GOV - FRQ 3: SCOTUS Comparison Lesson
FRQ 3: SCOTUS Comparison
Free-response question 3: SCOTUS Comparison presents students with information about a nonrequired Supreme Court Case. For the required Supreme Court case, students should know the facts, the issue(s), the holdings, and the reasoning behind the decisions. On the AP Exam, students will need to apply this information to a real-world scenario or in comparison to another case. Any non-required Supreme Court case that appears on AP Exams will be accompanied by a summary containing all information necessary to compare the non-required case to required SCOTUS cases. This question assesses students’ ability to do the following:
- Identify a similarity or difference between the non-required Supreme Court case and a specified Supreme Court case required in the course
- Describe the facts, issue, holding, reasoning, decision or majority opinion of the required Supreme Court case specified in the question
- Explain a similarity or difference in the facts, issues, holdings, reasonings, or decisions of the two Supreme Court cases
- Explain how the holding, reasoning, or decision in the required or non-required Supreme Court case demonstrates a political principle, institution, process, policy, or behavior
Scoring Points
| Scoring Guideline for Question 3: SCOTUS Comparison 4 points | ||
| 1 pt. | A | Prompt will ask you to either: Identify: Name a clause, OR Describe: Address what the concept is by identifying constitutional clause and providing a short connection to its related concept |
| 1 pt. | B1 |
Describe information of the required case. Address the facts, decision aka holding, reasoning or majority opinion of the required case, focusing on actions taken by a government (passing a law; executing or failing to execute a law) that preceded the reason for the trial. |
| 1 pt. | B2 | Explain via comparison of the required case’s information and the provided case. |
| 1 pt. | C | Explain how or why a principle, process, institution, or characteristic occurs using evidence and commentary or reasoning. |
Please see the detailed rubric below for prompt points, intended actions, and student self check.
Learn More
Watch the video below where Jenifer Hitchcock unpacks a sample free-response question for FRQ (Question 3: SCOTUS Comparison) and McDonald v. Chicago. Download questions here. Links to an external site.
Watch the 2nd video below where Jenifer Hitchcock unpacks a sample free-response question for FRQ (Question 3: SCOTUS Comparison) and Campaign Finance and Citizens United. Download questions here. Links to an external site.
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