Summative Essay Prompt Directions

Principles of American Democracy The Judiciary Unit Summative In-Class Essay Directions and Prompt – Importance of Judicial Review This essay will serve as the basis of your understanding of this unit. Pulling from all the information we dove into throughout our unit on the judiciary, you will write an essay with substantive evidence that argues on behalf of judicial review and its impact on American society. In doing so, you will provide evidence in addition to the Supreme Court cases provided below. The power of judicial review was not always available to the Supreme Court of the United States as it was only presented in the case of Marbury v. Madison (1803). You will have the entire class period to answer the following questions to the best of your availability in essay format as this is to mimic the structure of an AP exam. Taking a few moments in the beginning to brainstorm and plan the structure of your essay is recommended as it will aid in the writing process. In your response, use examples when appropriate, but this does not mean use zero examples. It is imperative to back up all claims with evidence from the textbook, review sessions, and any supreme court cases we discussed in class. The Quizlet flashcard set will be of great help as a review aide for this in-class essay. 1.

Since institution of judicial review, the United States Supreme Court has had the ability to assess the constitutionality of laws. a. In this essay, the Civil Rights movement will be analyzed, require synthesis, and require inference regarding the institution of judicial review into our law as a basis for this movement. i. Discuss what judicial review is and your perceived impact it has on the standing of American society today - if it was never implemented would we have made the same progress? Provide reasoning or an example for why this is or is not the case b. As the Supreme Court’s job is to interpret laws, would this be fully possible without judicial review? c. Refer to the case provided below that helped advance the Civil Rights movement and describe how this would not have been possible without judicial activism and judicial review. i. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) 1. “separate but equal, is inherently unequal.” d. To conclude, would the United States be the same without judicial review? In your own words, how important are judicial review and activism to the foundation of this country? How does it span beyond our legal system? How are ordinary people affected?