APGAP - Advanced Placement Government and Politics
Mrs. Brunner/Mrs. Geraghty
Summer Assignment 2013
Please Note: While this assignment must be optional per PWC regulations it is HIGHLY encouraged. Students
completing this assignment will earn a test grade. Summer assignments will be due September 13th.
If, during the course of this assignment you are having difficulty or have a question, feel free to contact either
teacher by e-mail:
Mrs. Brunner- brunnekp@pwcs.edu
Mrs. Geraghty – geraghsm@pwcs.edu
Part I – Current Event Journal
Using the Current Event Journal provided, record two entries a week beginning the week of July 1st and ending
August 31st (total of 18 entries). The articles should be published the same week you are recording them. You
may NOT use articles written before the week you record them (i.e. using an article from May 30th for the week
of July 1st). Copies of articles are NOT necessary but please be sure to include the source (title of article and
where you got it from) and date published in your chart.
Part II – Significant Supreme Court Cases
To minimize the time spent on learning cases inside the classroom, we must build a foundation of crucial
Supreme Court cases.
1. Marbury v. Madison
2. Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community
School District
3. Texas v. Johnson
4. Mapp v. Ohio
5. Baker v. Carr
6. Roe v. Wade
7. Gideon v. Wainwright
8. Miranda v. Arizona
9. United States v. Nixon
10. McCulloch v. Maryland
11. Bakke v. Regents of the University of
California
12. New York Times v. United States
13. Lemon v. Kurtzman
14. Palko v. Connecticut
15. Near v. Minnesota
16. Katz v. United States
17. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka
18. Korematsu v. United States
19. Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith
20. Griswold v. Conn.
21. Clinton v. New York
22. Bush v. Gore
23. Wesberry v. Sanders
24. NAACP v. Alabama
25. Gibbons v. Ogden
26. Dred Scott v. Sandford
27. Plessy v. Ferguson
28. Gitlow v. New York
29. Engel v. Vitale
30. Reynolds v. Sims
31. Miller v. California
32. Buckley v. Valeo
33. United States v. Leon
34. Planned Parenthood v. Casey
35. Shaw v. Reno
36. Printz v. U.S.
37. Raich v. Gonzales
38. Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
39. Citizens United v. FEC
40. Heller v. DC
DIRECTIONS ON BACK
Directions:
For each case, information should be on one side of a note card and the name and year of the court case will be
on the other; this can be typed or written. You do not need complete sentences or paragraphs just the key points.
The outline should be structured as such:
1. Title of Case and Year (one side)
2. Background Facts: brief statement identifying the parties and circumstances that led to the controversy and
the lower court holding.
3. Legal Questions Presented: what is the nature of the conflict the Court must resolve? The legal question is
often stated at the beginning of an opinion. You should present each question with having a "yes" or "no"
answer reflecting the Court’s consideration of that question.
4. Opinion of the Court: The opinion refers to the legal reasoning which the Court offers as a justification for its
holding. The Court’s reasoning often follows the order in which the legal questions are presented. You might
find it helpful to outline the Court’s opinion.
5. Separate Opinions: Are any concurring (those that agree with the Court’s holding) and dissenting (those that
disagree) opinions that should be noted and their major points emphasized.
To help learn about cases, the following internet sites will be useful. I also encourage you to visit a local library
to view other text sources (yes, actual books made out of paper are still useful):

http://www.law.cornell.edu/

****http://www.oyez.org/

http://usscplus.com/

http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html

http://www.landmarkcases.org/
These are just a few of the websites you can used to find information about the cases – feel free to use the
internet but be careful to check your sources! YOU SHOULD NOT USE WIKIPEDIA – did you know that
Forest Park has a national champion bobsledding team? This “fact” was posted on the Forest Park Wikipedia
page for well over a year.
***If you do a good job on this assignment, I guarantee that your AP Government class will go a lot more
smoothly in the fall and your exam preparation will be easier in the spring!***
Dates ____________________
Name____________________
Current Events Journal
Expectations: You will be expected to keep a current events journal throughout the summer. This journal will focus on newsworthy affairs in the AMERICAN political system. The
journal will be collected the second week of school. Begin recording your Current Events the week of July 1 st- August 31st (total of 18 entries). You must have at least 2 entries
each week. You may use sources from national newspapers: The Washington Post, The Washington Times, New York Times, the Wall Street Journal; or news magazines: Time,
Newsweek, US News and World Report. Do not use Associated Press articles.
Source (Title of
ANALYSIS (What do you think, What is your gut
Date of Subject
Summary of the article
What did I learn?
(ex:
article and
reaction?)
article
Congress,
newspaper/
Federalism,
magazine)
Elections)
Source
Date
Subject
Summary
Analysis
What did I learn?
Source
Date
Subject
Summary
Analysis
What did I learn?
Source
Date
Subject
Summary
Analysis
What did I learn?
Source
Date
Subject
Summary
Analysis
What did I learn?
Source
Date
Subject
Summary
Analysis
What did I learn?
Source
Date
Subject
Summary
Analysis
Be sure to answer the following: (at least 5 sentences total – attach more paper if necessary)
During the dates covered in this current event journal, I believe (yes I want YOUR opinion) the most important story was…
Because…
What did I learn?