Current Events Lesson Plan February 11-17, 2016
Current Event: Death of Antonin Scalia
On February 13, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, the longest-serving justice on the court, died at the age of 79. Scalia was born to immigrant Italian parents in Trenton, New Jersey, on March 11, 1936. He completed his undergraduate studies at Georgetown University and his law degree at Harvard Law School. Scalia then practiced law for a few years before becoming a law professor, first at the University of Virginia and then at the University of Chicago. President Ronald Reagan made Scalia a judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in 1982. In 1986, Scalia was the first Italian American to be appointed a justice to the Supreme Court. Scalia was a conservative member of the court. His death left the Supreme Court evenly divided between four liberal and four conservative justices. Republican legislators have threatened to block any nominee to the court put forth by President Barack Obama, hoping that, if a Republican wins the presidential election, a conservative justice could be appointed in 2017.
Objective:
The Supreme Court of the United States is the nation’s highest court. Its main duty is to determine the legality of conduct at all levels of government as measured either by the Constitution of the United States or by other laws passed by Congress. Much of the court’s work involves the interpretation of general legal rules and the application of these rules to specific cases. Because the court is the nation’s highest judicial authority, its decisions have great importance. Once it decides a constitutional question, all other courts in the United States are expected to follow the decision in similar cases. The court consists of nine members–a chief justice and eight associate justices. Once appointed, justices may remain in office for life, and Congress cannot reduce their salaries. These provisions protect the justices from political control and help ensure their independence. The Behind the Headlines news story and related World Book articles explore the U.S. Supreme Court and its rulings.
Words to know:
- Constitution of the United States
- Court
- Law
- Barack Obama
- Ronald Reagan
- Antonin Scalia
- Supreme Court of the United States
Discussion Topics:
1. Ask your students to name some famous Supreme Court justices. (Students might name current justices Samuel Alito, Jr.; Stephen Breyer; Ruth Bader Ginsburg; Elena Kagan; Anthony Kennedy; John Roberts, Jr.; Sonia Sotomayor; or Clarence Thomas. Famous former justices include Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.; John Jay; John Marshall; Thurgood Marshall; Sandra Day O’Connor; William Rehnquist; William Howard Taft; and Earl Warren.)
2. Ask your students to debate, “Instead of remaining in office for life, Supreme Court justices should serve for a fixed number of years.”
3. Ask your students to use World Book’s Timelines feature to view or add to the Landmark Decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court timeline.