The president is commander in chief of the military, but he has to ask Congress before he can declare war. Congress controls the money, so if they don’t like what the president is doing, they can refuse to pay for it. Congress writes new laws, but they’re called bills until the president signs them. If the president refuses to sign, that’s a veto, and the bill dies.
If he signs and the people think the law is unfair, they can challenge it in federal court. If the Supreme Court says the law is unconstitutional, it gets canceled.
Mr. Kalman tells us the Supreme Court is the last guardian of the people’s rights.
Say we’re in a war and a student wants to protest it. He wears a black armband to school. A teacher asks him, Why the black armband? He says, To show I’m against the war. The next day the principal says, Black armbands aren’t allowed at school. If you don’t take it off, we’ll suspend you.
Can they do that?
No, they can’t. In 1969 the Supreme Court ruled that students “do not shed their constitutional rights . . . at the schoolhouse gate.” (Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District.)
Does that mean we can write whatever we want in the school newspaper?
No. Because in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier they ruled that the principal gets to edit the school paper.
And, at a school-supervised event, you can’t hold up a sign that encourages kids to take illegal drugs. (Morse v. Frederick.)
You can’t make obscene campaign speeches, either. (Bethel School District v. Fraser.)
But you can pray in school, as long as you’re private about it.
Can the school force you to pray? Nope. That would violate the Constitution’s separation of church and state. (Engel v. Vitale.)
What if the football team wants to say a prayer before the game? Can they use the stadium’s loudspeaker to lead it?
Not if it’s a public school. (Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe.)
Say you apply for a job at the mall. The store you want to work at has a dress code: “Classic East Coast collegiate style.” But your own personal dress code calls for a hijab. Can the store turn you down?
No. In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch, the Supreme Court ruled eight to one that an employer can’t say no to an applicant based on her religious practices.
Can a state decide that blacks and whites (or any other racial or ethnic groups) can’t eat at the same restaurants or go to the same schools? No way. Separate schools and drinking fountains are “inherently unequal.” (Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas.)
Can schools assign kids work to do beyond the school day? That’s what we’re here to find out.
“We’ve asked the court to issue a writ of certiorari,” Mr. Kalman says. “It’s a formal request to hear our appeal.”
We’re standing on the steps of the US Supreme Court, which looks like an ancient Greek monument with supertall columns holding it up. There are two sculptures, one of a woman holding a scale and the other of a man holding a tablet of laws.
“What do you mean, request?” Catalina says. “I told my whole church we were going all the way to the Supreme Court.”
“The Supreme Court’s not the school principal, Catalina. They get to pick which cases are heard. Most never are.”
“You mean we might have come all this way for nothing?” Alistair says.
“What, you don’t want to sightsee?”
“Maybe if we can try some restaurants. But I’d rather give the justices a piece of my mind.”
“Well, then, we’d better get their attention.”
He turns to Sadie and Sean and says, “Kids, it’s time to twerk.”
I don’t think Mr. Kalman knows what twerking is. He means “tweet.” But I’ve got to hand it to him. For a guy who only recently discovered the Internet, he’s getting the hang of things pretty fast.
i
QUESTIONS PRESENTED
1) Does the policy of Respondent Los Angeles Unified School District of assigning additional tasks beyond the school day, a.k.a. “homework,” violate the implied privacy rights of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution?
2) Does that same policy also violate the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of Equal Protection Under the Law?
3) Is the pursuit of happiness by a minor a guaranteed right under the Constitution?
4) Under the Constitution of the United States, does a child have the right to a childhood, which cannot be denied without due process?
19
The March
Our message goes out in fewer than 140 characters: Join the march against homework. 8 a.m. Friday. Lafayette park.
Guess who lives across the street from that park. The president!
We boost our advertising with a new YouTube video, which we shoot at this jazz bar Mr. Kalman knows. I play Bob Marley’s “Get Up, Stand Up” on the piano while Sean and Jaesang make up new lyrics: “Get up, stand up, it’s in the Bill of Rights. / We got to gather, together. In peace to show our might. / So stand up, boot up, join the Homework Fight.”
All across the country kids post a single word on their Instagrams: “March.” Brothers and sisters work together on handmade NO HOMEWORK signs. Kids close to DC hop on bikes, boards, and blades. Their parents have no choice but to follow. On CNN we learn that a girl from Pennsylvania hijacked her school bus and they’re on the way.
On Friday morning we come up from the subway station near Lafayette Square. I feel like we’ve just entered a football stadium packed with fans. Suddenly I’m hoisted up in the air like I’m the coach of the winning team. I look down and see I’m on Sean’s shoulders. I look out and see an ocean of color—jackets, scarves, banners, and caps.
“Yowza!” Catalina says. “That’s a lot of
