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Teaching about Judicial Nominations

Street Law has assembled a variety of valuable resources for educators to teach about this topic

by

May 7, 2009 |

According to the Constitution, the only requirement for a person to be a Supreme Court justice is that they be nominated and appointed by the President, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The judicial nominations process is an excellent teaching topic, as it provides insight in to the operations of all three branches of government, the separation of their powers, and they ways in which they interact.

Street Law lessons

Other activities and lessons

• New York Times Interactive Justice Picker
• Student Voices Speak Out: What qualifications do you think are most important in the selection of Supreme Court Justices?
• PBS NewsHour Lesson Plans:
  • Confirmation Simulation
  • Separation of Powers, Advice and Consent

Other resources

• Federalist Paper No. 76
• Opinions about Life Tenure for Supreme Court Justices:
  • To Break the Stalemate, Give Judges Less Than Life (Washington Post, November 2004)
  • No Supreme Court Term Limits—Even With Partisan Justices Like Scalia and Thomas (U.S. News & World Report, May 2009)

Media web sites

• NewsHour Supreme Court Watch
• Washington Post Supreme Court Center
• SCOTUSblog
• Justice Talking: The Future of the Supreme Court Nomination Process (February 2006 – the relevant portion of this audio clip begins at 1:49, and ends at 10:08)

Government web sites

• United States Department of Justice
• Senate Judiciary Committee

Interest Group web sites

• Alliance for Justice
• Committee for Justice

Source: (Reproduced with permission)

Learn more

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Topic: Civic & Law-Related Education

Topic: US Supreme Court