By Lena Morreale Scott for Street Law, Inc.

Students will reflect on their own ideas of liberty, and learn how to define and identify civil liberties. Through a historic case study involving the Pledge of Allegiance, they will analyze First Amendment rights in light of laws passed to increase citizenship, knowledge of our country, and patriotism. This lesson incorporates “A Nation of Liberties,” Episode 3 of the PBS series THE SUPREME COURT.

Objectives:

- define the terms “civil rights” and “civil liberties”

- identify basic civil liberties

- describe how the Supreme Court decided two cases when individual rights conflicted with societal goals: Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940) and West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943)

Lesson: With Liberty and Justice for All ^[1]