Posted by Orin Kerr:
OurCourts.Org and Ideas for Games About Constitutional Law:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_03_15-2009_03_21.shtml#1237659793
Retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is behind a new website,
[1]OurCourts.Org, that is desiged to teach students abot the
importance of the judicial system and constitutional rights. The[2]
site indicates that it will soon host two new games that students can
play to learn about the Constitution and the Supreme Court:
Do I have a Right?
In this game, students will advise fictional kids about their
rights under the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. As they
advance, additional rights are unlocked and the scenarios get more
complex. This short game will teach students that they have
important rights grounded in the specific Amendments to the
Constitution.
Supreme Decision: Freedom of Speech
In this game, students will work for a Justice of the Supreme
Court. They will use the First Amendment of the Constitution to
help their Justice decide whether a fellow student, Ben, can be
suspended from school for wearing his favorite band t-shirt. If
they demonstrate good reasoning, students earn the chance to write
the majority opinion for the Supreme Court. This game will ask
students to explore the parameters of the First Amendments free
speech guarantee so that they can assist the Justices in performing
their constitutional role.
This is a pretty interesting idea. Here are two more suggestions
that I've come up with for games that the site might want to use:
Reasonable Obsever
In this game, students will advise a fictional client as to how to
apply the "reasonable observer" test to determine when government
conduct is an unconstitutional establishment of religion. At the
end of the game, retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor will appear
and tell students whether they are right or wrong.
Supreme Decision: Count to Five
In this game, students will work for a Justice of the Supreme
Court. They will use personal advocacy and negotiation to try to
get five votes for whatever result the Justice wants. If they
demonstrate good political skills, students earn the chance to
write the majority opinion for the Supreme Court. But be careful:
Better write that opinion narrowly or you might lose Tony!
Feel free to offer your own ideas for new games in the comment thread.
References
1. http://Ourcourts.org/
2. http://Ourcourts.org/play-games
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