Refer back to your analysis of the Bill of Rights.

• What do you think these rights are that they thought

worth protecting under the Ninth?
• Is it appropriate for judges to make the decision about
the nature and content of these rights, or should be it up
to the people through their elected representatives?
 Enquiry Question:
How far are the rights contained within the
constitution an effective guarantee of freedom?
 Learning Outcomes
• To explain the freedoms that are protected by the
constitution
• To examine the balance between liberty and security
• To evaluate how well these freedoms are protected
 Constitutional Liberty
What freedoms and rights are protected?
The Founders listed several
rights guaranteed to the
people in the first eight
amendments of the Bill of
Rights.
They did not believe that
this list was all
encompassing, so they
included the Ninth
Amendment as a way to
protect the rights of the
people that were not listed
in the first eight.

YOUR TASK: Read the hand-out “How does the Constitution Protect
Liberty”, and answer the questions.
 ROUND TABLE DISCUSSION
• How do the rights in the Bill of Rights protect liberty?
Why did the Founders list these rights in the Bill of
Rights?
• Why is due process protected in more than one
amendment? What due process rights are protected?
• Explain why the limits on rights in the following
passage are important and how they are related to
liberty:
“You have a right to free speech. You do not, however,
have the right to make anyone listen to you. The right
to speak does not include the right to be heard…This
principle demonstrates how personal liberty goes
hand in hand (goes together) with personal
responsibility. There are no rights in the Bill of Rights
that require others to act on your behalf.”
 CASE STUDY
Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925)
Background
In 1922, the state of Oregon passed the Compulsory Education Act. The law stated
that all children between the ages of eight and sixteen must attend public school.
The Society of Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, nuns who ran a local
Catholic school, and Hill Military Academy, a private school, sued the governor,
attorney general, and district attorney. Both groups argued that the state was
violating their Fourteenth Amendment rights. The Sisters argued the state was
violating parents’ rights to choose where their children went to school, and the
Academy argued that the policy violated their right to due process by taking the
school’s property in money made through contract with parents, employees, and for
supplies and equipment.

Key Questions:
• What did the Compulsory Education Act require?
• Why were religious and private schools concerned about this law?
• What other constitutional arguments could have been made in this case?
• Why do you think these arguments were not made?
 CASE STUDY
Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925)
Unanimous Opinion
The Supreme Court agreed that the Oregon law requiring children to attend public
schools was unconstitutional. The majority opinion stated that the liberty that the
United States was established to protect does not allow “any general power of the
State to standardize its children by forcing them to accept instruction from public
teachers only.” The Court also said that “the right to conduct schools was property,
and that parents and guardians, as a part of their liberty, might direct [control] the
education of children by selecting reputable [responsible] teachers and places,” and,
“children are not mere creatures of the state.” The Court believed that parents have
a right to decide whether their children will be home-schooled or go to a public,
private, or religious school. It is not up to the government to decide.

Key Questions:
• Do you agree with the Court’s ruling? Explain your answer.
• What is the importance, if any, of the fact that the ruling in this
case was unanimous?
 Learning Outcomes
• To explain the freedoms that are protected by the
constitution
• To examine the balance between liberty and security
• To evaluate how well these freedoms are protected
 The Five Minute Challenge

Design a security policy

for your US High School
that protects public and
private property,
students’ safety, and also
protects the rights of the
population of the school.

• What problems do you encounter while writing the policy?

• Do you make any sacrifices of security or rights in the final
policy?
 Security, Liberty, and the USA Patriot Act
How can you balance liberty and security?

YOUR TASK:
• Read “Department of Justice Summary of the Patriot
Act”.
• As you read, you should annotate the document, listing
constitutional principles and the Preamble’s goals for
government suggested by the summary of the Patriot
Act.
• E.g. republicanism, separation of powers, protection
against unreasonable search and seizure, protection of
free speech, justice, providing for the common
defence, and promoting the general welfare.
 Security, Liberty, and the USA Patriot Act
How can you balance liberty and security?

Preamble Fourth Amendment

“We the people of the United States,
in order to form a more perfect
union, establish justice, insure
domestic tranquility, provide for the
common defense, promote the
general welfare, and secure the
blessings of liberty to ourselves and
our posterity, do ordain and establish
this Constitution for the United
States of America.”
“The right of the people to be secure
in their persons, houses, papers, and
effects, against unreasonable
searches and seizures, shall not be
violated, and no Warrants shall issue,
but upon probable cause, supported
by Oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to
be searched, and the persons or
things to be seized.”

• What concepts or principles of government do these statements have in common?

• In what ways might tension develop between the goals expressed in the Preamble and
the guarantees contained in the Fourth Amendment?
 CONTEXT
Why was the PATRIOT Act needed?
• On September 11, 2001, Al Qaeda, a militant Islamist
organization led by Osama bin Laden, carried out a
series of violent surprise attacks on the United States.
• Nineteen Al Qaeda operatives hijacked four
commercial airliners early that morning in order to
carry out suicide attacks.
• In quick succession the hijackers deliberately crashed
three of the planes into the twin towers of
Manhattan’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
• Passengers on the fourth plane attempted to regain
control of the flight before it crashed into a field near
Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
• Fatalities included the airline passengers and crews,
individuals inside the buildings hit, firefighters and
other first responders.
• Altogether, about 3,000 people were killed in that
morning’s terrorist attacks.
 CONTEXT
Why was the PATRIOT Act needed?
• In response to the worst terrorist attack in U.S.
history, President George W. Bush announced a
War on Terror in a televised address to a joint
session of the U.S. Congress on September 20,
2011.
• Operation Enduring Freedom, launched the
next month, was an international military
effort led by the United States to remove the
Taliban government in Afghanistan which had
harbored the Al Qaeda network and its training
facilities there.
• In addition to the USA Patriot Act, Congress
enacted more than a dozen laws addressing
related issues, including victims’ relief, air
transportation, national defense, and the use
of military force.
YOUR TASK:
• You will work in pairs. One student in
each pair will read the hand-out “U.S.
Senator Rand Paul Opposition to USA
Patriot Act, 2011”.
• The other student will read the hand-
out “President Barack Obama Press
Conference – August 9, 2013”.
• You will each answer the
comprehension and critical thinking
questions on your respective hand-
outs.
• Share your documents with your pair,
and keep a running list of
Constitutional provisions/principles
used to support the Patriot Act and
those used to dispute the law.
 Stretch & Challenge
Push yourself further…
YOUR TASK:
Read the remarks from Senator Russ Feingold and answer these
questions:

• Identify at least 3 provisions of the Patriot Act which Senator Feingold

supported.
• Why is it important that the changes in criminal procedure would apply to
every federal criminal prosecution, rather than applying only to terrorism
investigations?
• Why did Senator Feingold consider the provision allowing law
enforcement officers to search homes and offices without notifying the
owner prior to the search (“sneak and peek” searches) “a significant
infringement on personal liberty”?
• Why might law enforcement agencies support a provision such as the one
the Senator criticizes?
• What was the Senator’s fear regarding the monitoring of computer
communications? Why did he see this as problematic?
 Stretch & Challenge
Push yourself further…
YOUR TASK:
Read the remarks from Attorney General John Ashcroft and answer
these questions:

• What did Attorney General Ashcroft mean by the phrase, “paradigm of prevention”? How is a
paradigm of prevention different from the traditional goal of law enforcement – prosecution?
• Attorney General Ashcroft stated that the targets of the terrorists are “the shared values of free
peoples.” What are some of those values?
• Did Ashcroft omit any “shared values of free peoples”? If so, what are they?
• Why do you think Attorney General Ashcroft emphasizes international cooperation?
• Why do you think he views information as the best friend of prevention?
• Why do you think Attorney General Ashcroft refers to previous generations’ struggle against
communism?
• How many times in the document did Attorney General Ashcroft refer to “rule of law”? Define this
term. What is the significance of his emphasis on that concept? In your opinion, how might enhanced
law enforcement powers actually endanger the principle of rule of law?
• Underline or highlight 5 or 6 sentences in Attorney General Ashcroft’s speech that you think most
powerfully convey his views.
 Learning Outcomes
• To explain the freedoms that are protected by the
constitution
• To examine the balance between liberty and security
• To evaluate how well these freedoms are protected
 To what extent is there disagreement
about how effectively the Constitution
protects freedom?

YOUR TASK: For each of the arguments used by liberals, centrists and
conservatives find TWO examples or pieces of evidence which support
this argument to complete your worksheet, then evaluate each
argument.
– What makes this a strong argument?
– What makes this argument unconvincing?
 Liberals
• Liberals, who define
freedom in positive terms
(fulfilment of potential)
believe that the
Constitution was designed
to protect rights and that it
has had a mixed record at
best.
• Infringement of rights has
often been the result of
bigotry at local level and
the Constitution has often
made it difficult for the
national government to
intervene
Centrists Conservatives
• Centrists argue that the • Conservatives, who define
Constitution strikes the freedom in negative terms
best possible balance (non-interference) believe
between freedom and that the Constitution was
effective government. designed to limit the size
• There have been times and power of government,
when this balance has especially the national
been lost, such as when government, and that it
Japanese Americans were has been largely ineffective
interned during World War at doing so.
II, but it has always been • Each national crisis since
restored the 1930’s has seen the
growth of the national
government with a
proportionate
disempowerment of the
states.
• This is a dynamic that is
inimical to freedom from
interference from a
government that feels
remote
 Learning Outcomes
• To explain the freedoms that are protected by the
constitution
• To examine the balance between liberty and security
• To evaluate how well these freedoms are protected
 Final
Thoughts
• Was the Constitution
Why We’re Losing written in a way that
Liberty! was designed to protect
freedom and limit the
government's size?
• Has it been effective in
doing that?
• And what's the Supreme
Court's record when it
comes to protecting our
rights?
 Homework
Application Task:
To what extent is there disagreement about how
effectively the Constitution protects freedom?
Flipped Learning Preparation Task:
The American Constitution (McKay p44-53)
Stretch & Challenge Task
The Right of Privacy
Does the Constitution protect the right of
privacy?
If so, what aspects of privacy receive protection?