1. The following presentation is intended to help you successfully complete the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) case essay assignment.
2. Choose a SCOTUS case that interests you. You may choose any case on a criminal justice process topic heard by the SCOTUS to research and write an essay about it.
Caveat – you may not write on a case you previously used in another class.
3. Research the details about the case (answer the five research questions: Who, What, When, Where and Why). Take notes about what you discover. Note the sources of your information. You must list your sources at the end of the essay in Bluebook citation format, proper footnotes in Bluebook format throughout the essay, and properly cite the sources of each piece of information in the essay itself.
4. After researching a case, organize the information you have collected by making an outline. A basic structure for organizing your information might be as follows.
A. Introduction:
1. Identify the name of the case and when it was heard before SCOTUS.
2. Identify the parties involved in the case.
3. Briefly describe the focus of the case.
B. Describe the case itself: What was the controversy in the case?
C. How did the case move through the courts before reaching SCOTUS?
1. What court had original jurisdiction in the case?
2. How had previous courts ruled in the case?
D. What did the SCOTUS rule in the case?
1. What was the argument of the majority opinion?
2. What was the argument of the minority opinion?
E. What was the reasoning used by the SCOTUS to reach its decision? How did it reach its decision?
E. Conclusion: How does the Court’s ruling in the case affect Americans today?
1. Has the Court’s ruling in the case affected other rulings in other cases?
2. Has the Court’s ruling affected the interpretation and enforcement of any particular laws, and how those laws are enforced?
3. If applicable: Has the Court’s ruling in this case affected you, or someone you know, personally?
5. Write your essay. If you organized your information based on the suggested outline, then all you have to do is write down what you have learned from your research, and put it into a footnoted two to three page essay. Your first paragraph is the introduction (the information under letter A of your outline). The second paragraph is the information under letter B, and so on.
