• In 1824, the House elected John Quincy Adams as president, even though Andrew Jackson had received more of the popular vote and the electoral vote. No candidate received the 131 electoral votes required at the time, so the decision fell to the House - which elected Adams.

• In the 1876 presidential election between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden of New York, Tilden won the popular vote and the electoral count. But Republicans challenged the results in three Southern states, which submitted certificates of election for both candidates. While the Constitution requires the House and Senate to formally count the certificates of election in joint session, it is silent on what Congress should do to resolve disputes. In January 1877, Congress established the Federal Electoral Commission to investigate the disputed Electoral College ballots. The bipartisan commission, which included Representatives, Senators, and Supreme Court Justices, voted along party lines to award all the contested ballots to Hayes—securing the presidency for him by a single electoral vote.

So what does this mean for the 2016 election? If any third-party candidate - In 2016, Stein, Johnson, or McMillan - blocks the two nominees from the Republican and Democratic Parties - In 2016, Trump or Clinton - from receiving a majority of 270 votes (under the current 538-vote count) in the Electoral College, the 12th Amendment comes into play. In that case, the names of the top three candidates, as ranked by electoral votes, would be sent to the House of Representatives for a vote. Each state delegation gets one vote in the House, but that vote helps to determine who gets the White House. While this is not likely, it is possible.

1. To discover how the Bill of Rights has been applied over the past 200 years
2. To understand the most teachable points about the Bill of Rights and the Freedom Amendments
3. To help your students learn about their rights and responsibilities.

Discussion Goal #1: To understand the most teachable points about the Bill of Rights and the Freedom Amendments

The Bill of Rights was not a part of the original Constitution. In fact, it was drafted and passed a year after the Constitution was ratified. What was the problem? The northern delegates to the Constitution felt that there was no need to list - or enumerate - particular rights because it was implicit in the contract between the people and the new government that it would protect all the rights of the people. The southern delegates, however, did not trust the newly-created federal government to protect rights that the states had enacted, so it required built in protections for the states via the Bill of Rights. In fact, to them freedom of speech simply meant that state and federal legislators - not "we the people" - had the right to criticize the U.S. government. In reality, the Bill of Rights was originally written by the Founding Fathers to protect the states against the abuses of the federal government, NOT to secure rights for individual Americans.

While most Americans know nothing about this controversial origins of our Bill of Rights, they are even more ignorant about what our rights actually are. According to the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum poll in 2006,* only 28% of Americans were able to name more than one of the five fundamental freedoms guaranteed to them by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Further,

• 69% of Americans were able to name freedom of speech as a First Amendment right.
• 24% of Americans were able to name freedom of religion as a First Amendment Right.
• 11% of Americans were able to name freedom of press as a First Amendment Right.
• 10% of Americans were able to name freedom of assembly as a First Amendment Right.
• 1% of Americans were able to name freedom to petition for redress of grievances as a First Amendment Right.

In the same poll, only 8% of Americans were able to name at least three freedoms guaranteed under the First Amendment and .1 percent of Americans (1 in 1,000) were able to name all five freedoms guaranteed under the First Amendment. According to the First Amendment Center - which regularly conducts a poll asking the following question and finding the following results over a ten-year period.

Now, let's compare this knowledge with the cultural knowledge of Americans according to a First Amendment Center poll conducted in 2007.

• 52 percent of Americans can name at least two members of The Simpsons cartoon family.
• 22 percent of Americans can name all five of the fictional Simpsons family members - Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie.
• 41 percent of Americans can name two of the three American Idol judges and 25 percent could name all three.

* The random telephone survey of 1,000 American adults was conducted Jan. 20-22, 2006 by Synovate, an independent market research firm. The margin of error due to sampling for a sample of this size at the 95th percent confidence level is +/- 3 percentage points. )

So, armed with the information about how ignorant Americans are about their rights as guaranteed in the Constitution and our Bill of Rights, we as teachers in the making need to take our job seriously. How do we teach the Bill of Rights? While I am not going to tell you the answer, I am going to suggest that there are at least eight teachable points ...

Eight Teachable Points about the Bill of Rights

1. Bills of rights that emphasize respect for liberty and suspicion of government are an American tradition.
   • This was not the brainchild of the Anti-Federalists. Bills of rights were common practice in the colonies where each colonial government included one as either a preface to their constitution or as a separate document added to it.
   • The tradition was always to protect individual liberties and limit the power of government.
   • Of the 27 separate rights in the Bill of Rights, 6 (or about 20%) were contained in the Magna Carta and 21 (about 75%) were contained in colonial documents. All but the ninth amendment - "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people" - were found in several of the state constitutions written between 1776 and 1787 (before the Constitution was written.)
2. A significant number of the Founding Fathers originally opposed the Bill of Rights.
   • The Federalists, under the leadership of James Madison who wrote the Constitution, had four primary arguments for opposing it.
     • Federal guarantees of rights were not necessary in a constitutional republic founded upon popular sovereignty and inalienable natural rights.
     • A bill of rights would be impossible to enforce since its security depended upon public opinion.
     • The Constitution itself is a bill of rights, as are the state constitutions, thus making further efforts to secure rights redundant.
     • The Constitution did not need to protect the people from an excess of governmental authority because the people had the power. Instead, the Constitution needed to prevent one branch from swallowing another.
3. The Bill of Rights was the result of political debate and compromise.
   • The absence of a bill of rights in the Constitution was a major obstacle to its ratification. Some Anti-Federalists refused to sign it without a bill of rights, arguing that it was absolutely necessary "to secure the minority against the usurpation and tyranny of the majority."
   • Thus, in order to get the Constitution ratified, the Federalists agreed to support a bill of rights once the First Congress was assembled
   • The amendments were created by the anti-federalists to be certain that the new federal government would not infringe on the basic rights of the states first and foremost, and secondarily, the rights of individuals.
4. The Bill of Rights was designed to protect the minority against the majority.
   • It was an attempt to curb the potential for tyrannical and perverse policies emerging from the elected branches of government
   • In other words, the Anti-Federalist minority insisted on a bill of rights to protect them from the abuse of executive and legislative power.
5. The Bill of Rights originally did not apply to state and local authorities.
   • Only when the 14th Amendment was passed in 1868 after the Civil War with the "due process" clause, were the rights protected from abridgement by state and local authorities.
     
6. The final Bill of Rights did not contain all of the original amendments proposed by Madison.
   • 19 were originally proposed, 12 were approved by the House and Senate, and 10 were ratified by the states.
   • The "first Amendment" of the final Bill of Rights was originally proposed as three separate amendments numbered 15, 16 and 20. The proposed first amendment originally contained four Natural Rights: those of Life, Liberty, Possessing Property, and the Pursuit of Happiness.
   • Of the two most important amendments not approved, one would have made it possible for Congress to give itself a pay increase without facing the electorate first (which is now standard practice), and one that would have made the Bill of Rights applicable to the states.
   • Three States - Massachusetts, Connecticut and Georgia - did not ratify the Bill of Rights until 1939, 150 years later.
     
7. The enforcement of the Bill of Rights depends not on the federal government, but on the vigilance and education of all Americans.
   • If we don't know and understand the rights guaranteed in the Bill of Rights, we face the danger of losing them. The Bill of Rights fundamentally influences the daily quality of public and private life in America.
   • The freedoms given to us allow Americans to question and criticize elected officials without punishment, protect us against unexpected intrusions or invasions of our privacy, allow us to think, write, and speak freely.
     
8. The Bill of Rights was based upon "negative rights;" the quest for "positive rights" continues.
   • Political theorists call the Bill of Rights a series of negative rights - rights to be free from government interference and procedural rights concerned with legal action.
   • Positive rights are rights to assistance or entitlements of some kind - food, health care, housing, education, employment.
   • While these positive rights were foreign to the founding fathers, they form the basis of the contemporary debate about human and civil rights.

There are a total of 27 Amendments to the Constitution and the first ten are important for us to understand. While the others are extremely important, there are three that are incredibly important to teach - and to teach well.

Teachable Points about The Freedom Amendments - 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.Without the dedication of a small group of Radical Republicans, the so-called Freedom Amendments would never have happened.

Methods Discussion: Using your now expert understanding of the Think/Pair/Share method, take a minute to think about who the Radical Republicans were and what their goals were for the U.S. once the Civil War was over. Turn to your neighbor and take another minute to make sure you agree.

So, it was this small, but determined group of Congressmen who really pushed through these amendments.

• 13th Amendment – Passed by Congress in January 1865; ratified in December 1865.  Implemented and enforced immediately upon ratification (although Eric Foner would argue differently). In the waning days of the Civil War, Congress approved an amendment to abolish slavery in all of the United States. Once the Confederate States of America (CSA) was defeated, approval of the 13th Amendment was a requirement for readmittance into the United States. It never was ratified by all of the CSA states, with Mississippi being the lone hold-out.
  • Prohibited “slavery” and “involuntary servitude”(except those convicted of a crime) in the United States
• 14th Amendment – Passed by Congress in June 1866; ratified in July 1868.  Implemented and enforced by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.The ratification of the 13th Amendment was a major victory for the North where it was hoped that both the Emancipation Proclamation and the new amendment would quickly diminish the effects of slavery. However, as the Southern states began to pass a variety of Black Codes, it was clear that a new way of controlling ex-slaves, characterized by violence and cruelty, had been created.  Consequently, the Reconstruction Acts placed the former CSA states under military rule and prohibited their congressmen's readmittance to Congress until several steps had been taken, including the approval of the 14th Amendment which:
  • Defined blacks as citizens of the United States, thereby promising them full constitutional protection of their civil rights.
  • Prohibited states from depriving “any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” and guaranteed “to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”(Equal protection clause)
  • Required election of Representatives be apportioned according to the actual numbers of persons, “excluding Indians not taxed.”
  • Denied former Confederates the right to hold office.
• 15th Amendment – Passed by Congress Feb. 1869; ratified in March 1870.  Implemented and enforced by the Voting Rights Act of 1965.The last of the Reconstruction Amendments, the 15th Amendment was designed to close the last loophole in creating real civil rights for newly-freed black slaves.
  • Prohibited the denial of the vote because of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Methods Discussion: Working in Small Groups of 3-4, take 10 minutes to discuss what you believe to be the 2-3 most teachable points about the Freedom Amendments. Be sure that you have a clear rationale for each point.

Discussion Goal #2: To discover how the Bill of Rights has been applied over the past 200 years

Applying the Bill of Rights - A Selected Chronological Journey (Everything in red indicates a U.S. Supreme Court decision.)

1798 - Congress passed the Sedition Act to quiet Pro-French, anti-federalist dissenters who disapproved of a possible war between the U.S. and France.  The Act required criminal penalties for persons who said or published anything “false, scandalous, or malicious” against the federal government, Congress, or the president.  Twenty-five American citizens were arrested under the Act, including a Congressman convicted and imprisoned for calling President Adams a man who had “a continual grasp for  power.”  The Act expired in 1801 and President Jefferson pardoned those convicted under its powers.  (Read the Act at http://www.law.ou.edu/ushistory/sedact.shtml)

1833 - U.S. Supreme Court in Barron v. Baltimore decided that only the federal goverment was bound by the Bill of Rights. John Barron was co-owner of a profitable wharf in the harbor of Baltimore. As the city developed and expanded, large amounts of sand accumulated in the harbor, depriving Barron of the deep waters which had been the key to his successful business. He sued the city to recover a portion of his financial losses. The question on appeal to the court was does the Fifth Amendment deny the states as well as the national government the right to take private property for public use without justly compensating the property's owner? The Court's answer - announced without even hearing the arguments of the City of Baltimore - was no. Chief Justice Marshall found that the limitations on government articulated in the Fifth Amendment were specifically intended to limit the powers of the national government and were not applicable to the states. (Read the entire case at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=32&invol=243)

1861 - President Lincoln signed the “Writ of Habeas Corpus Relating to the Events in Baltimore” which suspended the constitutional guarantee giving prisoners the right to be brought to court to determine if they were being legally held as well as the right to challenge their detention through independent judicial review.  He then ordered military authorities to arrest and detain those in the northern and border states who aided the rebel cause, were believed to be Confederate spies, and who resisted the draft - and detained them until the war’s conclusion.  He also ordered that all arrested under this law could be tried and punished by military courts as regular courts were deemed to be inadequate during a rebellion and all those who opposed the Union endangered “the public safety.”  (Read the executive order at http://www.civilwarhome.com/Writ.htm)

1917 - Congress passed the Espionage Act that outlawed statements “obstructing the war effort” and “aiding the enemy;” forbade “false statements” designed to “obstruct” enlistment into the armed services and conspiracies designed to cause “disloyalty” or “insubordination;” and banned from the mail materials considered to be treasonable.  Those found guilty were subject to heavy fines and imprisonment of up to 20 years. (Read the Act at http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Civil_Liberties/Espionage_Act_1917.htm

1918 - Congress passed the Sedition Act which prohibited the utterance or publication of anything “disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive” about the U.S. government or the American flag.  Those found guilty could face up to a 21-year prison sentence. (For the full text, see http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Civil_Liberties/Sedition_Act_1918.htm

1919 - U.S. Supreme Court in Schenck v. United States upheld the Sedition Act. In 1918, Charles Schenck, general secretary of the American Socialist Party, was arrested and convicted for sending 15,000 anti-draft circulars through the mail to men scheduled to enter the military. The circular called the draft law a violation of the 13th Amendment's prohibition of slavery and urged draftees to "petition for repeal." The government accused Schenck of illegally interfering with military recruitment under the Espionage Act. Schenck admitted that he had sent the circulars, but argued he was exercising his 1st Amendment right to freedom of speech.  The Court ruled that freedom of speech could be limited by the government - but only when there was a "clear and present danger" such as during war.  Chief Justice Holmes wrote the opinion for the unanimous court, declaring that, “Free speech would not protect a man falsely shouting fire in a theater and causing panic.”  (Read the decision at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=249&invol=47

The U.S. Supreme Court in Abrams v. U.S.  reiterated the "clear and present danger" test in Schenck.  In 1918, Jacob Abrams and others were convicted of distributing pamphlets criticizing the Wilson administration for sending troops to Russia. While the government was unable to prove that the pamphlets actually hindered the operation of the military, a lower court judge found that they might have done so and, in turn, found Abrams and his co-defendants guilty. On appeal, seven members of the Supreme Court used Holmes's "clear and present danger" test from Schenck v to sustain the conviction.  Justices Holmes and Brandeis dissented in what soon became widely recognized as the starting point in modern judicial concern for free expression. (Read the decision at http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/abrams.html

1925 - U.S. Supreme Court in Gitlow v. New York was the first case to require the states to guarantee freedom of speech. Benjamin Gitlow, a socialist, was arrested for distributing copies of a "left-wing manifesto" that called for establishing socialism through strikes and class action of any form. Gitlow was convicted under a state criminal anarchy law, which punished advocating the overthrow of the government by force. At his trial, Gitlow argued the unconstitutionality of the New York courts' decisions that anyone who advocated the doctrine of violent revolution violated the law. The question before the court was does the New York law punishing the advocacy of overthrowing the government comprise an unconstitutional violation of the free speech clause of the First Amendment? The Court decided that the First Amendment applied to the states by virtue of the liberty protected by due process that no state shall deny (14th Amendment). (Read the decision at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=268&invol=652)

1931 - U.S. Supreme Court in Near v. Minnesotawas the first case to require to states to guarantee freedom of the press. Jay Near published a scandal sheet in Minneapolis, in which he charged that public officials were involved with gangsters. Minnesota officials obtained an injunction to prevent Near from publishing his newspaper under a state law that allowed such action against periodicals. The question before the Court was does the Minnesota "gag law" violate the free press provision of the First Amendment? The Court ruled that the Minnesota law targeting publishersof "malicious" or "scandalous" newspapers violated the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (as applied through the Fourteenth Amendment). (Read the decision at http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0283_0697_ZS.html)

1937 - U.S. Supreme Court in Palko v. Connecticut was the first case to ponder whether protection against double jeopardy applied to the states. In 1935, Frank Palko had been charged with first-degree murder but was convicted instead of second-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment. The state of Connecticut appealed and won a new trial; this time the court found Palko guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced him to death. The question before the court was does Palko's second conviction violate the protection against double jeopardy guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment because this protection applies to the states by virtue of the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause? The Supreme Court upheld Palko's second conviction, arguing that some Bill of Rights guarantees--such as freedom of thought and speech--are fundamental, and that the Fourteenth Amendment's due process clause absorbed these fundamental rights and applied them to the states. However, protection against double jeopardy was not a fundamental right. Palko died in Connecticut's electric chair on April 12, 1938. (Read the decision at http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0302_0319_ZO.html)

1947 - U.S. Supreme Court in Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Townshipwas the first case to require states to guarantee religious freedom. A New Jersey law parents to be reimbursed if they sent their children to school on buses operated by the public transportation system. Children who attended Catholic schools also qualified for this transportation subsidy. The question before the Court was did the New Jersey statute violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment as made applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment? A divided Court held that the law did not violate the Constitution, arguing that services like bussing and police and fire protection for parochial schools were "separate and so indisputably marked off from the religious function" that for the state to provide them would not violate the First Amendment.The law did not pay money to parochial schools, nor did it support them directly in anyway. It was simply a law enacted as a "general program" to assist parents of all religions with getting their children to school.

1961 - U.S. Supreme Court in Mapp v. Ohio was the first case to require states to uphold the exclusionary rule in cases search and seizure. Dolree Mapp was convicted of possessing obscene materials after an admittedly illegal police search of her home for a fugitive. She appealed her conviction on the basis of freedom of expression. The question before the Court was may evidence obtained through a search in violation of the Fourth Amendment be admitted in a state criminal proceeding? The Court declared that "all evidence obtained by searches and seizures in violation of the Constitution is, by [the Fourth Amendment], inadmissible in a state court." Mapp had been convicted on the basis of illegally obtained evidence. This was an historic -- and controversial -- decision. It placed the requirement of excluding illegally obtained evidence from court at all levels of the government. (Read the decision at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=367&invol=643)

1962 - U.S. Supreme Court in Robinson v. California was the first case to require states to apply cruel and unusual punishment guarantees. A California statute made it a criminal offense for a person to "be addicted to the use of narcotics." Lawrence Robinson was convicted under the law, which required a sentence of at least ninety days in jail. A state appellate court affirmed Robinson's conviction on appeal. The questions before the Court: was the California law an infliction of cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth Amendment? In a 6-to-2 decision, the Court held that laws imprisoning persons afflicted with the "illness" of narcotic addiction inflicted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The Court likened the law to one making it a criminal offense "to be mentally ill, or a leper, or to be afflicted with a venereal disease," and argued that the state could not punish persons merely because of their "status" of addiction. The Court noted that the law was not aimed at the purchase, sale, or possession of illegal drugs. (Read the decision at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=370&invol=660)

1963 - U.S. Supreme Court in Gideon v. Wainwright was the first case to apply right to counsel to the states. Gideon, who was charged in a Florida state court with a felony for breaking and entering, lacked funds and was unable to hire a lawyer to prepare his defense. When he requested the court appoint an attorney for him, the court refused, stating that it was only obligated to appoint counsel to indigent defendants in capital cases. Gideon defended himself in the trial; he was convicted by a jury and the court sentenced him to five years in a state prison. The question on appeal to the Supreme Court was did the state court's failure to appoint counsel for Gideon violate his right to a fair trial and due process of law as protected by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments? In a unanimous opinion, the Court held that Gideon had a right to be represented by a court-appointed attorney and that the Sixth Amendment's guarantee of counsel was a fundamental right, essential to a fair trial, which should be made applicable to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. (Read the decision at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=372&invol=335)

1964 - U.S. Supreme Court in Malloy v. Hoan was the first case to apply self-incrimination to the states. William Malloy was arrested during a gambling raid in 1959 by Hartford, Connecticut police. After pleading guilty to pool selling, a misdemeanor, he was sentenced to one year in jail and fined $500, but the sentence was suspended after 90 days and Malloy was placed on two years probation. Some 16 months following his plea, a Superior Court appointed referee ordered Malloy to testify about gambling and other criminal activities in Hartford County. When Malloy refused, "on grounds it may tend to incriminate [him]" he was imprisoned for contempt and held until willing to answer questions. Malloy filed a habeas corpus petition challenging his confinement. On appeal from the Connecticut Supreme Court of Errors ruling, upholding an adverse Superior Court denial, the Supreme Court granted certiorari. The question before the court was does the Fourteenth Amendment protect a state witness's Fifth Amendment guarantee again self-incrimination in a criminal proceeding? In a 5-to-4 opinion, the Court held that the Fifth Amendment's exception from compulsory self-incrimination is protected by the Fourteenth Amendment against abridgement by a state. (Read the decision at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=378&invol=1)

1968 - U.S. Supreme Court in Duncan v. Louisiana was the first case to apply right to a jury trial to the states. Gary Duncan, a black teenager in Louisiana, was found guilty of assaulting a white youth by allegedly slapping him on the elbow. Duncan was sentenced to 60 days in prison and fined $150. Duncan's request for a jury trial was denied. The question to the Court on appeal was whether the State of Louisiana was obligated to provide a trial by jury in criminal cases such as Duncan's? In a 7-to-2 decision, the Court held that the Sixth Amendment guarantee of trial by jury in criminal cases was "fundamental to the American scheme of justice," and that the states were obligated under the Fourteenth Amendment to provide such trials. (Read the decision at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=391&invol=145)

1969 - U.S. Supreme Court in Benton v. Maryland was the first case to apply double jeopardy to the states. John Dalmer Benton was tried in Maryland on charges of larceny and burglary. He was acquitted of larceny, but found guilty on the burglary count and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Shortly afterwards, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled in another case that the portion of the Maryland Constitution which had required all jurors to swear their belief in the existence of God was unconstitutional. Since the jurors in Benton's case had been selected under the unconstitutional provision, he was given the option of demanding a new trial. Benton underwent a new trial, but the state again charged Benton with larceny even though he had been acquitted of larceny in the first trial. The second trial concluded with Benton being found guilty of both burglary and larceny. The question before the Court was if the second trial constituted double jeopardy. The Supreme Court ruled that the second trial did constitute double jeopardy and even though no protection against double jeopardy was guaranteed in Maryland's state constitution, the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment incorporated the Double Jeopardy Clause of the Fifth Amendment made it enforceable against the states. The case overruled Palko v. Connecticut. (Read the decision at http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=395&invol=784)

2008 - U.S. Supreme Court in District of Columbia v. Heller was the first case to to challenge gun control laws and the Second Amendment. After the District of Columbia passed legislation barring the registration of handguns, requiring licenses for all pistols, and mandating that all legal firearms must be kept unloaded and disassembled or trigger locked, a group of private gun-owners brought suit claiming the laws violated their Second Amendment right to bear arms. The federal trial court in Washington D.C. refused to grant the plaintiffs relief, holding that the Second Amendment applies only to militias, such as the National Guard, and not to private gun ownership. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit disagreed, voting that the Second Amendment does in fact protect private gun owners such as plaintiffs. The question before the Court was whether provisions of the D.C. Code generally barring the registration of handguns, prohibiting carrying a pistol without a license, and requiring all lawful firearms to be kept unloaded and either disassembled or trigger locked violated the Second Amendment rights of individuals who are not affiliated with any state-regulated militia, but who wish to keep handguns and other firearms for private use in their homes? In a 5-4 decision, the Court held that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that firearm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. The Court based its holding on the text of the Second Amendment, as well as applicable language in state constitutions adopted soon after the Second Amendment. (Read the decision at http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZO.html.)

2010 - U.S. Supreme Court in McDonald v. Chicago was the first case to hear how states can apply gun laws under the 2nd Amendment. Several suits were filed against Chicago and Oak Park in Illinois challenging their gun bans after the Supreme Court issued its opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller. In that case, the Supreme Court held that a District of Columbia handgun ban violated the Second Amendment. There, the Court reasoned that the law in question was enacted under the authority of the federal government and, thus, the Second Amendment was applicable. Here, plaintiffs argued that the Second Amendment should also apply to the states.

• The district court dismissed the suits. On appeal, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld the Chicago ordinance banning the possession of handguns as well as other gun regulations affecting rifles and shotguns.
• The question before the Supreme Court was does the Second Amendment apply to the states because it is incorporated by the Fourteenth The decision will be made in Summer 2010. The Court held that the right of an individual to "keep and bear arms" protected by the Second Amendment is incorporated by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and applies to the states.

One last thing that is a really interesting idea to use with your students is to look at a list of amendments that have been proposed over the years. To see a partial list, go to http://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-constitution-amendments/proposed-amendments/

Discussion Goal #3: To help your students learn about their rights and responsibilities

It is not enough for our students to know about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. They have to know THEIR rights. Fortunately for us, the American Civil Liberties Union publishes a handbook on student rights as well as summaries of rights related to LGBTQ students, rights related to questioning or arrest by the police while at school, and students freedom of speech and the right to walkout and protest while at school. You will each get a copy for your future use.

But students also need to know their responsibilities.

Methods Discussion: It is now time to assess what you have understood about rights. Using the Think/Pair/Share method, take out a piece of paper, write your name at the top, and then write "Think/Pair/Share."

• Spend three minutes writing down what you believe are the basic responsibilities of American citizens.
• Take another three minutes to share your responses with a partner. Add your partner's list to your own.
• Be prepared to share your responses with your classmates.
• Be sure to keep your "Think/Pair/Share" methods activity. It will go into your Portfolio.