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9th grade · Social Studies · Unit 7 of 11

Landmark Supreme Court Cases

How the Court reads the Constitution

What your child practices

Landmark decisions such as Marbury v. Madison, Engel v. Vitale, Schenck, Brandenburg, Texas v. Johnson, Miranda, Gideon and Mapp, cases about Texas such as Hernandez v. Texas and Sweatt v. Painter, and judicial activism and restraint, presented factually and from more than one side.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: GOV.3(C); GOV.7(F); GOV.12(E); GOV.16(A) · landmark Supreme Court interpretations of rights, judicial activism and restraint, and decisions that affected particular groups

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Free speech cases: Tinker (1969) protected students’ symbolic speech; Texas v. Johnson (1989) protected flag burning as protest.
  2. Power cases: Gibbons v. Ogden (1824) gave Congress control of interstate commerce; Baker v. Carr (1962) opened cases on unequal districts.
  3. Some rulings are now seen as wrong, like Korematsu (1944).

Example: What did Texas v. Johnson (1989) rule about burning the flag as a protest? Burning a flag sends a political message. The Court called it symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment. Answer: It is symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment

Landmark Supreme Court Cases in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 7 of 11 in 9th grade Social Studies, after Rights & Responsibilities and before Elections & Voting.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) held that the government may punish speech only when it…

    • is printed in a newspaper
    • criticizes officials
    • is unpopular
    • is meant to and likely to stir up immediate lawless action

  2. Question 2

    Who appoints Supreme Court justices?

    • the House alone
    • state governors
    • voters directly
    • the president, with the Senate's consent

  3. Question 3

    How many justices sit on the US Supreme Court?

    • 12
    • 50
    • 9
    • 7

  4. Question 4

    Judicial activism describes judges who…

    • never rule
    • always defer to lawmakers
    • refuse to hear cases
    • are willing to strike down laws or expand rights broadly

  5. Question 5

    Texas v. Johnson (1989) ruled that burning the US flag as a political protest is…

    • allowed only on holidays
    • always a federal crime
    • a state power the courts cannot review
    • symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment

  6. Question 6

    Why can interpretations of the Bill of Rights change over time?

    • the text is rewritten every year
    • presidents edit it
    • new cases, new facts and new justices lead to new readings
    • it is never read

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