Citizens Fighting for Civil Rights: The Places, Faces, and Cases that Changed a Nation

FAIN: ES-272473-20

Auburn University (Auburn, AL 36849-0001)
Jada L. Kohlmeier (Project Director: March 2020 to present)
Steven P. Brown (Co Project Director: October 2020 to present)

A two-week institute for 25 school teachers on civil rights and legal history, focusing on four landmark Supreme Court cases from Alabama.

25 Grade 7-12 teachers will learn the historical, geographical, and political context of civil rights by focusing on how citizens used the law to create “a more perfect union.” Our institute will feature four landmark Supreme Court cases that originated in Alabama and influenced jurisprudence on four critical civil rights all Americans enjoy today: gender equality, freedom of association, right to counsel, and voting rights. An interdisciplinary and award-winning team of constitutional scholars, historians, and teacher educators will provide historical and legal context, model inquiry-based lessons using the jurisprudential framework, and take participants on field trips where they will see specific sites associated with the cases and hear speakers who argued these cases at the Supreme Court. Participants will develop mini-units for their students on cases relevant to their own curriculum with the support of content and pedagogy experts.

Associated Products

When is the government justified in treating different genders differently? (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: When is the government justified in treating different genders differently?
Author: Jada Kohlmeier
Author: Jesus Tirado
Abstract: This mini-unit introduces students to the standards of scrutiny used by the legal system to determine when people of different genders should be treated differently. Students begin by learning about the Landmark Supreme Court Case Frontiero v Richardson and culminate with a deliberation on whiner or not females should be required to register for selective service.
Year: 2021
Audience: K - 12

What should the Supreme Court do about Gerrymandering? (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: What should the Supreme Court do about Gerrymandering?
Author: Jada Kohlmeier
Author: Nicholas Phillips
Abstract: This mini-unit asks students to draw districting boundaries based on new census data. Students are put into groups with competing purposes: some groups are drawing for political advantages while other groups are attempting “fairness.” Students then learn about racial and political gerrymandering in Gomillion v Lightfood and Reynods v Sims. They analyze the recent Supreme Court case Rucho v Common cause. Finally, they deliberate on whether or not the federal government should establish a process and guidelines for political redistricting.
Year: 2021
Audience: K - 12

When would the government be justified in demanding membership lists from an organization? (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: When would the government be justified in demanding membership lists from an organization?
Author: Jada Kohlmeier
Abstract: In this mini-unit students learn about the state of Alabama’s attempt to get the membership lists of the NAACP during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. They deliberate on the Supreme Court case NAACP v Alabama and the freedom of association it established. Students then apply the legal principles of freedom of association as they deliberate whether the FBI should list “hate groups” as domestic terrorism organizations.
Year: 2021
Audience: K - 12

Are public defenders providing “effective counsel?” (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: Are public defenders providing “effective counsel?”
Author: Jada Kohlmeier
Abstract: This mini unit teaches students about the Scottsboro Boys case and the Supreme Court Case Powell v Alabama which established the right to counsel. Students then analyze Gideon v Wainwright and apply these principles of right to counsel to their analysis and deliberation of arguments on two sides of the question: Do public defenders provide “effective counsel?”
Year: 2021
Audience: K - 12

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