Missives from Samsara

Below is the current list of required AP Gov cases. Roe was taken off after it was overturned in 2022. I was familiar with several of these cases through my teaching of AP US History. However, several of the Warren court cases were new to me three years ago when I started teaching AP Gov. Most infuriating on this list? Definitely the last one, which continues to wreak havoc on our democracy.

Marbury v. Madison (1803) In a dispute over “midnight judge” commissions, the Court established the principle of judicial review, which empowers the Supreme Court to declare acts of Congress or the executive unconstitutional. This decision fundamentally established the judicial branch as a co-equal branch of government with the final authority on constitutional interpretation.

McCulloch v. Maryland (1819) The Court ruled that the Necessary and Proper Clause granted Congress the implied power to establish a national bank and that the Supremacy Clause prevented states from taxing federal institutions. This landmark case significantly expanded federal power and solidified the hierarchy of federal law over state law.

Schenck v. United States (1919) During World War I, the Court upheld the conviction of a man distributing anti-draft leaflets, ruling that speech creating a “clear and present danger” is not protected by the First Amendment. This established that First Amendment rights are not absolute and can be limited to maintain social order during times of war or crisis.

Brown v. Board of Education (1954) The Court held that race-based school segregation is inherently unequal and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, overturning the “separate but equal” doctrine. This decision served as the constitutional catalyst for the modern civil rights movement and the desegregation of all public facilities.

Baker v. Carr (1962) By ruling that challenges to legislative redistricting are justiciable (capable of being decided by a court), the Supreme Court opened the door for federal oversight of state voting maps. This led to the “one person, one vote” principle, requiring districts to be roughly equal in population to ensure fair representation.

Engel v. Vitale (1962) The Court ruled that state-sponsored, voluntary prayer in public schools violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. This decision established a firm “wall of separation” between church and state, prohibiting the government from promoting religious activities in public institutions.

Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) The Court held that the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel is a fundamental right that must be provided by states to felony defendants who cannot afford an attorney. Through the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, this case incorporated the right to an attorney into state law, ensuring a more fair and balanced trial process.

Tinker v. Des Moines (1969) The Court protected students' right to wear black armbands to protest the Vietnam War, famously stating that students do not “shed their constitutional rights… at the schoolhouse gate”. This established that symbolic speech is protected in schools as long as it does not cause a “substantial disruption” to the educational environment.

New York Times Co. v. United States (1971) In the “Pentagon Papers” case, the Court bolstered freedom of the press by establishing a “heavy presumption against prior restraint,” even in cases involving national security. This ruling made it extremely difficult for the government to engage in censorship unless it could prove immediate, irreparable harm to the nation.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) The Court ruled that compelling Amish students to attend school past the eighth grade violated the Free Exercise Clause because it interfered with their established religious lifestyle. This decision balanced the state’s interest in education against the individual’s right to practice religion without undue government interference.

Shaw v. Reno (1993) The Court ruled that while creating majority-minority districts is permitted, districts drawn solely based on race can be challenged under the Equal Protection Clause. This established that race-conscious redistricting must be held to a standard of “strict scrutiny” to ensure it does not violate the colorblind ideal of the Constitution.

United States v. Lopez (1995) The Court struck down the Gun-Free School Zones Act, ruling that carrying a gun in a school zone is not an economic activity that affects interstate commerce. This marked a significant turn toward devolution by placing a clear limit on Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause and reaffirming states' rights under the 10th Amendment.

McDonald v. Chicago (2010) This case ruled that the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms for self-defense is a fundamental liberty applicable to the states. Using the doctrine of selective incorporation, the Court restricted state and local governments from implementing effective handgun bans.

Citizens United v. FEC (2010) The Court ruled that political spending by corporations and unions is a form of protected speech under the First Amendment and cannot be limited. This decision led to the rise of Super PACs, allowing for unlimited independent expenditures in political campaigns.

The second part of the quote below resonates strongly with me as a teacher due to the fact that I often come up with ideas for a lesson that I think are great, that don’t land when I am actually in the room with the kids. I think all teachers can relate to this planning problem. Thankfully it happens less as one improves, but often an idea triumphantly sketched out in the summer, is a dud when rolled out in October. Of course, military planning also seems like an example where this sort of thing is often true.

What ideas of yours need improvement before facing the reality of other minds?

The teaching agenda below is from a week and a half ago in my AP Government class. We were early into Unit 3 (Civil Rights and Civil Liberties), which you can detect by the Learning Block (LB) number 3.2. This indicates we are in the second LB of the unit. This particular LB was about freedom of religion, specifically the ‘establishment clause’ and ‘free excercise clause’ of the First Amendment.

AP Gov has a collection of required Supreme Court cases that students need to be familiar with so this learning block was where I was able to introduce Engle v. Vitale and Wisconsin v. Yoder. This agenda ended up being too ambitious and we only got through the first case that day.

To teach the case, I have a published case study that breaks the case down into four parts: Background, Constitutional Issue, Majority Opinion, and Dissenting Opinion. We read it together than I always pair the reading with a short informational video (AP Gov required cases all have several video options available for review on YouTube). After that students work in pairs to answer a set of questions about the case.

The following class, students finished up the LB by looking at the Yoder case then doing some writing in their INBs (Interactive Notebooks) that forces them to synthesize their understanding of both cases.

It is worth noting that I usually start Fridays in all my classes with the one-two punch of a quiz and a self assessment. However, this week was a short week (due to the end of the winter break) so I scratched those two initial activities.

Today and tomorrow, I thought I’d share a couple of typical class agendas. The first is from last Thursday in my AP US History class. This was the final class period before the students took a unit exam. We started by finishing a Digital Inquiry Group lesson about notorious abolitionist John Brown. The plan was to have them answer the Essential Question for the Learning Block (LB), which was ‘Was John Brown a hero or a misguided fanatic?" However, in order to make sure we got through the last Learning Block of the unit, I had them chat about the EQ with a deskmate and then we reviewed together quickly and moved on. The next LB was about the election of 1860. For their IN (my version of the intro to the assignment), I passed out a short, empty chart about the elections of 1800 and 1824. I asked them to work with a partner to identify the winners of each of those elections and anything unusual about them. They chatted, then the whole class reviewed. After that I lectured briefly (about 12 minutes) about the 1860 election (using Google slides that I projected onto the whiteboard in the front of the room). Student were expected to take notes during the short lecture. After that, we had just enough time for students to process their learning by completing an SAQ (Short Answer Question) that I created as their OUT (which is my version of the wrap-up of a LB).

I am teaching my students about the coming of the American Civil War. Today we read about and discussed the Compromise of 1850 and the attendant Fugitive Slave Law. Considering we are two days out from the murder of Renee Nicole Good and a day out from federal agents having shot two people here in Portland, students made some connections. Of course, some of my students are currently quite frightened by what is happening in our country. Others are seething. I noticed that it was quite easy for them to understand the anger and outrage northern abolitionists must have felt in the 1850s, when their federal government was behaving in such a patently immoral way. Unlike any other year that I have taught this, students are connecting in a unique and powerful way.

You might say events, along with an understanding of the past, are waking them up.

We are looking at Congress as an institution in my AP Government class at the moment. In order to allow students to see the demographics of Congress relative to our society, I provide the official report that Congress makes available and ask student to do a bit of research. Below is a demographic summary of Congress, in all its dysfunction. Note, this does not include the recently elected Democratic congresswoman from Arizona Adelita Grijalva.

1. Party breakdown (May 13, 2025): • House: 220 Republicans (plus 3 Delegates), 213 Democrats (plus 2 Delegates and the Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico), and 2 vacant seats. • Senate: 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and 2 Independents (both caucus with Democrats).

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2. Women in Congress: • 155 women serve (129 in the House, including 4 Delegates; 26 in the Senate). • They make up 28.65% of total membership. • Women make up about 50.5% of the overall U.S. population, so they remain underrepresented.

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3. Average age: • House: 57.9 years • Senate: 63.9 years • Median U.S. age: about 39 years (U.S. Census 2024). → Members of Congress are much older on average than the general population.

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4. Most common professions: • Law, business, and public service/politics. → In contrast, the most common U.S. jobs overall are in retail, food service, and office administration—showing Congress is dominated by professionals rather than service-sector workers.

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5. Education: • 96% of Members are college graduates; 66% of House and 78% of Senate members hold advanced degrees. • By comparison, only about 38% of U.S. adults have a bachelor’s degree or higher—so Congress is far more highly educated than the general population.

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6. Average length of service: • Representatives: 8.6 years (about 4.3 terms) • Senators: 11.2 years (about 1.9 terms) → A more experienced Congress can mean institutional knowledge and policy expertise, but can also reduce turnover and fresh perspectives. Conversely, many newcomers can bring new ideas but may lack legislative experience.

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7. Religious affiliations: • 55.1% Protestant, 28.0% Catholic, 6.0% Jewish, 1.7% Latter-day Saints, small numbers of Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and Orthodox members. • Compared to the U.S. population, which is about 63% Christian and more religiously diverse overall, Congress remains more heavily Christian.

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8. African American Members: • 61 in the House (including 2 Delegates), 5 in the Senate → 66 total (12.2%). • African Americans make up about 13.6% of the U.S. population, so representation is roughly proportional.

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9. Hispanic or Latino Members: • 50 in the House (including 1 Delegate and the Resident Commissioner), 6 in the Senate → 56 total (10.35%). • Hispanics/Latinos make up about 19% of the U.S. population, so they remain underrepresented.

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10. Asian American and Pacific Islander Members: • 24 total (21 in the House, 3 in the Senate) → 4.4% of Congress. • Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are about 7.5% of the U.S. population, so they are underrepresented.

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11. Native American Members: • 4 total (3 in the House, 1 in the Senate) → 0.74% of Congress. • Native Americans are about 1.3% of the U.S. population, so they are underrepresented.

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12. Military service: • 98 Members (18.1%) have served or are serving in the military. • This is down sharply from 64% in the 97th Congress (1981–82) and 73% in the 92nd (1971–72). • About 6% of U.S. adults are veterans today—so Congress still has a higher veteran rate than the general population but much lower than mid-20th-century levels.