Students will learn about the principles that undergird the Magna Carta and how they have influenced important legal documents. More specifically, students will evaluate the Magna Carta’s impact on the U.S. Constitution.
Magna Carta and the Constitution – History
This video tells the story of the origins of the Magna Carta and explores the two most important principles that it symbolizes: rule of law and due process. Students will learn how the framers interpreted and redefined the rule of law and due process when they created our Constitution.
Magna Carta and the Constitution
This video tells the story of the origins of the Magna Carta and explores the two most important principles that it symbolizes: rule of law and due process. Students will learn how the framers interpreted and redefined the rule of law and due process when they created our Constitution. And they will understand how those rights have been expanded and protected by the U.S. Supreme Court through two landmark Supreme Court cases: U.S. v. Nixon and Powell v. Alabama.
Key Constitutional Concepts: Creating a Constitution
The first section of the film “Key Constitutional Concepts” examines the creation of the U.S. Constitution and why it was needed. Before viewing the film, students are asked to respond to a key question, which will set a conversation in motion for the whole lesson.
A Conversation on Judicial Interpretation
This lesson plan focuses on the essential question: How does philosophy affect the way a judge reads the Constitution and what is the effect of that?
Our Constitution: A Conversation with Justices Stephen Breyer and Sandra Day O’Connor
Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Stephen G. Breyer answer questions from students about why we need a written Constitution and what it says about the Supreme Court and its rulings.
Key Constitutional Concepts
This three-part documentary discusses why and how the Constitution was created at the Constitutional Convention, explores the protection of individuals’ rights in Gideon v. Wainwright, and examines the limits of presidential power in Youngstown v. Sawyer.
A Conversation on the Constitution with Justices Stephen Breyer and Antonin Scalia: Judicial Interpretation
Justices Breyer and Scalia debate their different theories on how to interpret the Constitution and how they are applied to cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
