General Supreme Court & Case Information

• The Supreme Court's Website
  The official website for the United States Supreme Court allows access to a variety of information on the Court, including a calendar and schedule for the current term, how to visit the Court,and the audio from oral arguments, posted each Friday after arguments take place. There is also an overview of the Supreme Court where you can research the Court’s procedures and biographies of justices.  (www.supremecourtus.gov)
• The Oyez Project
  The Oyez Project, maintained by IIT Chicago – Kent College of Law, is a Supreme Court multimedia archive. The site aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955.  They provide good short summaries of cases and the question(s) presented in each, as well as information about the justices, and a virtual tour.  (www.oyez.org)
• SCOTUS Blog        
  The weblog provides timely information on current cases before the Supreme Court including links to relevant editorial pieces and news on those cases.  This site has probably the most comprehensive coverage of the U.S. Supreme Court of any media outlet, including statistics about recent terms, featured interviews with academics and advocates, podcasts, and live blogging of decision days.  The case files feature full summaries, decisions, and all briefs for cases since 2007.  (www.scotusblog.com)
• Supreme Court Center at FindLaw.Com 
  Users can search cases from the current docket by month or subject, read about the justices and landmark cases, and find case briefs and opinions. The Supreme Court Center also has the Court’s calendar and rules. The site also includes articles and reviews commenting on Supreme Court decisions.  (http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/)
• The Legal Information Institute's Supreme Court Collection
  Cornell University Law School sponsors and maintains the Legal Information Institute (LII). The LII provides a collection of key Supreme Court cases, both past and present. There is also a glossary, the Court’s rules and links to other U.S. Supreme Court related sites. LII also contains collections of federal law, state law, and laws from around the world.  (www.law.cornell.edu/)
• Jurist: The Legal Education Network
  Jurist is an online legal education portal, providing legal news, legal research and scholarship, as well as information on law teaching.  The “Legal News” section has continuously updated coverage of hot legal topics in the U.S. and around the world.  Research can be done by cases and by statutes.  (www.jurist.law.pitt.edu/)
• Supreme Court Historical Society
  This site by the Supreme Court Historical Society contains extensive information on the history of the Supreme Court and how it became the Court it is today. The site has biographies of justices as well.  (www.supremecourthistory.org)

• The New York Times’ Supreme Court Page
  The New York Times site contains news articles about recent Supreme Court decisions, as well as links to several blogs.  The site also contains links to articles relating to each of the Justices, interactive multimedia features, and a summary of the notable cases from the present term.(http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/supreme_court/index.html)

• Supreme Court Insider
  The Law.com website provides news and commentary on cases from the current term. Decisions from cases in the last year can be found by date or subject. There is also a section of the site listing cert petitions granted.  However, you must subscribe in order to have access to the site’s content. (http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/supreme_court_insider.jsp)

• Slate Magazine
  An archive of Dahlia Lithwick's Supreme Court Dispatches column(www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/supreme_court_dispatches.html)
• American Bar Association
  The American Bar Association’s Division for Public Education maintains a site that provides the merit briefs for Supreme Court cases since 2003.  Amicus briefs, decisions and the oral argument transcripts are available for the most recent term.  The site also allows limited access to some of the archives of the American Bar Association’s publication, Preview, which provides a summary and an analysis of each case decided during the selected term.  (www.abanet.org/publiced/)

• United States Courts Online
  This site is the homepage for the U.S. court system, and is filled with statistics and other information. Its link to “educational resources” features resources about the Constitution and the structure and purpose of Federal Courts.  (www.uscourts.gov/)

Lesson Plan Sites

• Landmark Cases
  This site, by Street Law, Inc. and the Supreme Court Historical Society, provides materials and activities for helping students explore the key issues of each of 17 Landmark Cases. The site features basic building blocks such as background summaries and excerpts of opinions that can be used in multiple ways, as well as a range of short activities and in-depth lessons and a “Teachers Only” section.  (www.landmarkcases.org)
• National Archives Digital Classroom & Digital Vaults
  The National Archives contains a number of important documents, Congressional records, and links to Presidential libraries.  The digital classroom includes landmark documents in American history, with teaching ideas and other resources.  The Digital Vaults lets you explore a range of documents.  (http://www.archives.gov/education/; www.archives.gov/nae/)
• The Constitution Center
  The website for the Constitution Center in Philadelphia has an interactive constitution, which you can explore section by section and is accompanied and interpreted by excerpts from Linda Monk’s book The Words We Live By.  The site also has resources for educators and a constitutional timeline.  (www.constitutioncenter.org) 
• The Learning Network (NY Times)
  Learning Network, in conjunction with The New York Times, provides teachers with a list of comprehensive lesson plans using New York Times articles to explore current topics in the news – gun control, First Amendment issues, censorship, and more. The lesson plans include warm-up activities, resources and materials, wrap-up exercises, vocabulary-building exercises, and extension activities.  (www.nytimes.com/learning/index.html)
• Annenberg Classroom
  The Leonore Annenberg Institute for Civics website provides many resources to facilitate civics lessons.  The site has content focused on the Constitution, Congress, the courts and the presidency along with corresponding lesson plans.  There are also weekly podcasts available as well as online discussions of current events.  (www.annenbergclassroom.org)
• The Constitutional Rights Foundation
  The Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF) is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to educating youth about civics, the law, and the Constitution. The site includes “online lessons” on topics including school violence, impeachment, elections, “America’s Response to Terrorism,” and the war in Iraq. Students and teachers can also sign up to receive the CRF Newsletter at no charge.  (www.crf-usa.org)
• First Amendment Center
  The First Amendment Center site allows for research on First Amendment issues, cases, news, and commentary.  The lesson plans section is well done containing a section on key concepts for each lesson, first principles, links to relevant cases, very detailed lesson plans with supplemental material, links to additional resources, and enrichment activities at the end.   (www.firstamendmentcenter.org)
• EDSITEment
  EDSITEment is part of the National Endowment for the Humanities.  Lessons cover “humanities” but are divided by content area (social studies, literature, arts) and by grade level.  Although some may find the website a little historical, it acts as an excellent entry into constitutional law.  A good example is the lesson on James Madison and the 2nd National Bank – it would be a great lead in to studying McCulloch v. Maryland.  (http://edsitement.neh.gov/)
• The Columbia Education Center                                                                                                           Columbia’s Education Center, in Portland, Oregon, provides a variety of law-related lesson plans on their web site. Click on “Lesson Plans & Web Activities” and go to “Teacher-Developed Lesson Plans” for a host of Social Studies Lesson Plans for grades K-12. (www.col-ed.org)
• Congressional Digest Debates Online
  Congressional Digest provides citizens, teachers and students with an impartial view of controversial issues, including important debates before the Congress, the Supreme Court, and international bodies.  Subscribers receive access to Supreme Court Debates, Congressional Digest, and International Debates.  Anyone may search full text or browse by topic, publication or date to drill down on specific research needs.  Individual issues are also available for immediate purchase and download.  (www.congressionaldigestdebates.com)

Additional Professional Development Opportunities

• James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation
  The Foundation’s mission is to strengthen civic education by encouraging graduate study of the American Constitution—its roots, its formation, its principles, and its development—by providing fellowships of $24,000 to qualified teachers or potential teachers for study at any accredited university with a master’s degree program offering courses or training in Constitutional studies. (www.jamesmadison.com)