Ken’s idea was to create scenarios in which several of the concepts in the system of checks and balances would be used. Before reading the scenarios, students will be broken into three groups: Congress, the President (there will be a few students doing this job!) and the Supreme Court. The first scenario was to say that Congress created a law taxing New York & California wine exports. From prior knowledge of the Constitution, students will know that the Congress cannot tax exports from states. It is our hope that the President will veto the law, Congress will overturn the veto, and the Supreme Court will then declare the law unconstitutional. There are several ways that this can turn out. I will report the results when the activity is done.
The first scenario is written like this:
Because the economy needs a boost, the Congress has passed a tax on wine being shipped out of California, New York, &; Texas. Lately these states’ wines have been beating French wines in sales worldwide.
Directions:
Decide what you should do with this information considering what your position is in the government.
(Hint: Use your constitution scavenger hunt, the text of the Constitution, and talk to other government officials to help you.)
• President
• Vice President
• Senate
• House
The second scenario we plan on using is this:
There is evidence that United States Supreme Court Justice Gilliard took a bribe from Black Oil Co. for $250,000. Black Oil wants to defrost Alaska to tap unused oil resources. In order to move forward with their project, Black Oil needs the Supreme Court to rule that a Congressional law restricting defrostation of Alaska is illegal. Justice Gilliard is a good friend of the current president of the United States, makes $200,000 a year, has stock in Black Oil, and was appointed by the current president.
The directions for the second scenario are the same.
This fits perfectly into my philosophy of living history. It is important for students to be able to identify and experiment with what they are learning!