This activity is part of Module 14: The 14th Amendment: Battles for Freedom and Equality from the Constitution 101 Curriculum.
The 14th Amendment is the focus of many of the most important constitutional debates (and Supreme Court cases) today. In many ways, the history of the modern Supreme Court is really a history of modern-day battles over the 14th Amendment’s meaning. So many of the constitutional cases that you care about today turn on the text of the amendment. In this activity, you will connect cases to the clauses and big ideas in the 14th Amendment, and then summarize the cases for their assigned theme.
You will work with a group to review one of the following cases:
- United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898)
- Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
- Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)
- Loving v. Virginia (1967)
- Obergefell v. Hodges (2015)
- United States v. Virginia (1996)
- Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022)
Read excerpts from your assigned case in the Founders’ Library and answer the questions below as if your role is to brief the case like a constitutional lawyer.
- My Case
- Facts: Who are all the people (parties) associated with the case? What was the dispute between them?
- Issue: What is the issue in this case? What constitutional provision is at issue? What is the constitutional question that needs to be answered?
- Ruling: How does the Court rule? What was the outcome in the case? Who won and who lost? How did the justices vote? What sort of rule does the Court come up with to resolve the issue?
- Who was the author of the majority opinion?
- Were there any concurring or dissenting opinions? Who authored them? What did they say? How would the justices who authored them have ruled in the case?
- Application: How does this case connect with any of the big idea(s) from the 14th Amendment?
Prepare a short presentation of the case for the class that includes visuals.
