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Chapter 4. Fundamental American Liberties

Exercises

Analyze a case

1. Pick one Supreme Court case discussed in this chapter.
2. Go to the FindLaw web site and access that case. You can browse by the year of the case or enter the case citation or party's name. If you browse by year, the cases are listed in alphabetical order by the first party's name.
3. Read the case opinion and answer the following questions:
   • What arguments were made by the plaintiff and the defendant?
   • Was the Court's ruling based on precedent or something else? What justifications did the majority give for its decision? Were there any concurring opinions? How did the argument of the concurring opinion's author differ from the argument made in the opinion?
   • Was the Court unanimous in its decision or divided? If it was divided, why did the minority disagree?
   

Two views of an issue

1. Go to the National Rifle Association and the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence web sites. On these sites you will find links to news articles on gun control as well as information about current legislation in Congress or the state legislatures.
2. Answer the following questions:
   • What kinds of articles are linked to each web site? Are any articles on both web sites?
   • What is the tone of the articles? How about the discussion of legislative issues?
   • The goal of both sites is to make arguments, not to be objective. What evidence do you see of this on the web sites?
   • How can one issue have two such conflicting points of view?
   

Indoctrination or education?

1. Go to the Noindoctrination web site. This site allows students to post instances either in the classroom or at university events where they feel indoctrination has occurred.
2. On the left side of the page, click on "View Postings." You may then either view the most recent postings or look at them by school.
3. Read three different postings and answer the following questions:
   • In each case, why did the person feel indoctrination had occurred? Was the alleged indoctrination from a liberal or conservative point of view?
   • Based on what the person wrote, do you agree that this was indoctrination? Why or why not? If you agree that it was indoctrination, how might the alleged "indoctrinator" respond?