Write a case brief on Marbury vs Madison.
Source: https://massasoit.instructure.com/courses/1869355/pages/marbury-vs-madison-case
I have attached an example of what a case brief looks like and pasted the elements of a case brief.
ELEMENTS OF THE BRIEF
Professor Rich-SheaCJUS 306
1. Title and Citation
2. Facts
What are the facts of the case that are being relied upon
by the present court in reaching their decision?
3. Prior proceedings:
How did the case get to the court where it is now?
What did the court(s) below decide?
What actions of the court below are being appealed?
4. Issues presented/questions of law
What question(s)/issues are before the court on appeal?
5. Holding or rule of law: (answer to #4)
How did the court rule? Please answer the question (s)
raised in the issue section.
6. Reasoning:
present the decision of the Court and its justifications for that ruling
note the reasoning that the Court uses to arrive at its decision
how and why does the Court answer each of the questions identified previously?
7. Rationale/ Analysis:
Here the student should evaluate the significance of the case, its relationship to other cases, its place in history, and what is shows about the Court, its members, its decision-making processes, or the impact it has on litigants, government, or society. It is here that the implicit assumptions and values of the Justices should be probed, the rightness of the decision debated, and the logic of the reasoning considered.
A CAUTIONARY NOTE
Dont brief the case until you have read it through at least once. Dont think that because you have found the judges best purple prose you have necessarily extracted the essence of the decision. Look for unarticulated premises, logical fallacies, manipulation of the factual record, or distortions of precedent. Then ask, How does this case relate to other cases in the same general area of law? What does it show about judicial policymaking? Does the result violate your sense of justice or fairness? How might it have been better decided?
