Overview:
Assume for
the moment that you are an advisor to the President. evaluating four possible nominees to
the court. You are to examine the qualifications or these four candidates and using the information rate the candidates from most qualified to least qualified. In addition, be ready to explain what about the candidates makes you think that he or she
would serve well and what about the other candidates makes them less qualified.
Objectives:
Students will be able to
1) Given a choice or four candidates for a Supreme Court Justice, identify which candidate
they would recommend.
2) Defend their choice by verbalizing what qualities the candidates possess that may be
important in a j
Scenario:
A member or the Supreme Court has announced that he is planning to retire. The President,
in the process or deciding who to appoint to replace him. has generated a short list or
persons that he is considering nominating for the position.
The current make-up or the Supreme Court. minus the retiring Justice. is split along
ideological lines. with three Justices consistently voting along conservative lines (probusiness. anti-abortion, pro-death penalty, less protective or individual civil rights), three
voting consistently along liberal lines (pro-individual civil rights. pro-choice. proenvironmental).
The other .two Justices are less -easy to classify. One is basically a libertarian (pro-individual
and business rights. believes the less government intervention in anybody's the better). This
Justice for example, believes that abortion should be legal, but thinks that business should
be as free or government restrictions as possible.
The last Justice is a "strict constructionist". who believes that the courts should simply read
the Constitution and follow what it says. This Justice does not see anything in the
Constitution regarding a "right to privacy", and therefore sees no right to abortion. This
Justice also believes that since the Constitution mentions the right to bear arms, most gun
control laws are unconstitutional. The Justice also believes that free speech must be
protected. and that this includes both flag-burning and what most people would consider to
be pornography.
You have been asked to make a recede to the President regarding his nominee. Please read
the descriptions or the persons under consideration. Decide which person you would most
like to see be nominated. who would be second. third, etc.