Midterm #1 Study Guide
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State Court System Hierarchy
State Trial Court –> State Court of Appeals –> State Supreme Court –> Supreme Court
Federal Court System Hierarchy
District Court (94) –> Circuit Court of Appeals (13)–> Supreme Court
Order of a Case Title
Case Title: 1) Title in italics Citation: 2) Volume of U.S. report 3) U.S. (abbreviation) 4) Page number where opinion starts Time: 5) Year
Steps on How to Brief a Case
1) Summary of Facts 2) Legal Question 3) Ruling / Holding 4) Key Rule / Precedent Established 5) Reasoning 6) Case’s Importance to the Nation
Summary of Facts
1) Law being challenged. 2) Events leading to first case proceeding. 3) Any legal/judicial proceedings before SCOTUS took the case. 4) Who appealed lower court decision to SCOTUS for review.
Legal Question: Be sure to put the _____________ ______________ in your own ___________. They should be concise and ____________, to which you can reply ________ or _______ AND then ____________ the question. There will oftentimes be several legal __________ at hand, so try to focus on the important and ____________ question. You should really only have _______ legal question.
legal question; words; simple; YES; NO; answer; issues; relevant; ONE
Ruling or Holding: Simply states which party _________ the case. The Court will either do this by _________________ the _________ court’s decision, holding that the law in question was ______________, or by _______________, wherein the ____________ court’s decision was _________________.
won; affirming; lower; constitutional; reversing; lower; unconstitutional
Key Rule / Precedent Established: Answer the question of what does this case ______________ regarding the ______ of _______, that will be applied to _____________ cases with similar legal _________ and ________________.
establish; rule; law; subsequent; facts; principles
How is a Ruling different from the Rule?
The ruling decides which party the court is in favor of. The rule establishes a legal precedent.
Reasoning: This is basically how the court ______________ at the decision, whether that is a ____________ or ________________. To do this explain 1) the ___________ behind the _______ or ________ legal question, then 2) why the ____________ side _______, and the ____________ side _________. Should the court have applied any ___________ (i.e. rational basis, intermediate scrutiny, strict scrutiny, Durham etc…) ______________ the reasoning behind these ____________ to the ____________ of the case.
arrived; rule; ruling; answer; YES; NO; winning; won; losing; lost; tests; connect; tests; outcome
Case’s Importance to Nation: Don’t just repeat the _______________, _________________, and _______________ opinions. Talk big picture: ____________ and ____________ does this decision affect the ___________ at large, and its ____________?
majority; concurring; dissenting; HOW; WHY; nation; laws
How to Read United States Supreme Court Opinion: Syllabus
• Before Main Opinion • Describes facts of case & path the case took to get to the Supreme Court. • Identifies which justices wrote main opinion, joined opinion, wrote concurring opinions, and wrote dissenting.
How to Read United States Supreme Court Opinion: Main Opinion
Decision made by court, and the legal rationale justices used to form decision.
If the main opinion is one in which ______ justices agree, then it is referred to as a ______________ opinion. One in which __________ of the justices agree are _____________ opinions, and one where ___________ justices agree but it’s not enough to form a _____________ is referred to as a _______________ opinion.
all; majority; most; majority; many; majority; plurality.
How to Read United States Supreme Court Opinion: Concurring and Dissenting Opinions (Give Definition for Both)
Concurring: Written by justices who agree with main opinion but based on a separate legal rationale. Dissenting: Written by justices who disagree with main opinion both in decision and legal rationale.
How to Read United States Supreme Court Opinion: Facts– With the facts, its important you be able to identify the _____, _________, ________, and __________ in the legal dispute. The Court will oftentimes start out with a _________, ___________, _____________, or ______________ from everyday life. You need to be able to tell the ______________ of a case, in a sense, including it’s _______________ history
who; what; when; where; person; place; thing; event; story; procedural
How to Read United States Supreme Court Opinion: Legal Disputes– You must identify the legal ___________ at hand, what the __________ argument is for both parites, and whether the court is interpreting the _______________ or a ______________.
issues; main; constitution; statute
How to Read United States Supreme Court Opinion: 3 Elements of Disposition
1) Affirm - uphold lower court decision 2) Reverse, Void, Vacate - cancel lower court decision 3) Remand - send case back to lower court for retrial
How to Read United States Supreme Court Opinion: Law– Find out what _____________ of _______ were used in the case to form the main opinion, whether that be legal ______________, ___________, or other considerations. Also were there any ______________ or _____________ opinions, and if so identify the difference in ___________________.
principle; law; precedent; policy; concurring; dissenting; reasoning.
Structuralism
Interpreting the Constitution based on the structure of the constitution.
The structuralist interpretation has allowed us to establish several _____________ we believe are implicit in the ______________: ____________ and __________ (power of one branch to limit another), _________________ (shared power between federal and state govt.), and __________ __________ (governs the relations between people and the govt.).
relationships; constitution; checks; balances; federalism; public law
Two forms of Structuralism
• Formalism • Functionalism
Formalism
Proposes that Constitution sets forth all ways in which Federal power can be shared, allocated, and distributed.
Functionalism
Constitution clearly defines relationship between 3 branches of federal government at their apexes, otherwise, individually, there’s room to determine how distributed below their apexes.