Case Briefs and Presentation Sign-up Sheet

Case Briefs: Each student will prepare two written case briefs of selected Supreme
Court cases. A sample case brief is found in chapter 2 of Rossum and Tarr (page 43).
With the exception of the Evaluation section, follow Rossum and Tarr’s sample closely.

Evaluation Section: The Evaluation section of your brief should include the legal
implications of the decision (e.g. “The Court’s ruling extended the range of actions
entitled to First Amendment Protection”), and your brief evaluation of the decision’s
constitutionality (e.g. “The Court mistakenly equates flag-burning with speech: the First
Amendment’s does not protect expressive actions, but rather only speech, press,
assembly, and petition”). The Evaluation section should be about ½ (and no more than
1) page long. Case Briefs are due in class on the date listed on the schedule. Late
briefs will see a grade deduction of 10% per day.

Case Brief Presentation: Students will one case brief (in addition to the two written
briefs) in class, and should be prepared to explain and defend their Evaluation against
rigorous objections that will be raised by the instructor and fellow students. The grade
for the presented case brief will be based solely on the student’s presentation, and
response to questions. However, during their presentation, presenters will be expected
to distribute a written copy of their brief to students and the instructor. This written copy
does not need to include the Evaluation section.

The presentation should be 8 minutes long (not including questions and answers). If two
persons are presenting the same case, they should communicate with one another in
advance so that the presentations are not repetitive. They may also choose to do the
presentation together. If there are two presenters on the same case, the presentations
should be 5-6 minutes each (or 10-12 minutes total).

Sign-up for one case per section

Section One – Written Brief

For this section, maximum 5 people per case

9/15 Ex Parte Milligan (1866)

09/20 Koramatsu v. U.S. (1944)

Noah M., Nick G., John F.

09/22 Clinton v. Jones (1997)

Bren M., Monica R., Bol M., Ross P., Erik S.

09/24 Myers v. U.S. (1926)

JoAnna.G; Brandon A.
9/29 McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
Dan H., Savannah S., Billy B., Zachary G., Katie K.,

10/01 New York v. United States (1992)

Joey F., Ashley T., Jordan P., Jameson B.

Section Two – Written Brief

For this section, maximum 5 people per case

10/25 Baron v. Baltimore (1833)

John F., Bren M., Brandon A.

10/27 Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)

JoAnna G., Bol M., Katie K., Jordan P.,

11/05 U.S v. Butler (1936)

Dan H., Ross P., Joey F., Jameson B.

11/10 NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin (1937)

Savannah S., Ashley T., Billy B.

12/01 Kelo v. City of New London (2005)

Zachary G., Nick G., Monica R., Erik S., Noah M.

Section Three – Presented Brief

For this section, maximum 2 people per case

9/17 Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952)

09/20 Boumediene v. Bush (2008),

09/24 Morrison v. Olson (1988)

Jameson B.
09/27 Clinton v. City of New York (1998)
Nick G., Bol M.

10/01 Printz v. United States (1997)

Savannah S.

10/06 Dred Scott v. Sanford (1856), Instructor Edit

Dan H., Ross P.

10/13 Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)

JoAnna G., Erik S.

10/18 U.S. v. Lopez (1995)

Bol M.

10/15 Garcia v. San Antonio Metro Transit Authority (1985)

Joey F.

10/29 Lochner v. New York (1905)

Katie K.

11/03 Home Building & Loan Assn. v. Blaisdell (1934)

Billy B., Noah M.

11/05 Humphries Executor vs. US (1935), Instructor Edit

Brandon A.

11/10 West Coast Hotel v. Parrish (1937), Instructor Edit

John F.

11/12 Saenz v. Roe (1999)

Jordan P.

11/22 Nollan v. California Coastal Commission (1987)

Ashley T.

12/01 Taho-Sierra v. Taho Regional Planning (2002)

Bren M., Monica R.