Wednesday, April 4 th

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Audra Armstrong
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1 Wednesday, April 4 th Citizenship Project is due at the START labs April 5 th or 6 th Deadline for students to review gradebook assignment scores posted is April 11 th NO adjustments will be made after that date. Student Ratings need to be done by Friday, April 13 th Please take the time to complete. It is very helpful to get the students input. Final Exam will be in the testing center April 14 th ; 16 th -18 th (full days) Please note that the exam is NOT offered on the last day of finals! Also, there are NO exceptions if a student misses the exam!

2 The World isn t Fair, Randy Newman, 1999 When Karl Marx was a boy he took a hard look around He saw people were starving all over the place while others were painting the town The public spirited boy became a public spirited man So he worked very hard and he read everything until he came up with a plan There'll be no exploitation of the worker or his kin No discrimination 'cause of the color of your skin No more private property It would not be allowed No one could rise too high No one could sink too low or go under completely like some we all know If Marx were living today he'd be rolling around in his grave And if I had him here in my mansion on the hill I'd tell him a story t'would give his old heart a chill It's something that happened to me I'd say, Karl I recently stumbled into a new family with two little children in school where all little children should be I went to the orientation All the young mommies were there Karl, you never have seen such a glorious sight as these beautiful women arrayed for the night just like countesses, empresses, movie stars and queens And they'd come there with men much like me Froggish men, unpleasant to see Were you to kiss one, Karl Nary a prince would there be Oh Karl the world isn't fair It isn't and never will be They tried out your plan It brought misery instead If you'd seen how they worked it you'd be glad you were dead Just like I'm glad I'm living in the land of the free where the rich just get richer and the poor you don't ever have to see It would depress us, Karl Because we care that the world still isn't fair

3 The Search for Justice Part II

4 The Role of the Supreme Court in American Society Brown v Board of Education, 1954

5 iclicker quiz: When is it acceptable for the Supreme Court to overrule the majority, as expressed in law? A) Never B) When laws violate natural law principles C) When laws lag behind social change

6 Majority Rule Con The greatest danger [to liberty is] not found in either the executive or legislative departments of government, but in the body of the people, operating by the majority against the minority. James Madison Pro The rule of a minority, as a permanent arrangement, is wholly inadmissible; so that, rejecting the majority principle, anarchy or despotism in some form is all that is left. Abraham Lincoln

7 Approaches to Constitutional Interpretation Conservative Strict (narrow) construction Judicial restraint Original intent Deference to majority rule Liberal Loose (broad) construction Judicial legislation (judicial activism) The living Constitution

8 Judicial Restraint Respecting the rights of majorities to make decisions they feel best for a changing society. Hence, the Court should be restrained in overruling majority decisions that are not flagrant violations of the Constitution.

9 Judicial Legislation (Judicial Activism) Using the court to create social change, often ahead of public opinion, based on evolving ideas of moral rightness.

10 Other Judicial Controversies Abortion Affirmative Action

11 iclicker quiz: Do you agree that Affirmative Action will no longer be necessary 25 years from now? A) Yes B) No

12 Current Supreme Court Case Health Care Reform

13 The Politicization of the Supreme Court The Bork Nomination, 1987 Using the Filibuster

14 If the Supreme Court has become politicized, should we just elect justices?

15 Protecting Inalienable Rights The very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy, to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials and to establish them as legal principles to be applied by the courts. One s right to life, liberty, and property, to free speech, a free press, freedom of worship and assembly and other fundamental rights may not be submitted to vote. They depend on the outcome of no elections. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, 1943

16 Preserving the Voice of the People A majority held in restraint by constitutional checks and limitations, and always changing easily with deliberate changes of popular opinions and sentiments, is the only true sovereign of a free people.... I do not forget the position assumed by some that constitutional questions are to be decided by the Supreme Court.... At the same time, the candid citizen must confess that if the policy of the Government... is to be irrevocably fixed by decisions of the Supreme Court... the people will have ceased to be their own rulers, having to that extent practically resigned their Government into the hands of that eminent tribunal. Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address

The 1960 s: Conclusion

The 1960 s: Conclusion Elected twice Richard Nixon 1968 when Johnson decides not to run 1972 by a landslide (first election in which 18-yearolds could vote) Opened diplomatic relations with China Initiated