Legal Brief

Assignment

The goal of this assignment is to develop a comprehensive legal brief for a Supreme Court case assigned to you. This task will help you understand the intricacies of legal reasoning, the structure of Supreme Court decisions, and the importance of clear and concise writing. You should gain a deeper understanding of the Supreme Court’s role in the American legal system, the process of legal analysis, and the skills necessary to communicate legal arguments effectively.

Your brief must answer the following questions:

  • Who was the petitioner and who was the respondent?
    • Identify the parties in the case.
    • Provide the background information for each side.
  • What was the question the court answered?
    • Clearly state the legal question/issue the Supreme Court needed to resolve in this case.
  • What was the situation?
    • Provide a detailed background of the case.
    • Explain the events and circumstances that lead to the case being brough before the Supreme Court
    • Include the lower court decisions and any significant legal and factual content
    • Describe the key facts of the case, the legal issues at stake, and any important historical or social context that influenced the case.
  • What was the breakdown of the court?
    • Describe the final decision of the court including the vote count.
    • Name the justices who were in the majority and those who were in the minority
    • In there were concurring opinions, identify which justice wrote or joined them.
    • Provide a brief overview of the different opinions if there were multiple.
  • Who wrote the majority opinion?
    • Identify the just who authored the majority opinion
    • Summarize the main points and arguments made in the majority opinion.
    • Explain how the majority opinion addressed the legal question and the rationale behind the decision.
  • Was there more than one majority opinion?
    • Indicate if there were concurring opinions that agreed with the majority but for different reasons.
    • Identify the justices who wrote or joined these concurring opinions.
    • Summarize the key points of each concurring opinion and explain how they differ from the main majority opinion.
  • Why did the court decide this way?
    • Summarize the key points and arguments made in the majority opinion.
    • Explain how the court interpreted the relevant laws or constitutional provisions.
  • Who wrote the minority opinion(s) (if there was one)?
    • Identify the justice(s) who wrote any dissenting opinions and summarize their arguments.
    • Explain the main points of disagreement with the majority opinion.
    • If there was no dissenting opinion, explain this and discuss the significance of a unanimous decision.

Brief Document

  • You must use the webpage layout in either Adobe Express or Canva for the assignment.
  • You are not required to cite your sources in a traditional “paper” format, you must embed hyperlinks to your sources within the body of your text.
  • Examples of Acceptable Sources:

Grading Criteria

  • Case Information – 20 points
  • Supplemental Information and Sources – 15 points
  • Basic Information – 10 points
  • Technology and Submission – 10 points
  • Spelling and Grammar – 5 points