Otto's Tales: Marshall the Courthouse Mouse | PragerU Kids

Welcome to Otto's Tales, storytime brought to you by PrEP. PragerU resources for educators and parents. I'm Jill, and today we're reading Marshall the Courthouse Mouse, a tale of the U.S. Supreme Court, written by Peter W. Barnes and illustrated by Cheryl Shaw Barnes. Now, Otto, sit. Otto, if I don't have the book, I can't read the story. Thank you. Good boy. Silly dog. As I was saying, today we're reading Marshall the Courthouse Mouse. Hear ye, hear ye, all rise and draw near. America's mice with good will and good cheer are pleased to announce and proud to report the opening term of the Mouse Supreme Court. The court now in session is nine special mice. They're all very smart and they're all very nice. They're called Justices, and their great contribution is to guard and protect the Mouse Constitution. The one in the middle with the bars on his sleeve is the Chief Justice, Marshall J. Mouse, we believe. All Justices are equal, but he is the one who makes sure the work of the court all gets done. This court, the High Court, is the one most renowned. But there are other courts, too, if you just look around. There are courts in each city and county and town. The mice even have a few courts underground. In all of these courts, a judge is in charge, who sits at a bench, a desk very large. But lawyers and juries can also be there to help judges make every court just and fair. Our laws are the rules that all must obey to be a good person or mouse every day. The law says be careful when riding your bike so you don't end up hitting somebody you like. Another law says that it's not right to steal a book, piece of candy, or automobile. And laws say that everyone must go to school. Don't you agree that's a wonderful rule? But one group of laws stands above all the others, declared long ago by our nation's forefathers, who wrote down on paper, through long days and nights, our grand Constitution and great Bill of Rights. These documents gave us, you really should read them, a promise to all of liberty and freedom. They gave everybody the freedom to vote, the freedom to worship, and also, please note, the right to free speech and the right to decide how to live your own life, how to live it with pride. These rights are so special, we all must respect them. The Supreme Court's job is to preserve and protect them. It does this whenever it chooses to hear a question or case of a law that's unclear. For disputes about laws aren't all that unusual. In fact, some laws can be unconstitutional. Here's an example the Mouse Congress created. It once passed a law that directed and stated that mice could not eat the same cheese every day. It was a strict law. All mice had to obey. It said that on Sundays, they had to eat cheddar. On Mondays was Roquefort, which many liked better. On Tuesdays, everyone ate mozzarella, from the smallest mouse girl to the biggest mouse fella. Each Wednesday, Swiss cheese was on every plate. On Thursdays, Parmesan everyone ate. On Fridays, American cheese was supreme. And Saturdays, just Philadelphia cream. But some of the mice had thought all along, this law is confusing and odd and just wrong. Each mouse family should always be able to put any cheese it wants on its table. But other mice liked the rules, thinking them good. They wanted the cheese law to stay as it stood. So one side against it, one side in support. Who decides? Well, of course, the Mouse Supreme Court. According to practice and legal tradition, the process must start with a special petition. That says there's a question so big and involved, it's something that only the high court can solve. In this case, the justices had to address this difficult question, which went more or less. Does the cheese law deny any mice, large or small, their constitutional rights, any at all? To make a decision, the justices start with oral arguments from lawyers, quite smart. Each lawyer discusses one point of view. The justices listen and ask questions too. But justices need more than that to decide. So they have special helpers called clerks who provide extra research and work. And at the start of each fall, the chief justice meets with the clerks one and all. I'm sure you all know, the chief justice said, how important your work is, how much is ahead. But the work may not be as hard as it looks. To help in each case, you should all hit the books. So off to the library, they run in a dash. Then into the bookshelves, they fly like a flash. There are clerks at each desk. There are clerks in each chair. There are books piled up, books and clerks everywhere. This work can take weeks. Sometimes it takes months. While the justices study and meet more than once. In private, in conference, to talk and review. To decide on each case, what's the best thing to do. In the cheese case, Marshall stood up from the table. Fellow justices, he said, I am sure you are able to see that this case has a simple solution. For it's plain and it's clear from our great constitution. That it's words and it's meaning grant a most basic right. That allows any mouse with a good appetite, to choose the cheese he or she wants for a meal. Swiss, blue or cheddar, whatever they feel. This means that the cheese law, I'm sure you can see, must be struck down now, constitutionally. Hear, hear, said the others, we consent and agree. And they voted with Marshall, unanimously. To give their decision, the justices next, wrote down an opinion, their words put in text. And by court tradition, what they had agreed, was printed on paper for all mice to read. The justices also hand down their decision. Announced from their bench with care and precision. Read aloud by a justice, a great declaration to all who are gathered and the rest of the nation. In this way, their decision is spread far and wide. It proclaims the new rules by which all must abide. Each decision makes sure that we all understand that our great constitution is the law of the land. And that night, at tables of mice everywhere, there were all kinds of cheeses to enjoy and to share. Thanks to nine justices who care and support and protect all our rights at the great Supreme Court. The end. I'm suddenly hungry for a snack. Listen, we love this story, not only because it helps us learn about how our United States Supreme Court works, but because the name Marshall is very important in our country's history. A man named John Marshall was one of the very first Supreme Court Chief Justices. And there was also another Supreme Court Justice named Thurgood Marshall, who was the first Black American appointed to the Supreme Court. Our Supreme Court is very important because it protects our rights and the law of our land, and everyone should know how it works. Otto! How did you know this is just what I wanted? Cheese! You're not in trouble, by the way. Yeah. You want to share? All right. Okay. Sit. Good dog. Thank you for watching Otto's Tales. Check out some of our other stories, too. Keep reading, keep watching, and keep learning. You ready? We're so glad you joined us for today's reading. Storytime is made possible through the generous support of donors like you. You can help keep the stories coming by going to PragerU.com slash donate today.