Constitutional Rights and Landmark Cases

This unit examines Fourth and Fifth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches, seizures, and self-incrimination and surveys landmark Supreme Court decisions that shape governmental structure and individual rights. Students will synthesize doctrine and precedent to analyze real-world scenarios, craft reasoned legal responses, and prepare for advanced study or civic/legal careers.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze Fourth Amendment search-and-seizure doctrines (probable cause, reasonable suspicion, exclusionary rule, and recognized exceptions) by applying them to factual scenarios and classroom simulations
• Apply Fifth Amendment protections against self-incrimination by determining when Miranda warnings and valid waivers are required and assessing voluntariness in case studies
• Evaluate ten landmark governmental-structure decisions by summarizing holdings, reasoning, and impacts on separation of powers, federalism, and checks and balances
• Demonstrate the ability to synthesize precedent from ten (plus three) major individual-rights cases to draft persuasive legal arguments, predict outcomes, and recommend policy or practice responses