Cases in Controversy DVD: Reviews and Awards

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Awards

Cases in Controversy wins a Telly Award.
	Cases in Controversy: The 14th Amendment was a Telly Finalist for Best History/Biography in the 25th annual Telly Awards. --Telly Awards

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Professional Reviews

"Highly Recommended." --Video Librarian

Since being ratified in 1868, the 14th amendment, which grants equal protection to all citizens under the law and prohibits states from passing legislation abridging the privileges or immunities of U.S. citizens, has been associated with many significant civil rights cases heard by the United States Supreme Court. Cases in Controversy: The 14th Amendment highlights 14 cases from 1873-1973, including such landmark decisions as Plessy v. Ferguson, Brown v. Board of Education, and Roe v. Wade. Using stills and reenactments, the program presents an overview of each case, along with historical background information, followed by the Supreme Court decision (and any dissenting opinions), and concludes with insights from law professors from Vanderbilt and St. Louis universities.

The DVD's extra features constitute a treasure trove for law buffs and students doing research, with 120 minutes of bonus footage featuring extended interviews, as well as full-text Supreme Court opinions and biographies of Supreme Court justices. Highly Recommended.

"...excellent resource for high-school students." --Booklist

Ratified in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment states that the US government cannot discriminate. This DVD introduces 14 Supreme Court cases (from 1873-1973) related to this amendment. An onscreen host introduces each case and discusses its historical significance before a short reenactment illustrates the ruling.

Interviewed history and law experts offer follow-up commentary on each case, including the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson case, which ruled in favor of railways assigning passengers seats in segregated compartments. Later cases, such as Brown v. Board of Education, outlawed these "separate but equal" practices and set the stage for civil rights legislation. Cases involving racial makeup of juries, privacy issues, and due process clauses are introduced as well in this excellent resource for high-school students.

"Not only are these interviews some of the most interesting features, but the biographies of the Supreme Court Justices, alone, are worth getting the DVD for." --Kim Wolf, Staff Writer, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

"…no state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States…nor deny to any citizen the equal protection of the laws…" from the 14th Amendment.

The 14th Amendment is one of the most important Amendments to homeschoolers and others who have faced discrimination; that's why it's known as The Amendment that changed life in the United States. As such, we should be as clear concerning our understanding of it and we can. In this Cases in Controversy DVD edition, 14 cases from 1873 to 1973 are covered in detail. Some of those cases are Brown v. Board of Education, Missouri v. Canada and Roe v. Wade.

With this DVD, you will go inside these cases using the original Supreme Court decisions and historical reenactments. Not only that, but you'll be guided through the process of each case by experts and other professionals who were either connected with or studied the cases. Not only are these interviews some of the most interesting features, but the biographies of the Supreme Court Justices, alone, are worth getting the DVD for. There were many things about the Justices that I had not heard anywhere else.

If you have a student who is a junior or senior in High School and is taking Government, this DVD would be of great benefit while studying Constitutional Ethics.

""...this DVD would be of great benefit while studying Constitutional Ethics."" --Kim Wolf, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

The 14th Amendment is one of the most important Amendments to homeschoolers and others who have faced discrimination; that's why it's known as The Amendment that changed life in the United States. As such, we should be as clear concerning our understanding of it and we can. In this Cases in Controversy DVD edition, 14 cases from 1873 to 1973 are covered in detail. Some of those cases are Brown v. Board of Education, Missouri v. Canada and Roe v. Wade.

With this DVD, you will go inside these cases using the original Supreme Court decisions and historical reenactments. Not only that, but you'll be guided through the process of each case by experts and other professionals who were either connected with or studied the cases. Not only are these interviews some of the most interesting features, but the biographies of the Supreme Court Justices, alone, are worth getting the DVD for. There were many things about the Justices that I had not heard anywhere else. Very interesting.

The total play time of the DVD is 3 hours and the cases can be presented on a daily basis, one at a time, to your students and then discussed and explored from there.

This is such a great time in our history to be studying our government and seeing exactly what goes into a Supreme Court case, what goes into an Amendment and how it then effects case law for the entire country from that time on. See how even the same Amendment caused different out-comes for different cases. You can even see how it has been stretched to near breaking to put a law on the books.

If you have a student who is a junior or senior in High School and is taking Government, this DVD would be of great benefit while studying Constitutional Ethics.

"...high-quality program..." --School Library Journal

Many consider the Fourteenth Amendment to be the most significant modification to the U.S. Constitution outside of the Bill of Rights since it provides a means by which citizens receive the equal protection and due process emblematic of our democracy. This high-quality program examines the evolution of the Amendment from its inception following the Civil War through the 1970's by examining over a dozen significant U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

The individual Supreme Court cases are arranged in chronological order, which helps researchers or classroom audiences understand the expansion of the Amendment's significance from its initial focus on racial issues through the spectrum of both class and individual freedom issues. Following the discription of each case by the narrator, legal scholars comment on the case's initial and long-term significance.

There is also biographical information on the Supreme Court justices involved in each decision as well as on the panel of experts commenting in the program. Additionally, complete case transcripts of each decision are provided when the DVD is used in a computer. The company's Web site provides a teacher's guide for downloading in PDF format.

"Highly Recommended...This will be a very useful teaching tool in middle and high school history and civics classrooms." --Educational Media Reviews Online

Cases in Controversy: The 14th Amendment is a lucid, well-structured examination of how the 14th Amendment, arguably the most important amendment passed since the Civil War ended, has impacted American History. Using fourteen selected Supreme Court decisions from the period from 1873 to 1973, the DVD examines how the court used the amendment, and in particular the equal protection clause, to provide a legal framework for the justification of segregation. Commentators note that Plessey v. Ferguson simply represented public opinion of the day. The court neither created segregation nor could it eliminate it.

In the twentieth century the Supreme Court used the same amendment to dismantle that legal framework. In the early 1950s in Sweat v. Painter and McLarin v. Oklahoma the court began to shift to the view that the 14th Amendment prohibited different treatment of citizens by the states using race as criterion. By the time of the Brown decision, 1954, the court unanimously ruled that separate could never be equal.

A narrator provides an introduction about the circumstances surrounding each case and the events that led to its adjudication in the nation’s highest court. Actors then re-enact the heart of the decision while prominent legal scholars provide analysis and commentary. The result is an excellent explanation of the cases and of how the cases fit within the context of American history. This will be a very useful teaching tool in middle and high school history and civics classrooms.

Bonus features include the full text of the court decisions for each case, an explanation of the 14th Amendment, complete biographies of the Supreme Court Justices, and extended interviews with the legal scholars commenting on the decisions.