Communicator: [Archives] November 2004

Communicator Update: November 2004

Welcome to The Dirksen Congressional Center's Communicator - a web-based e-newsletter providing educators with news and ideas to improve the understanding of Congress -- http://www.webcommunicator.org

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Monthly Feature - The Results of Election 2004 and Congress
2. Monthly Theme - The Judiciary: Supreme Court in Operation
3. Featured Grant-funded Project
4. News and Views from The Center
5. Trivia - Supreme Court Scrutiny
6. Postscript Information

1. THE RESULTS OF ELECTION 2004 AND CONGRESS

The election is over. We know that George Bush has won a second term. The next few weeks will be filled with campaign analysis and second-term forecasting. Don't forget the Congress as you consider the results of Election 2004. Republicans won two more years of control over the House of Representatives, increasing their margin over Democrats modestly and leaving Speaker Dennis Hastert and his leadership team firmly in control -- the first time the party has achieved 12 consecutive years in power in the chamber since the dozen years that ended in January 1933 (which, incidentally, is the year Everett Dirksen began his first term in the House).

Republicans also added to their advantage in the Senate after capturing a string of Democratic seats across the South and toppling Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota. The GOP might add several more seats if Republican candidates prevail in three races in which they were leading their Democratic rivals, all of which are still too close to call at this point.

The best place to track the changes in Congress is CongressLink -- http://www.congresslink.org. The section of the site we now call Congress: The 108th will be transformed into, no surprise here, Congress: The 109th. There we will update the House and Senate leadership lists and provide links to all Congress members offices as they are set up. In the meantime, stay current with developments by visiting AboutGovernment -- http://www.aboutgovernment.org -- for links to several hundred sources of information about Congress and the rest of the federal government.

2. THE JUDICIARY: SUPREME COURT IN OPERATION

The federal courts may receive appeals from the state courts, but ultimately, the Supreme Court has final jurisdiction on constitutional questions. This month will conclude our unit on the judiciary by offering resources that will help review some of the most important Supreme Court rulings.

The Supreme Court has the power of "judicial review" by which a bill passed by Congress and signed into law by the president may be declared unconstitutional. Leading American political scientist Charles O. Jones who identified the ten most important points that a high school student should know about Congress for us, includes "judicial review" on his list. Find Item #9 in Professor Jones's list, along with activities that can be used in the classroom to illustrate his points, at: http://www.congresslink.org/print_expert_studentknow.htm#9.

The Marbury v. Madison (1803) case firmly established the judicial review. When Chief Justice John Marshall issued the decision, it was the first time the Court invalidated an act of Congress. Does the Constitution give the Supreme Court the power to invalidate the actions of other branches of government? Explore the Marbury v. Madison (1803) case, notes, materials, questions, and other links. Find Judicial Review at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/print_usgov_jud_supreme.htm.

Under Chief Justice John Marshall, the Supreme Court practiced judicial nationalism -- its decisions favored the federal government at the expense of the states. Learn more about Judicial Nationalism at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/print_usgov_jud_supreme.htm.

President Franklin Roosevelt tried to increase the size of, or "pack," the Court, by appointing new justices sympathetic to his New Deal legislation program. This attempt caused much controversy and ultimately failed. Help your students explain the plan in a classroom conversation and express their position by writing a persuasive essay on whether the situation justified altering the balance of powers among the three branches of government. Introduce the lesson plan, Roosevelt Attempts to Pack the Court, found at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/judicialbranch/2_judicialbranch.htm.

Cases are appealed to the Supreme Court through a writ of certiorari and under the so-called "rule of four" (only four of the nine justices have to agree to hear a case before it is placed on the docket). The Supreme Court's automated docket system is the Court's case tracking system and contains information about cases, both pending and decided. Your students can search for cases by using a Supreme Court docket number, a lower court docket number, or a case name. Find Docket at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/print_usgov_jud_supreme.htm.

Attorneys file briefs that contain the facts and legal issues involved in the appeal. After the briefs are filed, they may present their case directly to the Supreme Court through oral arguments. Teachers, have your students look at a Supreme Court case involving children, West Virginia State Board of Ed. V. Barnette, decided on June 14, 1943. The question before the court in that case was, "Did the compulsory flag-salute for public schoolchildren violate the First Amendment?" Share the information from the abstract of the case available at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/print_usgov_jud_supreme.htm.

After reviewing the briefs and hearing oral arguments, the justices meet in conference to discuss the case and take a vote. A majority of the justices must agree, and at this point the written version of the Court's decision or opinion is drafted. Browse through the archived summaries of opinions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court, all thirteen Federal Circuit Courts, the California Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, and the New York Court of Appeals, since September 2000 to the present. Look for Findlaw's Opinion Summaries at: http://www.aboutgovernment.org/print_usgov_jud_supreme.htm.

The Supreme Court has made some important decisions over the years. Have your students take the interactive 10 multiple-choice quiz to see how much they know about some of the most important Supreme Court decisions and the impact of each. Find Landmark Supreme Court Cases at: http://www.congressforkids.net/games/judicialbranch/2_judicialbranch.htm.

3. FEATURED GRANT-FUNDED PROJECT

** Special Project Grants **

The Dirksen Center has made two Special Project Grants. Learn more about these projects at: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_specialprojects.htm.

Look for an announcement soon about this new grants program designed to improve the public's understanding of Congress.

4. NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE CENTER

** Robert H. Michel Papers Collection **

The Dirksen Center houses the papers, photographs, and memorabilia of former Senate Minority Leader Everett McKinley Dirksen, former House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel, and former Congressman Harold H. Velde. The Center's holding also include over 70 other, mostly small collections, and more than 200 accessions.

Former House Minority Leader Robert H. Michel's collection was first acquired by The Center in 1989. The collection has been supplemented over the years and is currently being processed.

The Center recently added the Robert H. Michel finding aids to our Web suite -- http://www.dirksencenter.org/findingaids/index.htm. These finding aids are guides and inventories to Mr. Michel's collection at The Center.

What you will see on the site are digital reproductions of the printed pages of the in-house guide. In addition to offering the finding aids on our Web site, we also offer a search feature specifically for the finding aids that will permit users to find exactly what they are looking for. This search feature and level of indexing will make it easier to browse very specific sorts of information across a wide variety of documents. The new search feature will index all the words in all the documents, facilitating full-text searching of the entire finding aid.

For example, suppose you are doing research about the budget battles of the early 1980s. You will discover records in Mr. Michel's staff files, where you would expect them. However, there are also pockets of relevant material in his speech file, the Press Office files, and so on. Using conventional methods, it would be harder to find these pockets, but our new search feature will index these additional materials using a simple word or phrase search.

Take a peek and give it a try -- http://www.dirksencenter.org/findingaids/index.htm.

5. Supreme Court Scrutiny

1. Stare decisis is most nearly synonymous with:

A. Judicial activism
B. Judicial review
C. Judicial restraint
D. Judicial discretion
E. None of the above

2. Supreme Court opinions that disagree with both the Court majority's judgment and its reasoning are called __________ opinions and those that disagree only with the reasoning are called __________ opinions.

** Activity Idea **

Have students assume the roles of policy experts, legal advisors, constitutional scholars, judges, advocates, and others, representing their points of view on a talkshow.

Have one student play the anchor and interview the two other students representing each side of the issue. Remind students that the core of their arguments should center on how the issue and resultant Supreme Court ruling would affect adolescents. Or, have one student write the arguments for one side, one write the argument for the other side, and one student write a decision reviewing the issues and laying out the reasons for choosing one argument.

After the debate, allow students time to debrief and discuss issues Supreme Court justices must consider when ruling on a case, factors that play a role in the decision, and whether it is possible for all individuals' rights and freedoms to be addressed in a specific ruling.

Answers to the October's issue of Fun, Facts, and Trivia: http://www.webcommunicator.org/funfactstrivia1004ans.htm.

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