The Bill of Rights

The following are potential resources that will assist you in your exploration of how the Bill of Rights applies to contemporary society.

Print Resources
 

 We the Students: Supreme Court Cases for and About Students
(344.73 PAT) Examines Supreme Court cases that directly affect them. The cases involve issues that are of high interest to students, such as drug use, sex and censorship, and freedom of speech and thought.

 

Constitutional Amendments: From Freedom of Speech to Flag Burning
(342.73 PEN)
Covering each of the 27 amendments, this 3-vol. resource provides the history and social context of the amendment process. The introduction includes a general essay on the Constitution and adopting new amendments, followed by chapters highlighting each amendment.

 

The Supreme Court and Individual Rights (342.73)
 Focusing primarily on the revolution in constitutional law over the last century, the book provides full coverage of the freedoms outlined in the Bill of Rights, the right to vote and to engage in political participation, the individual’s right to due process under the law, and modern equality issues such as affirmative action and rights allowed illegal immigrants to the United States.

 

Online Databases & Internet Directories

Bill of Rights Defense Committee
This database provides access to the ongoing national debate about civil liberties and antiterrorism legislation that threaten liberties, such as the USA PATRIOT Act, Homeland Security Act, and several federal executive orders

Legal Track
LegalTrac® provides indexing for more than 1,400 titles including major law reviews, legal newspapers, bar association journals and international legal journals.  LegalTrac® also contains law-related articles from over 1,000 additional business and general interest titles.

Multnomah County Library - Social Issues
This Internet directory is an excellent resource for researching current social issues from multiple perspectives." Arranged by topics, including abortion, affirmative action, AIDS, animal rights, capital punishment, censorship, civil rights, creation science vs. evolution, drugs, euthanasia and assisted suicide, flag burning, gimmigration, school prayer,



Internet Resources

Amendments
Avalon Project: 
The Bill of Rights		 www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/rights1.htm
Cornell LII - US Constitution www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html
NARA www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/bill_of_rights.html

Court Cases 
ALA First Amendment Court Cases www.ala.org/ala/oif/firstamendment/courtcases/courtcases.htm#rd
Legal Information Institute of Cornell - Historic Supreme 
Court Decisions 		 http://straylight.law.cornell.edu/supct/cases/topic.htm
Find Law www.findlaw.com/casecode/constitution/
U.S. Courts www.uscourts.gov
Issues: Pro / Con
Prayer in Public Schools ACLU Religious Liberty: www.aclu.org/ReligiousLiberty/ReligiousLibertyMain.cfm

Engle vs. Vitale - Prayer in the Public Schools (includes supreme court ruling):  http://www.pbs.org/jefferson/enlight/prayer.htm

Religious Tolerance: www.multcolib.org/homework/sochc2.html#gov
Censorship of School Newspapers First Amendment Rights of High Schools and Their Newspapers: http://kitkat.wvu.edu:8080/files/4143/Boggs_Teresa_thesis.pdf

Students Press Law Center - Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier:
http://www.splc.org/legalresearch.asp?id=4
Death Penalty Almanac of Policy Issues - The Death Penalty: www.policyalmanac.org/crime/death_penalty.shtml

Ethics Updates - Punishment and the Death Penalty: http://ethics.sandiego.edu/Applied/DeathPenalty/index.asp

Multnomah County Library - Social Issues: Capitol Punishment:
www.multcolib.org/homework/sochc.html#capital
Search of backpacks 
and lockers without permission		 ABA - Juvenile Justice - School Searches: http://www.abanet.org/crimjust/juvjus/13-2tlo.html

ASBJ.com School Law -  Before You Search That Locker...: http://www.asbj.com/199804/0498schoollaw.html

Guide to Understanding the Rights of the Accused Under the Bill of Rights: http://civicallyspeaking.org/RightsoftheAccusedundertheBillofRights.doc
A cross, nativity, or other religious paraphernalia on 
public property		 ACLU Religious Liberty: www.aclu.org/ReligiousLiberty/ReligiousLibertyMain.cfm

Religious Tolerance: www.multcolib.org/homework/sochc2.html#gov 
Terminally ill and 
assisted death 		 Ethics Updates - Euthanasia and End-of-Life Decisions: http://ethics.sandiego.edu/Applied/Euthanasia/index.asp

Multnomah County Library - Social Issues: Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide: www.multcolib.org/homework/sochc.html#euth

Constitutional Rights Foundation: Should We Have the Right to Die?
www.crf-usa.org/bria/bria16_1.html#die
Primary Sources

ALA Internet Resources - U.S. History - Primary and Secondary  Resources

 http://www.ala.org/ala/acrl/acrlpubs/crlnews/backissues2001/
november3/ushistory.htm

If you don't find what you're looking for in any of the sites above, try your 
own keyword search using the following tips...

Internet Search Tips

  1. Type the URL (web site address) of a search directory/engine in the address box: ex: www.yahoo.com, or www.google.com, etc.
     
  2. (Be sure to type the address exactly the way you see it, including any uppercase letters and punctuation).
     
  3. Type in keyword(s). (If your keyword has two parts such as: "search and seizure", be sure to put quotes around it so that the search engine only finds the Internet sites about search and seizure as opposed to all of the sites containing the word search plus all of the sites containing the word seizure.
     

  4. If you would like to search for something specific about a search and seizure, try a combined keyword search by adding a comma followed by a space and your other search term. For instance; if I wanted to find out about search and seizure of school lockers, I would enter the following:

     

    "search and seizure", school, lockers

     

  5. Hit Enter on your keyboard, or click on Search, then scan the description of the "hits" (entries) and click on the links that sound best.
     
  6. Be sure to evaluate each Internet site for the following:
    • Authority: Can you tell if the author is credible (believable)?
    • Objectivity: Is the information objective (honest and free of bias)?
    • Currency: Is the information recent and up-to-date?
    • Design: Is the site designed in a clear and user friendly way?
    • Navigation: Is the site easy to navigate through, and are all links current and usable?

     

  7. Remember: if you choose to use any information (text or graphics) found on an Internet source, 
    you must include it in your bibliography.

Remember:  YOU MUST CITE EVERY RESOURCE YOU USED to gather information on your 
Works Cited (Bibliography) page.  Use the Works Cited Guide to access MLA format.