enter a new era.

• Author: Zack, Ian

LESSON PLAN 2: NATIONAL

SUPREME COURT IN TRANSITION

BACKGROUND

The Supreme Court can and does affect young people. Two examples: Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, outlawing public-school. segregation; and the 1984 case, Grove City College v. Bell, upholding the constitutionality of Title IX, the law that prohibits gender-based discrimination in schools that receive federal funding.

CRITICAL THINKING/DEBATE

* Remind students that Justices may serve for life. Supporters of this system say it insulates Justices from political pressures because no one can remove them from their jobs in retaliation for their rulings. Opponents say Justices can be out of step with the times after 30 or more years on the bench, long after the President who appointed them is gone.

* Ask students to argue either side.

WRITING PROMPT

* Ask students to pretend they are U.S. Senators sitting on the Judiciary Committee, which questions nominees and votes on them before the full Senate considers the nomination.

* Assign students to write five questions they would ask the nominee. Have them explain why they asked these questions.

DISCUSSION QUESTION

* Political scientists and others who study the Supreme Court say Justices sometimes make decisions that seem out of step with their basic conservative or liberal leanings. Sandra Day O'Connor is one example. Former Chief Justice Earl Warren was another. What might account for this?

* (Experts say that once judges become Justices of the Supreme Court, they often take a broader perspective of key constitutional issues than they did before joining the Court.)

FAST FACTS

* The Chief Justice's title is Chief Justice of the United States, not of the Supreme Court.

* A 1789 Act of Congress required Supreme Court Justices to preside twice a year over circuit courts scattered throughout the country. At the time, this meant long trips in rickety stagecoaches over bumpy roads. Often, Justices arrived at their destinations too late or too sick to conduct a session. The long rides were not abandoned until 1891.

WEB WATCH

www.uscourts.gov/supreme court.html. This U.S. government site provides links to other sites with Court facts and historical information.

By the first week of October, Sandra Day O'Connor had hoped to be enjoying her retirement, spending more time with her husband at their homes in Washington and Phoenix. And John G. Roberts Jr. had hoped to have replaced O'Connor as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court, after his...