Supreme Team: Layin' Down the Law
(Target Audience: High School Students)

The goal of Supreme Team: Layin’ Down the Law is to educate high school seniors about the Constitution through the “eyes” of the Supreme Court of the United States. This curriculum allows the students to view the Supreme Court from the view of a justice by taking the students through the steps that are required to become a justice. The students play the roles of potential justices and senators in a mock confirmation hearing.

All students review a mock Supreme Court Nominee Questionnaire and a mock FBI background check. The students then examine potential Supreme Court cases from four various subject areas. The students decide which cases in these areas will be set for oral argument, and they review real cases in these four subject areas and examine the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Constitution in these four areas. The project culminates with the students conducting a moot court, where the students play the roles of the Supreme Court Justices, lawyers, and other court personnel. At the end of the argument and after the student justices reach a decision on each case, the students are instructed on how the Supreme Court decided each case and why.

Course materials include a model lesson plan, curriculum guide, pop quiz, mock Supreme Court nominee questionnaires, mock FBO background investigations, role playing cards, case summaries, and four video segments educating the teacher and students about the Supreme Court.

Click here to access the curriculum.