Supreme Court Writing Assignment

You must pick your case by Wednesday, March 18 although you can do so earlier.

Your paper is due on Thursday, March 26*.

For this assignment, you will choose one Supreme Court case from the past fifty years that you think was decided wrongly. (You may not choose Roe v. Wade or Bush v. Gore. I’m sick of them.) You may also not pick a case that has since been overturned. Your task will be to write a convincing argument to explain why the Supreme Court’s decision was, in your opinion, incorrect. You must base your reasoning on Constitutional arguments, precedents, and history. It is not enough to say that the decision was wrong and unfair. You must demonstrate your grasp of the issues we have discussed throughout the year in your analysis.

This is not as intimidating as it may sound. Few decisions are decided unanimously. The justices in the minority have issued dissenting opinions explaining why they think the majority decided the case incorrectly. These dissenting opinions would be a good starting point for your preparation for the essay. You may quote from the dissents (with appropriate citations, of course) but I am not looking for a simple cut and paste job. You have the advantage of hindsight and so know the impact the decision has had on American life and jurisprudence. What problems do we encounter in today’s society because of the way that your case was decided? I encourage you to explore that approach.

Here are some sites that might help you find a good case on issues that interest you: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/home.html (Scroll down for links by topic)

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/topicssummary.aspx

I have also provided several links on the Links page for AP Government under the Constitution and Supreme Court that may help you. You may access all Supreme Court decisions at the Oyez site. http://oyez.nwu.edu/cases/cases.cgi or at Cornell’s site http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/

This is what I’m looking for in an ‘A’ paper:

• You show your understanding of the facts, issues involved in the case, and the factors that went into the decision for each side.
• You argue that the Supreme Court decided the case incorrectly with an impressive array of Constitutional arguments, discussion of applicable precedents, and an examination of how their decision has had or will have a deleterious effect on the country.
• You write beautifully with excellent English. You make no ugly grammar, spelling, or punctuation errors. You do not use the first person.
• Your writing flows from paragraph to paragraph without abrupt transitions that jar the reader’s attention.
• You cite all quotations and analyses that you borrow. It is not enough to simply cite that which you quoted. If you adapted an argument from some source, you should acknowledge your work’s provenance. To do otherwise is outright theft.
• You include a bibliography of all sources that you consulted. For citing a SC decision I want to see: Name of the case (in italics), year, and URL. Indicate if the opinion is the main opinion, concurring, or dissenting.
• Your paper uses a 12 pt. font and is typed and double-spaced.

I would predict that your papers would be in the four-to-six-page range.

Papers that do not fully meet these criteria will receive lesser grades. This will count as a test grade. You will lose 10 points per day that your paper is late. If you are going to be absent on March 26, please find a way to get the paper to me. Try messengers, e-mail, or carrier pigeons.

*You may receive two points per day that you hand this in early for a maximum of 10 points extra credit. If you’re not going to be here on the 26^th, you must turn in your paper earlier. You will lose 10 points per day for being late