Writing a Concurrence or Dissent to a Supreme Court Opinion

View| Download the assignment in Google Docs here.

Overview:

Throughout this unit on civil liberties and civil rights, you will be writing concurring and dissenting opinions on various Supreme Court cases that center on issues addressed in the Bill of Rights. Guidelines for these writing assignments are given below.

Assignment

• Statement of Fact: Each opinion should begin with a statement of the facts of the case. Do not simply copy the information from one source or another into your brief. Use Living Democracy, the First Amendment Center, and the Oyez website for help with this section. Your statement of the facts should be concise but complete, including the perspectives of both parties.
  
  
• Constitutional Question: After your statement of facts, you should identify the constitutional question involved in the case AND summarize the Court’s decision. Explain the rationale of the Court. Again, do not simply copy this information from one source or another into your brief.

• Your Opinion: Lastly, do you agree or disagree with the Court’s opinion? The remainder of your paper should answer this question. TAKE A POSITION on the Court’s decision. This is essential. You must give your opinion and support for your opinion. Don’t ignore what doesn’t fit into your argument. Cite precedent setting cases and facts to support your opinion. DO NOT USE FIRST PERSON.

Format

• Your opinion MUST be no LONGER THAN 2 PAGES! Please use 1.5 or double spacing. I will NOT read (or grade) more than two pages for each opinion.

• You only have a limited amount of space. Use it wisely. You MUST include the following information in your header: your name; the date; your Supreme Court case correctly identified with the date in parenthesis.

• This is a FORMAL writing assignment and should be treated as such. Do not use informal language, colloquialisms, clichés, or slang. Absolutely NO FIRST PERSON!

• All sources must be cited using proper MLA citation format. (Works Cited will NOT count toward your 1 page limit.)

• All Supreme Court cases must be italicized. Bush v. Gore (2000)

Resources

• First Amendment Center
• Oyez
• Medill: On the Docket
• The New York Times: The Supreme Court Page
• NPR: Legal Affairs
• Justice Talking

Possible Cases

Establishment Clause & Free Exercise Clause

• Pleasant Grove City, Utah v. Summum (2008)—this one is hot off the presses–just accepted by the Supreme Court for oral argument this month. It deals with the issue of displaying the Ten Commandments in a public place.

• Good News Club v. Milford Central High School (2000)–this case challenges the school’s policy banning the religious club from using the school facilities and from expressing their beliefs in the school’s public forum (this is also a free speech issue.)

• Locke v. Davey (2004)–should public money be given to students attending theology school? That issue is addressed in this Supreme Court case.

• McCreary County, Ky. v. ACLU of Kentucky (2005)—This case addresses whether or not judges should be allowed to display the Ten Commandments in their courtrooms.

• Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficiente Uniao Do Vegetal (2006): This cases addresses the extent of the free exercise clause. Should this religious organization be allowed to use a controlled substance in their ceremonies?

Freedom of Speech

• Morse v. Frederick (2007)–this is the “Bong hits for Jesus” case which challenged the extent to which schools may restrict student speech.

• United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group (2000)–this case challenges a federal law requiring cable companies to scramble indecent material on adult only channels.

• Board of Regents of University of Wisconsin v. Southworth (2000)–this case addresses the use of student activity fees at universities to endorse projects/ideas that students oppose. Check out this web site which addresses student speech: http://www.campusspeech.org/home

• FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life (2007)–this case deals with the campaign reform and whether or not the current law unfairly restricts the freedom of expression of groups like Wisconsin Right to Life

• Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (2002)—this case part of the Child Online Protection Act. Is is crime to distribute material that looks like it child pornography but in reality is not?

• United States v. American Library Association (2003)–this case is another in a continuing series of cases questioning the degree of control the federal government can exercise over the Internet.

• Lorillard Tobacco Co. v. Reilly (2002)–this case addresses the issue of advertising and whether or not a state (Massachusetts) can regulate the advertisement of cigarettes near a school. The Court was divided 5-4 which indicates that there are strong arguments on both sides.

• Greater New Orleans Broadcasting Association v. United States (2002)—this case relates to us! And it addresses the degree to which the federal government can regulate advertising.

• Beard v. Banks (2005): Should a prisoner be allowed access to newspapers? This case addresses that question from a First Amendment point of view.
  

Freedom of Association

• Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2005): This case addresses the question of whether or not the Boy Scouts should be able to exclude homosexuals from their organization. Their claim: freedom of association. Do their First Amendments rights supersede the equality claims of the respondent?

Freedom of the Press

• Hosty v. Carter (2005)–this particular case didn’t make it the Supreme Court (they didn’t grant cert), but it raises important First Amendment issues related to student newspapers and the degree to which universities can censor their students.