September 27, 2011

POS 282--Introduction to American Law
In class today, Tuesday 9/27, I distributed two handouts: my version of the Suggs v. Norris brief, and the graded briefing assignment for next Thursday 10/6. There will be no class meeting this Thursday 9/29. In class today, we discussed the issues of intent in both the majority and dissenting opinions in Katko, and the question of punitive damages in both of those opinions. We went over the Suggs v. Norris case and brief. I discussed the graded briefing assignment, (which is posted below). The assignment for our next class meeting on Tuesday 10/4 is to begin work on the case brief for State of Maine v. Price-Rite, 2011 ME 76. Also the website for the Attorney Generals Complaint in that case is http://www.maine.gov/ag/about/cases_of_interest.shtml

THERE WILL BE NO CLASS THURS. 9/29

Assignment due Thursday, October 6, 2011
The assignment (graded) is to do a Case Brief of the case of State of Maine v. Price-Rite Fuel, 2011 ME 76, ___ A3d. ____. The case can be found on the website of the Maine Supreme Court.

To access the case, go to
http://www.courts.state.me.us/opinions/supreme/index.html

--scroll down to “2011 Opinions”

--select 2011 ME 76, State of Maine v. Price-Rite Fuel (7/5/11)

Brief all of the issues that you determine that the Court ruled on.

Follow the format from the Sample Briefs that I’ve distributed. Note especially that the Facts, Issues, and Holding are copied and pasted. Everything that you put into the Fact section should appear exactly in your Issue and Holding sections as well. Your Issue and Holding sections should be identical to each other, except that the issue is a question, and the Holding is the answer to that question. Your briefs will be evaluated on the format, as well as the specific content.

Please make two copies of your brief, one to hand in at the beginning of class, and the other for you to have during class for our discussion.

You may e-mail me if you have questions about the brief. The more time that I have to answer your questions, the more likely it is that I can be helpful.

If you cannot be in class on Thursday 10/6, you should still e-mail me your brief by the beginning of class time. If you do that, you will not have any grade deducted from your grade for the brief. If you do not, you should still contact me as soon as possible to see what options are available to you. (Generally, I do not want to accept assignments after we have discussed them in class). See the Syllabus for the class rules regarding late papers. Remember to work by yourselves; do not collaborate.

IMPORTANT: If you e-mail your brief to me, I will reply to confirm that I have received your assignment. If I do not reply, then I have not received the assignment.



POS 359--The Current Supreme Court Term
In class today, Tuesday 9/27, we first decided that the class will watch the "John Marshall" episode of the PBS Supreme Court series on Thursday 9/29 (a day when I cannot be in class). So there will be an attendance sheet passed around on Thursday, and the class will watch that program. The assignment for Tuesday 10/4 is to read the transcript of the Douglas oral argument that will be held on Monday 10/3. The transcript should be posted on the Supreme Court website by around 2 or 3 o'clock on Monday. To get to the transcript, go to supremecourt.gov, select oral argument, and select oral argument transcript. The url is http://www.supremecourt.gov/oral_arguments/argument_transcripts.aspx
This is the case which we previously discussed that raises the question of whether the Supremacy Clause of the constitution itself supplies a cause of action for a challenge to California's Medicaid cutbacks. I'm not sure how technical the oral argument will be (how many unexplained precedents and doctrines will be brought up), but try to make sense of what the parties are arguing, and what the Justices are getting at in their questions to the advocates.