Day 36 - Activism and Restraint
"Don't judge judges, unless you know the law and understand why they make the decisions that they do" - Antonin Scalia

Learning Targets:  Students will be able to....

• Explain the principle of judicial review and how it checks the power of other institutions and state governments.
• Explain how the exercise of judicial review in conjunction with life tenure can lead to debate about the legitimacy of the Supreme Court’s power.
• Explain how other branches in the government can limit the Supreme Court’s power. 

Opener:  

Under what conditions should a defendant be granted an appeal?  What is a writ of certiorari?  

Activity #1:  Judicial Mini-Lecture Part 2 (slides 12-15) and PERP introduction

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1p4pTZVd4ftvV32RHw-Yi0w8PEKT_vUnfk0yaC5XAip0/edit?usp=sharing

Problem - What is the legal question or problem?

Events - What are the facts of the case? What happened?

Ruling (holding) - What did the court decide?

Precedent - What is the new rule or test for lower courts? How did the nation respond?

Activity #2:  Judicial 1-Pager

Activity #3:  N-50 - Judicial Activism

LD - The practice of the Supreme Court and other federal judges seeking certain types of cases in order to (re)interpret the texts of the Constitution and the laws in a way that serves the judges' own visions regarding the needs of contemporary society.  

This is the opposite of "Judicial Restraint", where judges hear cases and issues judgements only within the intentions and limitations of the US Constitution.

SD-

Examples - Roe v. Wade, Brown v. Board of Education

Non-Examples - Korematsu v US, Plessy v. Ferguson

Related Terms - Judicial Review, Checks and Balances, Limited Government

Close: