General Resources
Topic Starter Resources
Right to Bear Arms - Starter 1: State Constitutions: Massachusetts and Wisconsin
- Constitutional Topic: The Second Amendment
- Parker v. District of Columbia, No. 04-7041
Slip Opinions from U.S. Court of Appeals from the DC Circuit. Select “March 2007” from the drop down menu to access the slip opinion. - Little Boost for Gun Control or Agreement on Causes, The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press
- The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms: The Common Law Tradition
- State Constitutional Provisions on the Right to Bear Arms
- U.S. v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939)
- ABA Division for Public Education, "Gun Laws and Policies: A Dialogue," Focus on Law Studies, Vol. XVIII, No. 2 (Spring, 2003).
- The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence
Supports gun control laws. - The Cato Institute
The Cato Institute is a non-profit public Supports individual rights interpretation of Second Amendment. - The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence
Supports gun-control laws. - The National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action
Advocates for Second Amendment rights.
- Constitutional Topic: The Second Amendment
- Exploring Constitutional Conflicts: A Right to Bear Arms?
- Firearm and Crime Statistics, Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice
- Parker v. District of Columbia, No. 04-7041
Slip Opinions from U.S. Court of Appeals from the DC Circuit. Select “March 2007” from the drop down menu to access the slip opinion. - PollingReport.com: Guns
- The Right to Bear Arms in Washington D.C. by George Will, from town.hall.com
- U.S. v. Miller, 307 U.S. 174 (1939)
- Excerpts from Records of the Convention, including discussion and development of the Preamble
- Excerpt from Federalist Number 84, written by Alexander Hamilton, discusses the Preamble
- Excerpt from Brutus no. 12 (Anti-Federalist papers)
- Charles Pinckney, speech to the South Carolina House of Representatives
- Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution
- The National Archives and Records Administration has an exhibition which explores each phrase of the Preamble
- Learn a song to help you memorize the Preamble to the Constitution.
You'll see that the version omits the words "of the United States", and adds one other word.
- An outline of the history of voting rights in the United States
- The Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
- Voting Rights Act of 1965
- Information about the Twenty-Sixth Amendment and Youth Voting
- Definitions of popular sovereignty and history
- David Hume, "Of the Original Contract"
- James Madison, Federalist No. 46
- Letter from Thomas Jefferson to James Madison
- Facts on Post Conviction DNA Exonerations
- http://www.innocenceproject.org, this site also provides information about some of the reasons for false convictions
- The Death Penalty Information Center includes information about the moratorium on executions in Illinois
- The Death Penalty Information Center also includes information about former death row inmates who have been exonerated
- "The Unkillable Death Penalty: DNA Tests Won't Stop Capital Punishment" outlines the history of the death penalty in the United States and argued that DNA tests won't end capital punishment
- Trop v. Dulles (1958) 356 U.S. 86
- Weems v. United States, 217 U.S. 349
- "Evolving Standards of Decency" as applied to juveniles, Juvenile Justice Center, American Bar Association
- Read more about originalism and "original intent"
- Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005)
- Online NewsHour Coverage of Roper v. Simmons
- Supreme Court Watch coverage of Atkins v. Virginia
- The Death Penalty Information Center also includes information about the death penalty in other countries around the world.
- The Electronic Privacy Information Center contains information about the Patriot Act
- Chicago Tribune, "The Surprising Lessons of the Patriot Act"
- Washington Post, "Memo Offered Justification for Use of Torture"
- Debate between Senator Patrick Leahy (Vermont-D) and Jon Kyl (Arizona-R) about NSA wiretaps
- The Center for American Progress includes a list of FAQs with respect to the NSA wiretaps
- Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company v. Sawyer
- The Council on Foreign Relations asked five scholars to consider the legality of the NSA wiretaps; some of the separation of powers issues are addressed
- The Exploring Constitutional Conflicts web site provides a history of Supreme Court decisions on war powers
- The charges against the King in the Declaration of Independence give a sense of some of the complaints the Founders had against the monarchy, particularly with respect to war
- The Records of the Constitutional Convention record some debate about whether the power to "declare war" should be in the hands of Congress
- Alexander Hamilton defended the broad war powers given to Congress in Federalist number 23
- The Addresses and Reasons of Dissent of the Minority of the Convention of Pennsylvania to Their Constituents [Anti federalist position on separation of powers]
- Baron de Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
- Eighteenth-Century American Constitutionalism by Gordon S. Wood
- FindLaw article on Separation of Powers and Checks and Balances
- The Founders Constitution
- The Federalist Papers
- James Madison (A Short Biography)
- The Origins of the Constitution by Gordon S. Wood
- The Spirit of the Laws by Baron de Montesquieu, Charles-Louis de Secondat
- Abstract and Resources: Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004), Docket No. 03-6696
- Alien & Sedition Acts
- Authorization for Use of Military Force, September 18, 2001
- Brandenburg v. Ohio
- Civil Liberties Act of 1988
- Espionage Act of 1917
- Executive Order 9066
- Ex parte Merryman
- Ex parte Milligan 71 U.S. 2 (1866)
- Korematsu v. United States, 323 U.S. 214 (1944)
- Sedition Act of 1918 (Amended Espionage Act of 1917
- ABA Dialogue on Brown v. Board of Education
- Central High Web Site: 40th Anniversary
- Little Rock School Integration Crisis, Documents from the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, National Archives and Record Administration
- U.S. Constitution Article I Annotations: Legislative Power
- U.S. Constitution Article II Annotations: Executive Power
- The Federalist No. 76 (1788), Alexander Hamilton
- Filibuster and Cloture
- Political Parties
- Taking Issue: Two Views on Judicial Filibuster, In Defense of the Filibuster and No More Obstruction
- NPR Coverage on Judicial Filibusters
- An Independent Judiciary: Report of the ABA Commission on Separation of Powers and Judicial Independence
- Cloture Attempts on Nominations: CRS Report for Congress, April 22, 2005
- The Ginsberg Rule by Edwin Meese III and Todd Gaziano
- Ideology Matters: A Progressive Viewof the Judicial Confirmation Process
- Judging By Where You Sit
- Statement of Cass Sunstein: Ideology and Judicial Nominations
- Cloture Attempts on Nominations: CRS Report for Congress, April 22, 2005
- Direct Election of Senators
- Filibuster Precedent? Democrats Point to '68 and Fortas
- NPR Coverage of Judicial Filibusters
- Pew Research Center for the People and the Press: Disengaged Public Leans Against Changing Filibuster Rules
- Taking Issue: Two Views on Judicial Filibuster, In Defense of the Filibuster and No More Obstruction
- Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury Baptists; The Draft and Recently Discovered Text
- Jefferson's Letter to the Danbury Baptists: The Final Letter, as Sent
- Exploring Constitutional Conflicts: Introduction to the Establishment Clause
- Exploring Constitutional Conflicts: Free Exercise of Religion
- Religion and the Founding of the Republic from the Library of Congress
- The Roots of Religious Liberty
- First Amendment Center
- The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
- Exploring Constitutional Conflicts: Introduction to the Establishment Clause
- Exploring Constitutional Conflicts: Free Exercise of Religion
- Establishment of Religion from FindLaw
- Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
- Supreme Court's Voucher Ruling Dramatic, Not Surprising by Tony Mauro (About Zelman v. Simmons-Harris)
- Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, 536 U.S. 639 (2002)
- Context is Key to Sorting Out Commandments Rulings by Tony Mauro
- First Amendment Center
- McCreary County v. ACLU, Docket No. 03-1693 (2005)
- Supreme Court Splits on 2 Ten Commandments Cases by the Associated Press
- The Ten Commandments, Other Displays and Mottos from The First Amendment Center
- Van Orden v. Perry, Docket No. 03-1500
- Fourth Amendment
- Privacy, the Common Good, and Individual Liberties in the 21st Century: A Dialogue on Policy, Law, and Values, Focus on Law Studies, American Bar Association Division for Public Education, Spring 2000, Volume XV Number 2
- Understanding Search and Seizure Law
- The State of Surveillance, Business Week Online
- Fourth Amendment, From FindLaw
- Illinois v. Cabales, U.S. Supreme Court Decision
- Merit Briefs on Illinois v. Cabales from Preview of U.S. Supreme Court Cases
- Privacy, the Common Good, and Individual Liberties in the 21st Century: A Dialogue on Policy, Law, and Values, Focus on Law Studies, American Bar Association Division vor Public Education, Spring 2000, Volume XV Number 2
