Due Process Amendments Investigation for Civics | Google Slides Activity

In this digital Due Process Amendments Investigation for Google Slides, students review the real-world applications of the of the due process constitutional amendments (the 4th, 5th, and 6th amendments) in a “crime scene” investigation. Perfect for middle and high school Civics, American Government, and American History students reviewing the due process amendments in the Bill of Rights!

Joe Smith has been arrested for stealing laptops from an electronics store, and as his lawyer, your students investigate the crime scene materials to try to find evidence that his Constitutional rights were violated during his arrest. Designed for middle or high school students, this activity can work independently, in groups, or as a whole class, and since it’s all done through Google Slides, it’s perfect for distance learning students as well!

In this investigation activity for Google Slides, students:

✯ Act like detectives as they search crime scene material, including:

• an arrest report
• search warrant
• police interrogation
• witness testimony and video transcript
• crime scene photos

✯ Make connections with the United States Constitution as they find evidence of violations of the defendant’s Constitutional rights, such as:

• the Fourth Amendment right to lawful search and seizure
• the Fifth Amendment right to due process and protection against self-incrimination
• the Sixth Amendment right to counsel 

✯ Fill out a “Notepad” making their case in Joe Smith’s defense. For each constitutional right violated, students answer the following questions by citing specific evidence from the text:

• Identify the Constitutional right that was violated.
• Describe in 1-2 sentences what the right means and name the Amendment it comes from.
• List which piece(s) of evidence in the case file demonstrate the violation.
• Explain (using quotes and specific information from the case file) how the Constitutional right was violated.

Students have to use their critical thinking skills to find the violations, demonstrate their knowledge of the due process amendments, and even get practice citing evidence as they make their case in Joe’s favor. This is a super fun, engaging activity, in an interactive Google Slides format that can be assigned directly to your Google Classroom and used with both in-person and distance learning students. I hope your kids have a lot of fun!

You will need access to Google Drive to download this resource, and you will need Google Classroom to assign it to students. (If you are uncomfortable with TPT accessing your school email account, use your personal email to download the resource to your personal Google Drive, then go to File > Make a Copy, and share that copied document with your school email.)

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