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Section Summaries
The Big Ideas
The Third Branch

Landmark Cases
First Amendment
Fourth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment
Checks and Balances

The Third Branch

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The Landmark Cases Section
Landmark Cases navigation image

The Landmark Cases menu organizes the site’s content around Landmark cases. Landmark cases fall into four thematic areas: First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, and Checks and Balances. 

For instance, the case Tinker v. Des Moines concerns the First Amendment right of free speech. The First Amendment module consists of an introduction to free speech, the Tinker case, a t-shirt game that builds on the ideas set forth in the Tinker case, and two related cases that distinguish between expression protected by the First Amendment and expressions that are personal and not protected by the First Amendment.

A teacher wishing to cover free speech or censorship could assign the First Amendment modular as a precursor to the class lesson.   Because the concepts build with each storyline in the Landmark Case approach, students can gain a more in depth understanding of the constitutional implications of each covered Amendment.