Learning Activity

Aired August 22, 2003

Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore vowed Thursday to continue fighting to keep a massive monument inscribed with the Ten Commandments in a state judicial building, even though the state's other justices overruled him and ordered that it be removed. Diagram the structure of the federal court system and illustrate the various paths that a federal court case might take.

The following activity from Holt, Rinehart and Winston: American Government--The Structure of the Federal Court System (http://go.hrw.com/hrw.nd/arbiter/pRedirect?project=hrwonline&siteId=466&pageId=3120) encourages students to use the Web sites provided to research the structure of the federal court system and create a mobile that displays their information. Students are asked to focus on the jurisdictions of various courts and the cases that each court handles.

Once students have completed this assignment, have them use their mobiles to track the judicial process that led to Alabama Supreme Court order Glassroth vs. Moore and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in that case. Challenge students to create a series of flowcharts to illustrate what avenues this case could have taken.

As a wrap-up to the activity, have student groups create a case that addresses a First Amendment issue. Then have groups illustrate visually the various paths that case might take through the federal court system.

Correlated Standards

National Council for the Social Studies Standards

VI. Power, Authority and Governance: Students will develop an understanding of how groups and nations attempt to resolve conflicts and seek to establish order and security.

X. Civics Ideals and Practices: Students will understand that civic ideals and practices of citizenship are critical to full participation in society.

The Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/) are published by the National Council for Social Studies (http://ncss.org/).

Related Links

CNN.com: Chief justice vows to fight monument removal order (http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/08/21/ten.commandments/index.html)

CNN.com: Compromise is not part of the equation for Moore (http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/08/21/ten.commandments.judge.ap/index.html)

Alabama Supreme Court Order: Glassroth vs. Moore (http://news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/religion/glsrthmre82103alsc.pdf)

11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Ruling (http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/religion/glsrthmre70103opn.pdf)

U.S. Federal Court System Primer (http://usgovinfo.about.com/blfedcourts.htm)

Keywords

Roy Moore, associate, partition, Bill Pryor, American Atheists, tyranny, oppression