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In the four years after the financial crisis struck in 2008, a great wave of federal stimulus money poured into Rutland County, Vermont. It helped pay for bridges, roads, preschool [...]

When it comes to affirmative action, Taqee Vernon, a junior at the University of Michigan and a leader of the Black Student Union, is a big supporter. For hundreds of [...]

James Bain spent 35 years in prison for rape. The key evidence at his trial in Florida in 1974 was a positive identification given by the victim during the kind [...]

Last summer, the website Wikileaks began releasing hundreds of thousands of confidential U.S. government documents it had obtained about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. By exposing government secrets, the [...]

Joe Sullivan was 13 when he was convicted of sexually assaulting a 72-year-old woman in Pensacola, Florida, in 1989. Having already committed a string of petty crimes, he was sentenced [...]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] PRESIDENTIAL POWER & NATIONAL SECURITY Since the nation's founding, the U.S. has debated how much power a President should have, and how to balance national security with individual […]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] CASE 1 CRIMINAL EVIDENCE EVIDENCE FOUND as a result of police error, such as an unjustified search during a traffic stop, is now admissable in some cases, the […]

BACKGROUND The U. S. is in the midst of a "national. reconsideration" of the death penalty, one expert says. Eight states have temporarily halted executions, and New Jersey is considering […]

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise there of; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right […]

The explosive youth movement of the 1960s was born in the civil rights era and blossomed into a full-blown counterculture on college campuses and at music festivals like Woodstock in […]

The front-page article that most interested President Richard M. Nixon when he picked up the Sunday New York Times on June 13,1971, concerned his daughter Tricia, who had been married […]

One night when she was just 15, Rebecca Falcon got drunk and made the decision that derailed her life. Now, she is serving a life sentence without parole at the […]

The Constitution is a brisk little document, a mere 8,000 words, including its 27 Amendments. You can read it in half an hour, and some of its language flows like […]

Last August, Robert Acuna, a high school student from Baytown, Tex., became the newest teenager on death row. Acuna was convicted of killing two elderly neighbors, James and Joyce Carroll, […]

Using tear gas, nightsticks, and whips, Alabama state troopers tore into a crowd of hundreds of black marchers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on March 7, 1965. […]

TEACHING OBJECTIVES To help students understand how the jury system works and why juries are increasingly the subject of public and media scrutiny. ROLE-PLAY: Tell students to assume that they […]

Linda Brown, 7, was all set to enter the third grade in September 1950. But when her father, Oliver, brought her to register at the Sumner School, seven blocks from […]

[ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Eighty years ago, two Italian immigrants were put to death in Massachusetts for a robbery and double murder. Though capital punishment was commonplace at the time and usually […]

The Constitution, John Adams once said, was the result of "the greatest single effort of national deliberation that the world has ever seen." Indeed, it created a wonderfully calibrated structure […]

The Pakistani Army not long ago gave tribal elders near the Afghan border a choice: Either turn over 72 men wanted for sheltering Al Qaeda members, or soldiers would demolish […]

The article discusses several U.S. supreme court cases. Topics discussed include "Department of Homeland Security v. Regents of the State of California" on whether young undocumented immigrants be subject to deportation, "Ramos v . Louisiana" on Louisiana boat worker Evangelista Ramos who was accused of killing a woman in New Orleans, and "Bostock v. Clayton County" on Gerald Bostock employee of Clayton County who lost his job because of being gay.

On Aug. 6, 1965, some of the nation's most important civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr., gathered in the Capitol Rotunda to watch President Lyndon B. Johnson sign [...]

You can find ads for just about anything on Craigslist, an enormous online forum where people post classifieds for everything from garage sales and concert tickets, to job openings and […]

The article presents questions and answers related to the U.S. Supreme Court nomination of Judge Neil M. Gorsuch, including questions about Gorsuch's background, what the Democrat and Republican lawmakers are fighting about, and the number of votes needed to confirm Gorsuch's appointment.

The article assesses possible changes in the U.S. under the presidency of Donald Trump. Topics discussed include the use of Twitter as presidential communication, the role of the U.S. as world leader and international policeman and illegal and Muslim immigration. It also discusses issues such as the economy, climate change and Supreme Court vacancies.

Twelve Angry Men, a play that's performed in hundreds of high schools across the country, might have been much shorter had it been set in Oregon. instead of letting Juror [...]

The article looks at the issue on how the U.S. Supreme Court implement the 225-year old U.S. Constitution to the digital world. It states that the Supreme Court is trying to balance the antique values of the U.S. constitution with the current technology. It notes that they understand that digital information is different than paper, cabinets, and lockboxes. It mentions that the highest court in the European Union (EU) is also tacking the digital issues.

The article focuses on court case that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case between the Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. Topics include considered that urging the justices to hear the case, school district said administrators around the nation need a definitive ruling from the Supreme Court on and their power to discipline students for what they say away from school.

The article reports the ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court stating that mandatory life sentences without parole for juvenile prisoners are unconstitutional as it violates the Eight Amendment. The author states the initiative presents a change in the juvenile justice. The decision was based on the decrease in crimes committed by young people, a study on the adolescent brain development, and the opinion of juvenile court judges with the sentencing.

The article discusses the pending court case Fisher v. University of Texas which deals with denying admission to the University because of race. It looks at the opinion of several people on the effects of barring affirmative action in college admissions. It cites the case Grutter v. Bollinger where the court ruled that public universities could take race into account in order to ensure diversity. It also looks at the changes that took place in the Supreme Court which may affect its decision. INSETS: 3 KEY AFFIRMATIVE ACTION SUPREME COURT CASES;Also on the Docket….

The article discusses the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution which continue to incite debate 220 years after ratification. It believes that the Bill of Rights serves as one of the foundations of American democracy and an inspiration to many around the world. It notes that Americans are still debating about how the Supreme Court should interpret the document in the modern world. It cites controversial issues like government surveillance and technology, and terrorism suspects' rights.

The article discusses issues on the right to bear arms in the U.S. under the Second Amendment of the Constitution. Particular focus is given to the Supreme Court case McDonald versus Chicago, which challenges the ban of the possession of handguns in Chicago, Illinois. The issue of whether the Bill of Rights applies only to the federal government and not to the states is tackled. Some states have slackened their gun laws amid concerns that the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama will tighten gun restrictions.

The article explores whether imprisoning juvenile offenders for life constitute cruel and unusual punishment, which is prohibited by the U.S. Constitution. Two teenage offenders, Joe Sullivan and Terrance Graham, now both adults, have asked the Supreme Court to decide whether their sentences violate the Constitution's Eight Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishments. A ruling will be rendered this spring while the debate on the ethics of imprisoning for life these juveniles are valid. INSET: TEEN RIGHTS: WHAT THE SUPREME COURT HAS SAID.

The article offers a look at some key constitutional issues that the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to consider in fall 2009. These include the release of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba as President Barack Obama promised its closure by January 2010, race-conscious decisions in cases about education, employment and voting, and same-sex marriage. Other issues deal with teenagers' rights, gun rights and death penalty.

This article discusses three critical and current issues that need to be addressed by the U.S. Supreme Court. These issues are criminal evidence, voting rights and presidential authority. The Court is considering whether a measure designed to protect against discrimination at the polls is still relevant in a case that seeks to end a central provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The article discusses a court case wherein the plaintiff challenges the decision of a lower federal court in the District of Columbia against the plaintiff's petition to be allowed to bear arms, citing the Second Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to finally interpret the law which was never directly interpreted in the past. According to the article, the decision of the Supreme Court will be deemed as the most significant ruling regarding the constitutionality of gun control.

The article offers an overview of Supreme Court interpretations of the First Amendment rights. The First Amendment consists of 45 words that refer to religious liberty, free speech, free press and the right to hold protests and complain to the government. Several issues like burning of the U.S. flag, prohibition of religious bias and press censorship are discussed.

The article focuses on the life imprisonment of young offenders in the U.S. The crimes committed by the teenagers and the causes for such actions are cited. The prevalence of teenagers serving life imprisonment is given. The criminal cases of Rebecca Falcon and Timothy Kane are mentioned.

Discusses the conflict over the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution. Stance of the originalists on the constitution; Authority of the judges to strike down laws passed by elected representatives in Congress; Debate over the right to privacy.

Focuses on the public and media scrutiny of the work of U.S. juries. Historical background of the U.S. jury system; Debate over the privacy of jurors; Statistics on U.S. citizens who serve as jurors every year.

Examines the implications for the relationship between church and state of a lawsuit filed by college student Joshua Davey against Washington State, when he lost his state scholarship because he majored in theology. Background on the U.S. Supreme Court case Locke versus Davey; Ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court; Reference to previous decisions made by the U.S. Supreme Court. INSET: Also on the Court's Docket . . ..

The article discusses the U.S. Supreme Court case E.E.O.C. v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores wherein a female job applicant was allegedly discriminated against because of her Muslim veil. Under the First Amendment to the Constitution, U.S. citizens have the right to practice their religion freely. Employers must make a reasonable accommodations to the religious beliefs of an employee under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

The article informs that a massive political battle has started in the U.S. to select successor of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia after his unexpected death. Topics discussed include impact of the new selected judge on critical cases being considered now by the Court involving voting rights, affirmative action, and immigration; accomplishements of Scalia as a judge and issues related to the appointment of the next judge.

The article talks about the issue of same-sex marriage in the U.S. It highlights the 17 U.S. states that have legalized same-sex marriage including Illinois, Massachusetts, and Vermont. It discusses constitutional right to same-sex marriage, tax breaks and healthcare benefits for legally married same-sex couples, and opponents and proponents of gay marriage. It also mentions the acceptance of gay characters in popular culture and the role played by media in helping further social change.

The article discusses three U.S. Supreme Court cases which could have important implications to American life. The Supreme Court will start a new term on October 7, 2013. The case Town of Greece v. Galloway focuses on freedom of religion. The case McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission challenges the overall cap on campaign finance. In Schuette v. Coalition to Defend Affirmative Action, the Court will decide on affirmative action on higher education.

The article discusses the wrongful convictions brought about by eyewitness testimonies and the use of the DNA technology to prove the reliability of the testimony. According to studies, there is a risk in basing a conviction on a witness's identification of a stranger. Reportedly, wrongful convictions are caused by false identifications of criminal suspects. The U.S. Supreme Court is set to consider in November 2011 about eyewitness evidence in the case of Perry v. New Hampshire.

The article announces the upcoming retirement of Justice John Paul Stevens, the oldest and longest-serving member of the U.S. Supreme Court as of May 10, 2010. The author states that Justice Steven's retirement is an opportunity for U.S. President Barack Obama to form the supreme court. It mentions the possibility that this would not be Obama's last chance to make a Supreme Court appointment because there are four other justices who are over 70 years of age.

This article focuses on the use of Blackberry and iPhone smartphones by jurors in the U.S. It is noted that jurors cannot seek information about a case on their own inside or outside the courtroom. They must reach a verdict based on only the facts the judge has decided are admissible. But now, using their smartphones, they can search anything on the Web, violating the legal system's complex rules of evidence.

The article discusses whether voters in the U.S. will be required to provide a photo identification card when going to the polls, which will be decided by the Supreme Court in June 2008. The Republicans say the ruling will prevent voter fraud while the Democrats say that such a requirement is disadvantageous to the poor, the minority and senior citizens, who often do not have any photo ID. A lawyer for the Democrats, Paul M. Smith says that he does not remember any fraudulent voter punished.

The article reports that Oslo, Norway is running out of household trash and industrial waste to burn to generate heat and electricity for the city and most of its schools, with the country importing trash to meet the demand.