+
Interactive
PBS

Wnet: Thirteen: The Supreme Court: Timeline: Supreme Court Developments

For Students 9th - 10th
PBS' series on the Supreme Court offers this interactive timeline showing important dates in Supreme Court history. Clicking on the date gives more information about cases being decided around that specific time. A great resource.
+
Primary
Thomson Reuters

Find Law: u.s. Supreme Court: Schenck v. u.s. (1919)

For Students 9th - 10th
Provided is a summary of the Supreme Court case of Schenck v. U.S. involving espionage, free speech, and anti-war propaganda.
+
Handout
Other

Landmark Cases: Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

For Students 9th - 10th
Everything you might want to know about this historic Supreme Court decision. Included are great teacher directed activities, background summary, and the text of the majority opinion.
+
Primary
Thomson Reuters

Find Law: u.s. Supreme Court: Escobedo v. Illinois (1964)

For Students 9th - 10th
A detailed description of the United States Supreme Court decision on the appeal of the case Escobedo v. Illinois, which ruled on the right to have counsel under the 6th and 14th Amendments to the Constitution.
+
Unit Plan
CPALMS

Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: Journey Through Justice: Our Federal Courts

For Students 7th
In this tutorial, students learn about the various levels in the federal judicial system and look at a famous Supreme Court case, Tinker v. Des Moines.
+
Primary
University of Groningen

American History: Documents: The Marshall Cases

For Students 9th - 10th
Text of landmark Supreme Court cases presided over by Chief Justice John Marshall, that decided questions of how to interpret the U.S. Constitution. The cases took place between 1801 and 1825.
+
Activity
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Bill of Rights Day Is Observed

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Contains plans for seven lessons that ask students to examine Supreme Court cases that have impacted civil liberties in the United States. Students work in groups and report their findings using PowerPoint presentations. In addition to...
+
Primary
Thomson Reuters

Find Law: u.s. Supreme Court: In Re Gault (1967)

For Students 9th - 10th
Full court transcript of 1967 U.S. Supreme Court case involving a juvenile, Gerald Gault.
+
Website
Illinois Institute of Technology

Oyez Project: u.s. Supreme Court Cases: Employment Division v. Smith

For Students 9th - 10th
A case of whether states can deny employment to people who have been found to use illegal drugs for religious purposes.
+
Unit Plan
CPALMS

Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: Supreme Court: Equal Rights: Two Famous Cases

For Students 7th
In this tutorial, students learn about the Supreme Court and look at two famous cases to see the impact that its decisions have had on the rights of Americans.
+
Unit Plan
CPALMS

Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: The Supreme Court in Action

For Students 11th
This tutorial looks at eight famous cases that were heard in the Supreme Court in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. It examines each case, the results, and the ramifications of each decision. A PDF file of the tutorial is available.
+
Primary
University of Groningen

American History: Documents: u.s. V. e.c. Knight and Co. 1895

For Students 9th - 10th
View the complete text of the 1895 Supreme Court case of the United States v. E.C. Knight and Co. which concerned the Sherman Antitrust Act.
+
Website
Digital History

Digital History: The Supreme Court Orders Desegregation [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
This site is from a unit called 'African-Americans in the Land of Equality.' It looks at the 1954 decision by the Supreme Court in the Brown v. Board of Education case that ended school segregation.
+
Handout
Cool Fire Technology

Cool Fire Technology: Supreme Court Decisions

For Students 9th - 10th
A listing of the most significant Supreme Court cases in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with brief summaries of how they impacted on federalism.
+
Primary
Curated OER

History Matters: Separate but Equal: The Plessy v. Ferguson Case

For Students 9th - 10th
Read the judgment of Supreme Court justice, Henry Billings Brown, who wrote for the majority in the Plessy v Ferguson decision that codified the idea of "separate but equal" in the American justice system until it was overturned by Brown...
+
Website
Digital History

Digital History: Affirmative Action and the Case of Allan Bakke [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
The history of affirmative action was interwoven with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Read about how the federal government under both President Kennedy and President Nixon attempted to open up jobs to...
+
Website
Social Studies for Kids

Social Studies for Kids: The Supreme Court

For Students 9th - 10th
The Supreme Court is the highest in the land. It has nine members and decides whether laws are unconstitutional. It handles appeals from federal courts or state supreme courts. Learn more about how it works and some famous Justices.
+
Primary
This Nation

This nation.com: Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from ThisNation.com provides Justice Henry B. Brown's full text of the Supreme Court's decision in this landmark case, written by Henry B. Brown.
+
Primary
Other

Missouri Secretary of State: Conservation of the Dred Scott Papers

For Students 9th - 10th
Offers a description of the conservation of papers from the famous 1846 Supreme Court case in which a slave named Dred Scott asked the court for his freedom and was denied.
+
eBook
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Classroom: Our Rights

For Students 9th - 10th
This book uses historical case studies to explore the rights in the Constitution. Supreme Court cases are used to demonstrate how a right received its modern interpretation, how the right applies today, and how courts and other...
+
Lesson Plan
iCivics

I Civics: Texas v. Johnson (1989)

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
This mini-lesson covers the basics of the Supreme Court's decision that burning the American flag is a form of political speech protected by the First Amendment. Students learn about the First Amendment freedom of speech and the...
+
Lesson Plan
iCivics

I Civics: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This mini-lesson covers the Supreme Court's decision about limiting government restrictions on campaign contributions. Students learn about campaign finance, Super PACs, the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold Act), and the...
+
Primary
Boston College

Boston College: United States v. O'brien

For Students 9th - 10th
Boston College offers complete information on the famous Supreme Court case of United States v. O'Brien.
+
Handout
Illinois Institute of Technology

The Oyez Project: Katz v. United States

For Students 9th - 10th
Katz v. United States altered the meaning of the 4th Amendment, the right to search and seizure, appealing his case in 1967 regarding the investigator's use of electronic surveillance. Oyez features the facts and recordings from the...