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| Subject/Title | 12.10.07 - Sedition Act of 1918 | | Synopsis/Intro text | In the midst of World War I, a small but vocal resistance movement gained ground. Congress passed the Sedition Act of 1918. This law, aimed at silencing criticism of the United States during World War I, restricted freedom of speech in the interest of national security. It was not the first time that speech had been restricted for this reason, nor would it be the last. This eLesson explores the Sedition Act of 1918 and one of the individuals found guilty of violating it, Charles Schenck. | | Last Edited on | 8/20/2009 3:23:00 PM | | | Details |
| Subject/Title | 5.12.05 - Warrant-less Wiretapping | | Synopsis/Intro text | The final Bill of Rights eLesson on the Bill of Rights in Times of Crisis of the school year brings us up to 2008. In the years following the passage of the USA Patriot Act, the federal government’s surveillance programs have been criticized as unconstitutional, as well as defended as essential to the War on Terror. This eLesson focuses on what the National Security Agency (NSA) calls the Terrorist Surveillance Program, known commonly as “warrant-less wiretapping.” | | Last Edited on | 5/12/2008 8:41:00 AM | | | Details |
| Subject/Title | 4.14.08 - September 11 and the USA-PATRIOT Act | | Synopsis/Intro text | On September 11, 2001, nineteen members of the Islamic extremist group Al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial airplanes and crashed them into the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania when the passengers learned of the plot and challenged the terrorists. Just over one month later, Congress passed the USA-PATRIOT Act. This law granted greater surveillance powers to government to investigate terrorist activity. This month’s Bill of Rights in Times of Crisis focuses on Congress’s response to the September 11 attacks. | | Last Edited on | 4/11/2008 5:29:00 PM | | | Details |
| Subject/Title | 03.10.08 - Burning Draft Cards | | Synopsis/Intro text | It was 1965 and American military involvement in the War in Vietnam had been going on for almost ten years. Peace activist David O’Brien opposed the War and burned his draft card on the South Boston Courthouse steps in protest. This month’s Bill of Rights in Times of Crisis eLesson spotlights the case United States v. O’Brien—a case which explored the limits of rights to engage in symbolic speech, and which established enduring criteria for judging the constitutionality of restrictions on speech. | | Last Edited on | 3/7/2008 4:02:00 PM | | | Details |
| Subject/Title | 02.11.08 - WWII Student Flag Cases | | Synopsis/Intro text | Before and during World War II, the Supreme Court heard two cases concerning whether public schools could require students to salute the flag, with two very different rulings. In Minersville v. Gobitas, the Court reasoned that schools could compel the flag salute, as national unity was more important than the individual rights of students who objected. The United States had been fighting World War II for two years when another flag salute case reached the Court. In West Virginia v. Barnette, the Court reversed itself, holding that the heart of the First Amendment was freedom of conscience. This month’s Bill of Rights in Times of Crisis spotlights these two cases. | | Last Edited on | 2/8/2008 3:03:00 PM | | | Details |
| Subject/Title | 1.14.08 - Japanese Internment During WWII | | Synopsis/Intro text | The Supreme Court called the period one of “emergency and peril.” It was World War II, and individuals were being rounded up, forced to leave their homes and businesses, and made to live in camps. The government justified the internments on the basis of national security. They were done swiftly and without the due process required by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. This month’s Bill of Rights in Times of Crisis looks at the forced internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. | | Last Edited on | 1/14/2008 2:11:00 PM | | | Details |
| Subject/Title | 11.13.07 - Press Freedom During the Civil War | | Synopsis/Intro text | Although the First Amendment contains a prohibition against federal restrictions on the press: “Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom … of the press…,” journalists and newspapers have sometimes been prevented from expressing their views during times of national crisis. One such time was the Civil War, the focus of this month’s Bill of Rights in Times of Crisis eLesson. | | Last Edited on | 11/13/2007 8:44:00 AM | | | Details |
| Subject/Title | 10.9.07 - Suspension of Habeas Corpus | | Synopsis/Intro text | The right of accused persons to have a court rule on the legality of their imprisonment is called habeas corpus. This right, which has roots in the Magna Carta, is sometimes called the Great Writ and is essential to liberty and justice. In this month’s Bill of Rights in Times of Crisis eLesson, we explore a period in American history when the right to habeas corpus was suspended. | | Last Edited on | 10/9/2007 10:59:00 AM | | | Details |
| Subject/Title | 9.10.07 - Alien and Sedition Acts | | Synopsis/Intro text | Less than ten years after the First Amendment was ratified, Congress passed the Sedition Act of 1798, making it a crime to criticize the government. Congress and President John Adams claimed the law was needed because the new nation seemed on the brink of war with France. The legal attempt to avoid a military crisis became a crisis for the First Amendment freedoms of speech and press. | | Last Edited on | 9/10/2007 2:52:00 PM | | | Details |
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