LibGuides: Government & Law (U.S.): Supreme Court: DVD, Web, etc.

DVD

The Supreme Court. Vol. 1, One nation under law by Thomas Lennon Examines the creation of the court and follows it through the brink of the Civil War, paying particular attention to the fourth chief justice of the Supreme Court - John Marshall - and to his successor, Roger Taney.
Call Number: DVD KF8742.A45S87 2007 VOL. 1
Publication Date: 2007
The Supreme Court. Vol. 2, A new kind of justice by Thomas Lennon Explores the issues before the court from the aftermath of the Civil War through the 1930s. This was a period of unprecedented economic growth as the nation industrialized, but was also a time of unregulated work conditions - the court found itself squarely in the middle of what was almost class warfare.
Call Number: DVD KF8742.A45S87 2007 VOL. 2
Publication Date: 2007
The Supreme Court. Vol. 3, A nation of liberties by Thomas Lennon Focuses on the court's reaction to state and federal legislation on Bill of Rights freedoms, with special attention to the explosion of civil rights cases from the early 1940s to the present.
Call Number: DVD KF8742.A45S87 2007 VOL. 3
Publication Date: 2007
The Supreme Court. Vol. 4, The Rehnquist revolution by Thomas Lennon Details the court from the election of President Richard Nixon - who appointed 4 new justices in less than two years - through to the more recent Court of today. During this period one man put his stamp on the institution and solidified and enhanced the power of the Court in the modern area - William H. Rehnquist.
Call Number: KF8742.A45S87 2007 VOL. 4
Publication Date: 2007

Websites

AnyLaw What would a court system be without its cases? Promising "free legal research for anyone, anytime, anywhere," AnyLaw is the perfect platform for introducing aspiring legal scholars and researchers to case law. Entrepreneur Steve Tover launched this startup, and it fills a unique need. While many legal databases come with steep fees, AnyLaw makes a wealth of case law available to all. For readers with a case in mind, the search bar on the landing page provides easy access. Those needing more direction will find several tools to tailor search results. The "Select Courts" button allows readers to narrow by a state court or federal circuit, and the menu in the top-right corner provides additional browsing features. For example, visitors can search by topic, including: "administrative rulings," "civil rights," and "health care law." After finding a case, the dropdown boxes at the top of the page note related cases. This way, users can quickly find other relevant cases and research materials. Readers with a free account can click the star icon in the top-left corner to save cases for future browsing. The button just below lets users download, save, and print the documents as a PDF.
Oral Argument 2.0 How would a perfectly-scripted answer to a question posed by the Supreme Court sound? Oral Argument 2.0 has some suggestions. Using cases from the October 2019 Term (argued throughout 2019 and 2020), Oral Argument 2.0 highlights key questions and then provides context, commentary, and suggested answers. Featured cases are highlighted on the Home page with a general content label (for example, "employment law" or "criminal procedure"). Clicking on a case, readers will find background information (including case facts and issues), as well as some "key questions from oral argument," accompanied by a contributor's answer. For example, in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants Inc., a case about First Amendment rights and automated debt collector calls, Justice Kagan presents a hypothetical. Eugene Volokh, Professor of Law at UCLA with a focus on First Amendment law, writes his suggested reply, relying on some key case law from his area of expertise. Not only do these questions and answers provide legal insights, but they also display good advocacy techniques that can apply in broader contexts. Many law professors, students, and practitioners contribute to the project, and it receives further support from Cornell Law's Legal Information Institute (LII), Justia, and the Oyez Project.
Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!: Simulating the Supreme Court Regular readers are no stranger to EDSITEment's work, and perhaps have used one of their previously featured lesson plans in their classroom (the latest in the 04-03-2020 Scout Report). As the name suggests, EDSITEMENT lesson "Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!: Simulating the Supreme Court" focuses on the "Constitutional responsibilities and powers of the Supreme Court." Created in 2019 by Kathryn Milschewski, this lesson plan is particularly relevant to high school civics and history teachers. The curriculum is designed to introduce students to the Supreme Court's role in context with the other branches of government and includes guiding questions, four classroom activities, handouts, and reference materials. The first activity introduces students to the Court's purpose and function, while the second and third activities focus on analyzing and arguing court cases (with an emphasis on freedom of speech). Finally, the fourth activity provides materials for a "Supreme Court simulation," where students take on the roles of justices, attorneys, clerks, and more. Teachers looking to create an entire Supreme Court unit may enjoy some of the "related" lesson plans highlighted at the bottom of the page, including "John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, and Judicial Review."
SCOTUSblog: Supreme Court of the United States Blog
Supreme Court of the United States
Tribal Court Clearinghouse: Tribal Law Founded in 1997, the Tribal Court Clearinghouse hosts an abundance of resources on tribal courts and laws. As the resource notes, "tribes have always had, and continue to retain, the sovereign authority to establish and operate their own tribal justice systems." The Clearinghouse's Tribal Law hub provides ten topical sections to understand tribal court systems. The Tribal Courts section, the first option listed, is a great place to start. It begins with some background information on the establishment of sovereign authority under the Indian Reorganization Act. Additionally, this section lists all United States' Tribal Courts (cataloged by state). The remaining nine sections cover Tribal constitutions, codes, and case law, pertinent research articles, and other key actors (including federal, state, and law enforcement officials). Those looking for further information on tribal court systems will want to explore the other information hubs highlighted at the top of the site: Federal Law, State Law, Topics, Program Resources, and Native Resources. The Tribal Law and Policy Institute publishes the Tribal Court Clearinghouse, and links to other resources from the organization are provided on the right-hand panel of the website's home page.

Blogs & Podcasts

SCOTUSblog Providing impartial coverage on "all cases heard on the merits at the Supreme Court and all significant petitions for certiorari," SCOTUSblog produces reliable and enjoyable content for the legal community. Novice legal scholars may want to begin on the Resources page, where they will find useful background information including Justices' biographies and a glossary of key terms. Then, return to the Home page to dive into the content. With daily "round up" posts (flagging news stories related to the Supreme Court and its cases) and other in-depth features, the blog is timely and comprehensive. In addition to case coverage, readers may want to spend some time perusing the rest of the site's offerings. Data enthusiasts will delight in the Statistics section, and the Courtroom Access project (linked on the Special Features page) that takes an in-depth, investigative look at people's journeys to "get a seat inside the courtroom." Visitors may also wish to check out the Podcast page, which houses SCOTUStalk, where blog contributors discuss "events and topics relating to the Supreme Court."

Streaming Video

The Courts: Our Rule of Law—Democracy in America This program examines the role of courts as institutions dedicated to conflict resolution, with the power both to apply and to interpret the meaning of law in trial and appeal courts. It shows the increased power of the Supreme Court through its use of judicial review and the difficulty of creating a judiciary that is independent of politics.
Examining the Supreme Court Session Through the Lens of History The Supreme Court's 2011–2012 term was dominated by high-impact decisions on health care, immigration, criminal sentencing, and more. NewsHour correspondent Judy Woodruff looks at how it all played out and examines the historical significance with Marcia Coyle of the National Law Journal and presidential historian Michael Beschloss. Original broadcast date: July 4, 2012. (10 minutes)
The Historic Role of the Supreme Court President Obama made his feelings known on the 2012 Supreme Court Affordable Care Act ruling, citing “judicial activism” and “those who would overturn” the health care reform law. Some say he's gone too far. NewsHour correspondent Jeffrey Brown discusses the historical tug-of-war between the president and the Court with Georgetown Law's Louis Michael Seidman and Randy Barnett. Original broadcast date: April 4, 2012. (13 minutes)
History of Supreme Court Vacancies In a prelude to the expected battle over the next Supreme Court justice nomination, a historian explains the selection and confirmation process and the past battles between Congress and the president.
The Judicial Branch The Judicial Branch is a fun and fact-filled exploration of the legislative branch of government. The judicial branch is considered along with the executive branch and the legislative branch to examine how each branch checks the others to create a balance of power. The program looks at the United States Constitution as the foundation of federal government and the concept of “We the People” as the ultimate authority. The system of checks and balances is examined in detail with various graphic and video examples provided. Additionally, we see how power is divided between state and federal governments. The creation of the legislative branch and the offices of Senator and Representative are examined, along with the powers and responsibilities that their offices entail. We also look at the requirements of their positions, how they are elected, the concept of a bicameral legislature, and the “great compromise.” The law-making process is also considered in a step-by-step analysis. The program concludes with “The Almost Painless Review,” which offers an excellent synopsis of the entire program. Also, a Video Quiz is provided after the closing credits.
Judicial Opinions: The Supreme Court Justices With every ruling, the nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court shape the judicial landscape of America—and the lives of its citizens. In this NewsHour program, Robert MacNeil and other esteemed journalists take a close look at several renowned jurists and their decisions.
Justice John Paul Stevens: "I Was Never a Fan of Labels for Justices" It's been nearly a year since Justice John Paul Stevens left the bench after the third-longest tenure on the Supreme Court. Stevens sat down with Gwen Ifill to discuss his career, his leadership of the Court's liberal wing, why he doesn't like such labels and how his tennis game is now that he's retired.
Landmark Cases: Historic Supreme Court Decisions (C-SPAN) These special programs, recorded from their original production on C-SPAN, bring to life the drama that accompanied some of the most important Supreme Court decisions in American history. Two seasons are available, each with 12 episodes. Each episode, which is 90-minutes long, provides an in-depth discussion of an influential, but often under-studied, court case. Nearly everyone has heard of Brown v. Board of Education and Roe v. Wade, but many other landmark cases receive less attention. For instance, the 1905 case Lochner v. New York, which overturned a New York law that limited the number of hours a baker could work each week, had major implications on future labor laws. Landmark Cases also unearths the controversies surrounding the decisions in Marbury v. Madison (1803), Scott v. Sandford (1857), and Baker v. Carr (1962), among others. Educators looking for ways to liven up their civics lessons will find much to appreciate in these well produced episodes, in which C-SPAN journalists interview historians and other experts in the field of Supreme Court law.
Mr. Civil Rights: Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP Civil rights attorney Thurgood Marshall’s triumph in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision to desegregate America’s public schools completed the final leg of an heroic journey to end legal segregation. For 20 years, during wartime and the Depression, Marshall had traveled hundreds of thousands of miles through the Jim Crow South of the United States, fighting segregation case by case, establishing precedent after precedent, all leading up to one of the most important legal decisions in American history. Along the way, he escaped the gun of a Dallas sheriff, was pursued by the Ku Klux Klan on Long Island, hid in bushes from a violent mob in Detroit, and even survived his own lynching. In this impossible environment, Thurgood Marshall won more Supreme Court cases than any lawyer in American history, and set the stage for the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Marshall, who went on to become the first black Supreme Court justice in 1967, made the work of civil rights pioneers like the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks possible, by laying the groundwork to end legal segregation and changing the American legal landscape.
Moyers & Company: Is the Supreme Court Out of Order? In this edition of Moyers & Company, Bill speaks to NY Times columnist Linda Greenhouse and Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick about the agenda of the Roberts court and several recent high-profile, controversial decisions about topics such as separation of church and state, campaign finance reform, birth control, voting rights and affirmative action. Broadcast date: July 11, 2014.
Thurgood Marshall: America’s First African American Supreme Court Justice: Black American Experience: African Americans Who Left their Stamp on History The great grandson of a slave, Thurgood Marshall was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on July 2, 1908. At the age of 25, Marshall graduated first in his class from Howard Law and joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights organization. As NAACP counsel, Marshall used the constitution to successfully argue for a slew of rights now taken for granted, and forced the University of Maryland Law School to admit its first black student, just five years after that same school had rejected Marshall due to his race. Between 1940 and 1961 Marshall won 29 of the 32 cases he argued before the Supreme Court, the most significant being the landmark case, Brown v Board of Education. Marshall argued that separate school systems for blacks and whites were inherently unequal, violating the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In September 1961, President John F. Kennedy appointed Marshall a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson named Marshall the nation’s first black Solicitor General to conduct government legal action before the Supreme Court. Two years later on October 2, 1967 at the age of 59, Marshall became the first African American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. President Lyndon Johnson who declared it was “the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place.” He never forgot where he came from, consistently ruling in favor of the rights of “organized labor, racial minorities, the advancement of women, the broadening of rights to freedom of expression, and the narrowing of police authority.” Harvard Law Professor Randall L. Kennedy wrote. “No member of the Supreme Court has ever been more keenly alive to social inequalities.” He remained a champion of individual liberty. As more conservative justices were appointed by Presidents Nixon, Ford and Reagan, he became known as “The Great Dissenter,” but remained unwavering in his commitment to liberal precepts. In increasingly poor health, on June 27, 1991 Marshall submitted his resignation to President George H. W. Bush. He was replaced by conservative black Justice Clarence Thomas. Marshall died of heart failure on January 24, 1993 at the age of 84. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Posthumously Thurgood Marshall was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian award by President Bill Clinton in November 1993. His words govern how the United States extends its rights to this day.