OBJECTIVE You will be able to define judicial review and explain the purpose/process of creating an amendment. DO FIRST How does the judicial branch check the powers of the executive and legislative branches? Look back at your foldable if you need to! Amend: to change or add a law VOCABULARY The framers of the Constitution intended for the Constitution to be the supreme law of the land. That means no other laws or actions by the government can conflict with the Constitution. Protecting the Constitution is one of the most important responsibilities of the judicial branch. This branch is made up of the state and national court system. Raise the roof for TRUE, wag the finger for FALSE. The Supreme Court is the highest court in our country, but the President has the power to veto what the Supreme Court decides. FALSE! The Supreme Court has the final say on the constitutionality of any law! The Constitution provides a basic framework for the judicial branchit establishes the countrys highest court (the Supreme Court). It also gives Congress the power to create lower courts to meet the needs of the states. The Supreme Court is made up of 9 justices (judges), who are appointed by the President, approved by Congress, and serve as a Supreme Court Justice for their entire life. Every year, the Supreme Court gets requests to review thousands of cases. They only accept about a hundred cases. After hearing both sides of the case, the Supreme Court makes their decision and puts it down in writing. Their decision guides the decisions made by judges in lower courts at the state level. Raise the roof for TRUE, wag the finger for FALSE. The Congress appoints the 9 justices of the Supreme Court. FALSE! The President appoints the justices! Judicial Review is the power to decide whether laws and actions of the legislative and executive branches are constitutional. The Constitution does not clearly give this power to the judicial branchinstead, this was decided by a landmark (important) Supreme Court case known as Marbury vs. Madison. This case was the first example where the Supreme Court, led by Justice John Marshall, decided that a law was unconstitutional. This case set a precedent (example) for the futureit forever gave the Supreme Court the power to decide whether existing laws are constitutional (obey the Constitution) or unconstitutional (go against the Constitution). Raise the roof for TRUE, wag the finger for FALSE. The first example of the Supreme Court using the power of judicial review was in the case of Marbury vs. Madison TRUE! In the Supreme Court case of Riley vs. California, the Supreme Court had to make a decision over our right to privacy. When police officers arrest someone, they are legally allowed to search that persons pocket, wallet, or jacket without a warrant in case that person is carrying a weapon. The question is: can a police officer search the cell phone in your pocket if you are arrested? court-limits-cell-phone-searches-after- arrests/court-limits-cell-phone-searches-after- arrests/ We will now discuss how it is possible to CHANGE the Constitution by looking at the purpose and process of adding amendments to our Constitution. YES! The framers of the Constitution created a way to CHANGE the Constitution through the amendment process. We have amended the Constitution TWENTY SEVEN times since it was written. For example, in 1920, many Americans believed that alcohol should be illegalit caused too many problems in society. When enough people agreed to this idea, we amended the Constitution with the 18 th amendment (known as the Prohibition Amendment), which banned the sale of alcohol in the U.S. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2md- mYfZic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2md- mYfZic Did this amendment last very long? No! It was repealed with the 21 st amendment to the Constitution. The Founding Fathers knew that their plan of government wasnt perfect and that a changing society in the future would require changes to the government. For this reason, the framers of the Constitution made it a living documentthis allowed for the adaptation (addition) of laws to the Constitution to reflect changes in society. These additions and changes are what we call the Amendments to the Constitution. The Amendment process allows lawmakers to change or add new laws to the Constitution. With this power to change our plan of government, our lawmakers can ensure that the laws of today reflect the society of today. Though the Founding Fathers died long ago, their plan of government continues to evolve as our American society grows and changes! Thomas Jefferson said that the Constitution belongs to the living and not to the dead. What does he mean by this? Why do you think he wanted to include a way to amend the Constitution? There are two methods that the government can take to amend the Constitution. STEP ONE: A new amendment is proposed by two-thirds vote in the House of Representatives and the Senate in our national Congress. STEP TWO: The new amendment is voted on by the states. If three-fourths of the states ratify (agree to) this new amendment, it becomes part of our Constitution. STEP ONE: Two-thirds of the states call for a new amendment to be added to the Constitution. Each state gathers at a convention (meeting) to discuss the new amendment. STEP TWO: If three-fourths of the state conventions agree to the new amendment, the amendment becomes part of the Constitution. Remember one of our principles of the Constitution is the idea of Federalismthe sharing of powers between state and national government. How does the process of amending the Constitution demonstrate a sharing of power between states and the national government? You will use the materials in your station folder to review key concepts from our lesson today! You will have 5 minutes per station to complete the activity. Read the directions for your station on your activity page and get started once the timer is on!