Moot Court – Teaching Teenagers to Argue … in court that is
Moot Court is an activity where students work with actual US Supreme Court cases. The materials are designed the challenge students and require them to use all four skills outlined in Common Core: reading, writing, speaking and listening.
Thanks to students, teachers, and scorers for 14 great years! I have put down my gavel.
To purchase printed versions of these materials, please see our distributor, Social Studies School Service.
If you’d like a downloadable version, please go to our store on Teachers Pay Teachers .
The Moot Court packet materials consist of:
A PDF with the nine moot court cases to date as follows:
| Year | Case |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Roper v Simmons (juvenile death penalty-8th Amendment) |
| 2007 | Morse v. Frederick (student 1st Amendment, Free Speech rights) |
| 2009 | Ricci v. DeStefano (white firefighters discrimination-14th Amendment |
| 2011 | J.D.B v. North Carolina (juvenile Miranda rights-5th Amendment) |
| 2012 | NFIB v. Sibelius (Obamacare-Congress Tax Powers) |
| 2013 | Maryland v. King (DNA cheek-swab 4th Amendment) |
| 2014 | McCutcheon v. FEC (campaign finance limits – 1st Amendment) |
| 2015 | Obergefell v Hodges (Same-sex marriage-14th Amendment) |
| 2016 | Utah v Strieff (seach and seizure-4th Amendment) |
| 2008 and 2010* | The issues and outcomes of these two cases were revised by later US Supreme Court decisions, so are no longer relevant. |
| 2017 | Trinity Lutheran Church v Comer (Religious Clauses-1st Amendment) |
| 2018 | Carpenter v United States (cell phone search–4th Amendment) |
Supporting classroom materials.
MS Word Brief Templates in which students can type their briefs (Brief Template Blank)
and blank and sample IRAC—Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion—(case summary worksheets). Blank IRAC
The 2015 Moot Court case Obergefell v Hodges (same-sex marriage) is also part of a simulation called And Justice for … The Supremes Greatest Hits. For more information, click here
All 11 cases are available as PDF on our Teachers Pay Teachers pages
If you have questions or need help, please use our contact form to order.
We also have another law-related packet
Citizens United v. FEC (a case about campaign funding) which you can find here.
Additional Materials Available:
1) Moot Court 2008-2014
A PDF with all moot court cases and supporting classroom materials, minus the competition rules and forms (see Moot Court page for a short description of each case). We will continue to add the new case each year, generally around the beginning of September. Also available are companion MS Word pieces: Brief Templates for all cases. Blank and sample IRAC—Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion—(case summary worksheet). Cost for for the printed version is $49 (see below link); the downloadable PDF is $49 (the PDF has 10 cases, the printed version only has 9).
The 2018 is available from Teachers Pay Teachers.
2) Citizens United v. FEC case
We felt that this U.S. Supreme Court (USSC) case will be highly relevant for current and future elections, so created a set of materials to explore its implications. Cost for for the printed version is $49 (see below link); the downloadable PDF is $20.
3) And Justice for … The Supremes Greatest Hits
A full Moot Court packet on an important USSC case (Obergefell v. Hodges–same sex marriage) from the 2015 term (October 5, 2015 through June 30, 2016), plus materials and excerpts from 10 other important cases from that term. The packet has five different activities and a host of links. Cost for the printed version is $49 (see below link); the downloadable PDF is $30.
Ordering/Purchasing information
If you are interested in ordering a downloadable version, please see our pages on Teachers Pay Teachers
To purchase a printed version, please contact Social Studies School Service: socialstudies.com.
If you have questions, please use our contact form or phone 925.708.6527.