U.S. Supreme Court and Judiciary: Ongoing Discussion Club
Explore the law each week and learn how to read, interpret and critically analyze Supreme Court, as well as Federal and state court decisions.
Nelson Vargas, JD; Law/Hist. Professor
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:(491)
Popular
What's included
1 live meeting
55 mins in-class hours per weekClass Experience
US Grade 6 - 8
Beginner Level
This course examines the federal courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as the major social and legal issues they have jurisdiction over. Every week we'll examine and discuss America's most hotly debated cases and the issues that shape them. Covering both the substantive and the procedural law, students learn how to identify legitimate arguments for and against each topic and gain an understanding of constitutional challenges and limitations. The class employs a student-centered approach, where I act as a facilitator asking questions and prompting discussions in order to promote critical thinking. Research projects and class participation will be encouraged, but not required. Students will be informed of the topic for each class the week prior. Each week students will be encouraged to bring a news article to discuss for the week's session. Students will be encouraged to look past the headlines. Topics include: Week 1: Court jurisdiction Marbury v. Madison McCulloch v. Maryland Week 2: First Amendment Tinker v. Des Moines Morse v. Frederick Brandenburg v. Ohio Week 3: Equal protection Dredd Scott v. Sanford Plessy v. Ferguson Brown v. Board of Education U.C. Regents v. Bakke. Week 4: Incorporation clause Barron v. City of Baltimore Mapp v. Ohio After week 4 sessions will include new topics related to current topics being considered on the court docket or notable federal/state court decisions.
Learning Goals
Learners will learn how to evaluate the importance of the Constitutional framework and the court's role in this process. I employ the Socratic method and will have students in later classes research and present on topics they have an interest in. Students will learn to examine current legal issues critically.
Other Details
Parental Guidance
Students will be expected and required to respect different views and experiences. To this end, we will look at legal issues from varying perspectives, with a focus on objective and provable facts. The class will focus on multiple perspectives about current case law. Source material will include judicial decisions, legislative reports, and videos. Since this is primarily a history class there will be references to historical documents and articles from a variety of sources to include, but not limited to, reference materials from services such as Westalaw and Lexis/Nexis and the National Archives.
External Resources
Learners will not need to use any apps or websites beyond the standard Outschool tools.
Sources
After the first few classes, students will be asked to research news articles related to the that week's topic. The class will focus on multiple perspectives, consequently, multiple news sources from varying perspectives may be used, to include major news media sources (e.g. CNN, Fox, MSNBC, the Hill).
The instructor will use source material, such as judicial decisions and legislative reports.
Joined August, 2020
5.0
491reviews
Popular
Teacher expertise and credentials
2 Degrees
Juris Doctor in Political Science and Government from SUNY at Buffalo School of Law
Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Government from SUNY at Albany
I am a judge, former federal prosecutor, policy counsel, and college and law school professor. My bachelor's degree is from the State University of New York at Albany in Political Science and History, with a minor in Economics. I also earned a Juris Doctorate from the University of Buffalo. I have nearly 30 years of experience as a litigator, policy counsel, and law professor.
I strive to teach social studies, civics, and history in a way that inspires and entertains while fostering curiosity and critical thinking. As a proud father of three, I’ve spent the past couple of years getting used to the post-Covid homeschool experience.
As required by Outschool regarding I have significant expertise in conflict resolution and mediation. I have received mediation training as part of my legal degree and receive continuing education training in both mediation and conflict resolution to retain my legal licensure. I have participated in several mediation and alternative dispute resolution proceedings. I have provided training in conflict resolution and de-escalation at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. In 2020 I co-taught a class on mediation at the Univerity of Maryland, School of Social Work. Reviews
Live Group Class
$20
weekly1x per week
55 min
Completed by 69 learners
Live video meetings
Ages: 11-14
1-5 learners per class
