2016 Supreme Court Summer Institute Recap and Resources

This summer a total of 60 teachers attended the 2016 Street Law Supreme Court Summer Institute in Washington, DC. Since it was launched in 1995, this program has reached more than 1,200 teachers, who have in turn impacted over 300,000 students!

The 2016 Institute included sessions led by Supreme Court experts, journalists, authors, and lawyers, who gave teachers an in-depth understanding of the Court’s inner-workings, including how the Court chooses and decides cases and what it is like to argue before the Court. The Institute covered six recent cases, and teachers even learned about the personalities of the justices! This exciting opportunity culminated with a visit to the Court to hear decisions handed down and a reception at the Court.

The Institute prepared teachers to use innovative methods to teach about both current and historical cases. Beyond the content-rich sessions and activities, teachers were equipped with the skills and tools to train fellow teachers at home.

Below are links to the new SCOTUS case summaries used at the Institute:

• Birchfield v. North Dakota (2016)
• Evenwel v. Abbott (2016)
• Fisher v. University of Texas II (2016)
• US v. Texas (2016)
• Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt (2016)

For additional case summaries and lessons plans, visit our Free Resource Library.

The 2016 SCSI was funded by and delivered in partnership with the Supreme Court Historical Society.

SCSI 2017

Next summer’s Institutes are slated for June 15-20 and June 22-27, 2017. [Applications are no longer available.]

We depend on past participants to publicize the Supreme Court Institutes and Seminars. If you’re presenting or attending a workshop and can hand out brochures, contact Joy Dingle.