American Bar Association
1998 Silver Gavel Award Winners: Film and Video

1998 WINNERS | NEWSPAPERS | BOOKS | TELEVISION | RADIO | FILMS & VIDEOS | NEW MEDIA

Profiles of Freedom: A Living Bill of Rights Close Up Foundation Alexandria, Virginia Joseph Geraghty, Producer Don Sanders, Director John Milewski, Executive Director Linda Monk, Educational Consultant

Profiles of Freedom: A Living Bill of Rights is a 28-minute video designed for use in high school social studies classes. It profiles four ordinary Americans turned extraordinary citizens who took their cases to the U.S. Supreme Court. Through these four stories-connected by a group of high school students discussing the issues involved in the cases-Profiles of Freedom seeks to demonstrate that the Bill of Rights is a living document that is directly relevant to the lives of all Americans, including young people. For each case, the video draws on interviews with the litigants, lets viewers listen to excerpts from the actual oral arguments before the Court, and provides legal analysis and historical context by Peter Irons, a political scientist at the University of California at San Diego and author of The Courage of Their Convictions. The cases featured are:

• Tinker v. Des Moines (1969)--Mary Beth Tinker, an eighth grader suspended from school for wearing a black armband to protest the Vietnam War, prompts a landmark ruling on students' rights;
• Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (1990)--Bridget Mergens, a high school student in Omaha who defends her religious freedom and right to form an after-school Bible club;
• Miranda v. Arizona (1966)--Ernesto Miranda, a criminal defendant whose case resulted in a seminal Supreme Court decision on the rights of the accused; and
• Texas v. Johnson (1989)--Joey Johnson, a self-proclaimed communist whose conviction for burning an American flag was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court on First Amendment grounds.

Availability: the video, with accompanying teachers' guide, can be obtained from the Close Up Foundation for $59.95 plus $9.00 shipping and handling, 800-765-3131.

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COMMITTEE COMMENTARY

This stylishly energetic and engaging video makes the case that the Bill of Rights is more than just a piece of paper, that it's a document given life through acts of conscience and courage by individual Americans-and that these individuals need not be adults, but could even be young people. Showing high school students themselves engaging in extremely lively debate about the cases makes Profiles of Freedom particularly striking and effective as an educational tool. The video fits beautifully within the purpose of the Gavel Awards to foster public understanding of legal and constitutional issues. It would be a wonderful piece for adults to view, but it is especially appropriate for high school students.

E X C E R P T S   F R O M   P RO F I L E S  O F  F R E E D O M:
A  L I V I N G   B I L L  O F  R I G H T S

PROF. PETER IRONS: The Supreme Court has never laid out fully what the rights are of an American citizen or a resident of this country. They do it case by case. So, our rights grow in very small steps. [The Bill of Rights] only has meaning, it only has vitality when people act in ways to bring it to life-and, very often, these are ways that bring us into conflict with authority.

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BARRY (female student): Mary Beth Tinker was an 8th grade student in Des Moines, Iowa who wanted to peacefully protest the [Vietnam] War.... So she wore a black armband to school. She and her brother both did. She was suspended immediately and the reason was they thought it would cause violence and thought it would cause disruption in the classes.... She wasn't hurting anybody. She wasn't trying to impose her views on anyone else.

JONG SUP (male student): I am totally against the war, but how can you say you're not imposing your view on other people by wearing such a band.

ALEX (female student): By expressing her views, she wasn't imposing them on anyone else. She wasn't saying, okay, you have to believe what I believe because this is what I'm expressing. She wasn't doing that.... she was just saying, hey, this is what I think.

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IRONS: The majority of the Court, in a very strong opinion by Justice Fortas, said schools are not enclaves of totalitarianism and students do not shed their rights at the schoolhouse door. So, the Court had a very strong opinion in this case, upholding the right of the students. And the dissenting opinions were equally strong. Justice Hugo Black, who normally supported all First Amendment cases, was very firm in saying that this is different because it is students in a school and they could disrupt the school.

BARRY: I can really appreciate people who do that because it takes a lot of courage. Like she had death threats.... I think she really took a stand. Mary Beth rocks!

MARY BETH TINKER: I'm proud if some teenager somewhere thinks that I "rock." That's pretty great.

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