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Contemporary Issues

In the final activity you will examine some of the issues that face our courts today. How could a group of men, over 200 years ago, write a document that would hold up in our society today? They could not have seen what was to come. Divide into groups of five and follow the instructions on each issue.

Amendment II

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Recent shooting incidents in Colorado and Georgia have brought gun control once again into the public arena. Legislation has been proposed to the House and to the Senate to attempt to alleviate the problem without infringing on the 2nd Amendment. The concept of the necessity of the 2nd Amendment is also in question. Choose one of the following roles and create an argument, either for or against, the 2nd Amendment.

 

Amendment V

No person shall be denied life, liberty, or property without due process of the law.

Amendment VIII

...nor cruel or unusual punishment.

Capital Punishment has always been a controversial topic in the United States. Billions of tax dollars are being spent on housing criminals, and the crime rate is still on the rise. Some see the death penalty as the only answer. Others argue that we do not have the right to choose to take a person's life. Choose one of the following roles and create and argument, either for or against, Capital Punishment.

 

Amendment XIV

all persons born.... in the United States are citizens...

Should we close the borders to the United States? Thousands of illegal immigrants are flooding our nation and living on the tax dollars of citizens. Pregnant women travel across the border to have their children on U.S. soil so that their child will automatically be a U.S. citizen and the mother will be allowed to remain here. Is it time to change the melting pot into a stagnant stew? Choose one of the following roles and create an argument, either for or against, allowing more illegal aliens into the United States.

 

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