Situational Role Play

1. Situational Role Play Bill of Rights

2. Directions • Read the following situations, then identify the amendment addressed in each situation. • Next, explain in detail how the amendment applies to the situation. • Lastly, since most of the situations ask for an opinion… provide a group consensus opinion. Be brief 

3. Situation #1 • Students at Martin Luther King Jr. Early College hate their new history teacher. They stage a demonstration outside the school to protest the amount of homework she gives and each student makes a personal speech expressing his/her feelings of hatred toward this teacher. Can they do this?

4. Situation #2 • Students across the state of Colorado are enraged when Governor Ritter signed a law extending the school day to 10 hours a day, 6 days a week, 12 months a year. To show their anger they burn a picture of Ritter and the Colorado Capitol, along with a textbook. Is this legal?

5. Situation #3 • The state of Colorado decides to pass a law that requires all students across the state to attend a Catholic Church meeting once a week. If students neglect to attend this meeting, they will be suspended from school and will not graduate from high school. Can the government pass laws like this?

6. Situation #4 • Students at Martin Luther King Jr. Early College uncover a secret plot between the principal at their school and the mayor in which the mayor is bribing the principalto pass certain students whose parents are promising their vote if their student passes all his classes. Students report their findings to the Denver Post and a shocking article is printed detailing all the evidence of the secret plot. This resulted in the firing of the principal and the removal of the mayor from office. Was it illegal for the students and the newspaper to write such an article?

7. Situation #5 • A new law is passed by Congress ad the President that says bullets for guns will no longer be available for sale in America. All bullets are to be destroyed and all gun manufacturers must stop producing bullets of any sort. Any citizen that currently owns a gun must turn bullets over to the government for complete destruction. Is this constitutional?

8. Situation #6 • Students at Martin Luther King Jr. Early College cannot get enough books to read at their local library because the demand for books is so great. Rioting and fighting over books has become such a problem that the U.S. armed forces sent out the National Guard to keep the peace. The soldiers in the National Guard need a place to stay. There is no place for them to go. Where do you put them?

9. Situation #7 • Police suspect students at Martin Luther King Jr. Early College of possessing illegal drugs and firearms. Police have been watching and have targeted a few nameless students and visit the classrooms of these students, taking backpacks and personal belongings to search. Is this legal?

10. Situation #8 • If I am accused of cheating on Ms. Werder’s history test and I am taken to court, do I have to answer all the questions the judge or lawyers ask me even if I think the answer I give might hurt my case? What if I really did cheat? Do I have to say that I did?

11. Situation #9 • I’ve been accused of stealing a history textbook from the classroom and have been put in jail. I’ve been waiting for my trial for almost one year now and when I am finally given a trial it is behind closed doors, with a jury that consists entirely of retired history teachers. Is this within the Constitutional rights for this to occur?

12. Situation #10 • I was accused intentionally breaking my neighbor’s leg because she made cheerleader and I did not, and I had to go to court. I had a good lawyer, but the judge didn’t like cheerleaders so he found me guilty ad sentenced me to prison for life. Can I ask for a re-trial?

13. Situation #11 • My friends and I want to set up a lemonade stand and sell lemonade to the local Green Valley Ranch residents. But there’s nowhere in the Constitution that says that I can do that. Can I?

14. Situation #12 • In June 2002, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the phrase “under God” was unconstitutional. Why? (Name the amendment—the number and what it says) What do you think about it?

15. Situation #13 • On December 18, 1791, a 12-year old Philadelphia apprentice, Dillon, was arrested for burning down several stables containing hay and other goods. He was told by his minister, his boss and others to confess for the good of his “mortal body and soul” but he insisted he was innocent. He was then taken to the dungeon where he was shown the gloom and horror of what would befall him if he did not confess. He was told he would be confined in this dungeon, dark and cold and hungry. But if he confessed, he would be well accommodated with room, fire, and food and may expect to receive pity and favor from the court. Dillon continued to assert his innocence, but after he was kept in the dungeon for 2 days without heat, food, or water, he confessed. Dillon’s attorney said this confession was unreliable and illegal. Why? What do you think?

16. Situation #14 • In 1770, and then again in 1773, the kind of England passed a Quartering Act, which required the colonists in America to house and feed soldiers of the Royal Army. After the Bill of Rights was passed, did the people still have to house soldiers even if the president says so? Why?

17. Situation #15 • In February of 2000, Senator Reed from Rhode Island introduced some controversial legislation regarding gun control. The Handgun Safety and Registration Act is meant to reduce illegal gun trafficking by providing for more efficient tracing of handguns used in crimes and tougher penalties for those who sell guns to illegal purchasers. The proposed law has come under a lot of criticism from people who feel like the restriction and regulation of the sell and purchase of guns is unconstitutional. Why would it be unconstitutional? What do you think?

18. Situation #16 • There are many people in this country who are against the death penalty because they say it is unconstitutional. Why would it be unconstitutional? What do you think?

19. Situation #17 • In a 1967 Supreme Court case, Katz v. United States, Katz had been convicted of illegal gambling based on evidence gathered using a wiretap placed in a public telephone booth. Conversations between Katz and his gambling associates were overheard and recorded by the FBI. The court ruled in favor of Katz (meaning, he was found not guilty) because “the Government's activities in electronically listening to and recording the petitioner's words violated the privacy upon which he justifiably relied while using the telephone booth…” What amendment was the upholding in his decision? What does the amendment say? What do you think?

20. Situation #18 • In 1930, eight black youths were sentenced to death in a hastily carried-out trial without benefit of a lawyer. In 1932, in Powell v. Alabama, the Supreme Court set aside these convictions. Why would the Supreme Court reverse such a conviction? What do you think?

21. Situation #19 • Why would a trial in a civil case require a jury? (Give me an amendment and explanation.)

22. Situation #20 • California Law called the Compassionate Use Act and better known as Proposition 215 is a law in which certain individuals who qualify can be prescribed marijuana for medicinal purposes. The United States Supreme Court recently made a decision which makes it illegal to do this. Federal law states that there is no medical use for marijuana and any use of it is illegal under federal statute. The issue faced was whether the federal government has the right to overturn a state law that the people helped create. Can Congress tell the people they do not have a voice in making the laws for their state, or tell a state legislature that they, too, do not have the right to make laws for their state if those 535 people in Congress do not like the laws they pass? (Name the amendment, what it says, and your opinion.)

23. Situation #21 • Why can I, as an individual citizen, get up in the morning, go to work, eat the foods I want, and pretty much live my life without worrying that I’m violating the Supreme Law of the Land--the Constitution—because these liberties aren’t specifically listed?