Asserts that before civics/government teachers teach about the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, students should be introduced to the religious and philosophical background of religions freedom in the United States. Identifies issues and historical documents that provide the foundation. (CFR)

This teacher's guide is designed to accompany the two-part videotape "One Nation Under God? School Prayer and the First Amendment." The videotape and teacher's guide should help students to: (1) understand the history of freedom of religion and the First Amendment; (2) examine the controversy surrounding school prayer; (3) compare and…

Describes a two-day activity in which elementary students examine voting rights, the right to assemble, and women's suffrage. Explains the game, "Assemble, Reassemble," and a student-produced talk show with five students playing the roles of leaders of the women's suffrage movement. Profiles Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Susan…

This serial issue concerns itself with several conflicts between individual rights and allegedly wrongful acts that the Supreme Court has not considered previously. The articles on these topics illuminate the constitutional issues of equal protection, due process, and freedom of expression. Specific issues addressed include: (1) equal educational…

Offers approaches for using the Bible as a textbook in literature, social studies, history, and humanities classes, based on the author's "Handbook for Teaching the Bible in English Classes." Recommends creationism not be included in the science curriculum and teachers be trained for sensitivity to student pluralism. Comments on relevant…

Two articles in this instructional newsletter elucidate rulings by the United States Supreme Court, Circuit Court of Appeals, and District Courts affecting state sponsored school prayer: (1) "First Amendment Prayer Pendulum"; (2) "First Amendment. Rosenberger v University of Virginia." The newsletter provides the facts of the…

This article presents a teaching case that involves the presentation of an actual incident in which a state commission on judicial performance had to balance a judge's First Amendment rights to protected free speech against his public statements about a societal class/group that were deemed to be derogatory and inflammatory and, hence, cast…

In the twenty-first century, differences in the treatment of trade in alcoholic beverages in comparison to other commercial goods seem at odds with the federal regulation of interstate trade under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, which prohibits "differential treatment of in-state and out-of-state economic interests that…

In early 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court, in "Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier," held that school administrators may exercise "editorial control over the style and content of student speech in school-sponsored expressive activities so long as their actions are reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns." A…