Judicial Decisions

Students and Modern Free Expression Analysis

Your Name __________________________________

1.Choose onemodern scenario to analyze from the lessonA, B, or C.

Your Scenario ____A________

Scenario AA teacher at Highland High School requires all of their students to bring in food from a Spanish country as a part of their Spanish class project. The due date for this project fell during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, Muslims must abstain from all food or drink from dawn to sunset. A Muslim student was not able to participate in the project and received no credit, lowering the student's class average by a full letter grade. The parent argued that this was a violation of the student's rights. The teacher argued that at the beginning of the school year, the teacher sent out a syllabus that included the requirements for the project and its due date for the parent to sign. The parent of the student did sign the syllabus and it was kept as a record in the teacher's files. The school sided with the teacher, that the parent was informed about the project and that it is school policy for students to complete work on time.

2. Respond in complete paragraphs to each of the following prompts:

• Identify which case from the lesson could be used as a precedent and explain why. (Note: there could be more than one case used as precedent.)

• Explain which side you would rule for. Remember that personal opinion is not a valid justification for a Court opinion. Answer these questions in your explanation:

• Is the school's policy or employee's action aligned with, or in violation of, the Constitution? Explain your response.
• How does the precedent case influence your ruling?

• Does your ruling reflect loose or strict interpretation of the Constitution? Explain your response.

• Some of your fellow justices do not agree with your ruling. Discuss what reasoning they might use in their dissent.