Follow a court's reasoning and where the dissent parts ways

Grade 11 Reading Worksheet

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   A Lesson in German (court opinion and dissent)

   Background: [1] In 1919 Nebraska barred schools from teaching any subject in a language other than English, or teaching another language before a child passed the eighth grade. [2] Robert Meyer, a teacher, was convicted for teaching a ten-year-old pupil to read German. [3] In Meyer v. Nebraska (1923), the Court ruled for Meyer, and Justice James McReynolds wrote for the majority. [4] Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes dissented in an opinion printed with a companion case, Bartels v. Iowa. [5] Every quotation is exact, and cuts are marked.

   Column A, the majority (McReynolds): [6] The problem for our determination is whether the statute as construed and applied unreasonably infringes the liberty guaranteed to the plaintiff in error by the Fourteenth Amendment. [7] …Without doubt, it denotes not merely freedom from bodily restraint but also the right of the individual to contract, to engage in any of the common occupations of life, to acquire useful knowledge, … and generally to enjoy those privileges long recognized at common law as essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness by free men. [8] …Mere knowledge of the German language cannot reasonably be regarded as harmful. [9] …That the State may do much, go very far, indeed, in order to improve the quality of its citizens, … is clear; but the individual has certain fundamental rights which must be respected.

   Column B, the dissent (Holmes): [10] We all agree, I take it, that it is desirable that all the citizens of the United States should speak a common tongue, and therefore that the end aimed at by the statute is a lawful and proper one. [11] The only question is whether the means adopted deprive teachers of the liberty secured to them by the Fourteenth Amendment. [12] …I think I appreciate the objection to the law but it appears to me to present a question upon which men reasonably might differ and therefore I am unable to say that the Constitution of the United States prevents the experiment being tried.

   Word notes: [13] The plaintiff in error is Meyer, who brought the appeal. [14] In sentence 7, it is that liberty, and denotes means includes. [15] The end aimed at is the goal, and the means are the ways chosen to reach it.

2. 1.

   Ari fills the answer row for both columns. How does each column answer the question in sentence 6?

   • Majority: a common language is a lawful goal; dissent: the goal is lawful too.
   • Majority: reasonable people could differ, so it stands; dissent: the law unreasonably limits liberty.
   • Majority: the law is a poor way to teach English; dissent: it is a good way.
   • Majority: the law unreasonably limits liberty; dissent: reasonable people could differ, so it stands.
3. 2.

   Luz fills the row for the goal of the law. What does each column say about that goal?

   • Majority: a shared language would harm pupils; dissent: it would help them.
   • Majority: the State may not try to improve its citizens; dissent: the goal is lawful.
   • Majority: the State may do much for its citizens; dissent: the goal is lawful and proper.
   • Majority: the goal is lawful and proper; dissent: the State may do much for its citizens.
4. 3.

   Tala sorts a statement into the matrix: “Courts should not block a law when reasonable people could disagree about it.” Which column holds it, and which sentence backs it?

   • Column B, the dissent, sentence 12
   • Both columns, sentence 10
   • The word notes, sentence 15
   • Column A, the majority, sentence 6
5. 4.

   Pia marks the row where the two columns part ways. On which point do the majority and Holmes disagree?

   • Whether the Fourteenth Amendment protects a teacher's work in any way
   • Whether barring early lessons in German is an unreasonable way to reach the goal
   • Whether a shared language is a lawful goal for the state to pursue
   • Whether German is a useful language for young pupils to know
6. 5.

   The dissent parts ways at one step. Which step in the majority's reasoning does Bo find that Holmes refuses to take?

   • Saying that lessons in German do harm to young pupils
   • Calling the law unreasonable when reasonable people could disagree about it
   • Leaving the law in place so that the experiment can be tried
   • Treating one shared language for citizens as a proper goal

7. Sixty Hours in a Bakery (court opinion and dissent)

   Background: [1] An 1895 New York law said that no bakery worker could be required or permitted to work more than sixty hours a week or ten hours a day. [2] Joseph Lochner, who ran a bakery in Utica, was fined for letting a worker stay longer. [3] In Lochner v. New York (1905), the Court ruled for Lochner by five votes to four, and Justice Rufus Peckham wrote for the majority. [4] Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote a dissent that two other justices joined. [5] Every quotation is exact, and cuts are marked.

   Column A, the majority (Peckham): [6] …the question necessarily arises: Is this a fair, reasonable and appropriate exercise of the police power of the State, or is it an unreasonable, unnecessary and arbitrary interference with the right of the individual to his personal liberty or to enter into those contracts in relation to labor which may seem to him appropriate or necessary for the support of himself and his family? [7] …This is not a question of substituting the judgment of the court for that of the legislature. [8] …Clean and wholesome bread does not depend upon whether the baker works but ten hours per day or only sixty hours a week. [9] …We think the limit of the police power has been reached and passed in this case.

   Column B, the dissent (Harlan): [10] If there be doubt as to the validity of the statute, that doubt must therefore be resolved in favor of its validity, and the courts must keep their hands off, leaving the legislature to meet the responsibility for unwise legislation. [11] If the end which the legislature seeks to accomplish be one to which its power extends, and if the means employed to that end, although not the wisest or best, are yet not plainly and palpably unauthorized by law, then the court cannot interfere.

   Word notes: [12] The police power is a state's power to make laws for health, safety and welfare. [13] Arbitrary means without a good reason. [14] Substituting the judgment of the court means putting the judges' opinion in place of the lawmakers'. [15] Wholesome means healthful, and but ten hours means only ten hours. [16] Palpably means plainly enough to be felt or seen.

8. 6.

   Zee fills the row for the court's role. What does each column say a court is doing when it judges this law?

   • Majority: in doubt, it keeps hands off; dissent: it is not putting its judgment in place of the lawmakers'.
   • Majority: it is not putting its judgment in place of the lawmakers'; dissent: in doubt, it keeps hands off.
   • Majority: substituting judgment means putting judges' views first; dissent: palpably means plainly.
   • Majority: it may overturn a law it thinks unwise; dissent: in doubt, it keeps hands off.
9. 7.

   Kira sorts this statement: “A court should uphold an unwise law, as long as it is not plainly beyond the State's power.” Which column holds it, and which sentence backs it?

   • Column A, the majority, sentence 7
   • Column B, the dissent, sentence 11
   • Both columns, sentences 7 and 10
   • The word notes, sentences 14 and 16
10. 8.

    Ren sorts this statement: “How long bakers work has nothing to do with whether the bread is safe to eat.” Which column holds it, and which sentence backs it?

    • Column B, the dissent, sentence 10
    • The word notes, sentence 15
    • Column A, the majority, sentence 8
    • Both columns, sentences 8 and 11
11. 9.

    Esme marks the row where the two columns part ways. What do the majority and Harlan disagree about?

    • Whether Lochner was fined for letting a worker stay longer
    • How sure a court must be before it strikes down a law like this one
    • Whether the police power of a state has a limit
    • Whether working long hours is good for bakers
12. 10.

    Noah looks for the two tests that show the gap between the columns. Which pair of phrases shows it?

    • Majority: “Clean and wholesome bread”; dissent: “unwise legislation”
    • Majority: “keep their hands off”; dissent: “reached and passed”
    • Majority: “the police power of the State”; dissent: “to which its power extends”
    • Majority: “fair, reasonable and appropriate”; dissent: “plainly and palpably unauthorized”