April 11, 2014

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Friday 4/11, I distributed two handouts: the second briefing assignment (copied below) and the case you'll be briefing, Guardianship of Jeremiah T. If you weren't in class for the handout of the case, you can also access it by going to the Maine Supreme Court opinion site, going to 2009 opinions, and going to case #74. We then discussed the assignment, and the background of the issues. I also mentioned the difference between a guardian and a guardian ad litem. We then went through the Butler case. We talked about the difference between using a statement in the case in chief versus using that statement for impeachment. We discussed the retroactive application of the 1966 Miranda decision, and then looked at language from the Miranda opinion itself that seemed to dictate a result in this case. We looked at how the majority and dissent differed in their views about whether the dictum from Miranda should be followed. Finally I talked about Harris v. N.Y. the 1971 U.S. Supreme Court decision that settled this issue for the whole country. The assignment for Monday 4/14 is to review Strunk (previously assigned) and to begin work on the Jeremiah T. case brief. At the least, read the case for Monday.

Assignment due Friday April 18, 2014

The assignment (graded) is to do a Case Brief of the case of Guardianship of Jeremiah T., 2009 ME 74, 976 A.2d 955.

Brief all of the issues that you determine that the Court ruled on. Remember that the purpose of the brief is to be useful. Check your holdings to make sure that they give the most useful rules possible. Mere conclusory facts just tell us who won and who lost, but not what circumstances determine the winner and loser.

Follow the format from the Sample Briefs that I’ve distributed. Note especially that, after the “Issue” is composed, the “Facts” 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 specific 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 Friday 4/18, 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. Do not show your work to anyone else. Do not look at anyone else’s work.

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 384 CIVIL LIBERTIES
In class today, Friday 4/11,we started with the final two paragraphs of the Scalia handout, exploring why the individual right isn't limited to muskets, and the problems of how you fight off the tyranny of the federal government tanks and planes with weapons that aren't dangerous or unusual. We then talked about the two dissents in the case, one of which was basically water under the bridge (is there an individual right) and the other was the opening salvo in the upcoming Second Amendment battles (what's the level of scrutiny). We turned to the Drake Petition in Opposition, and went through New Jersey's set of cards, handgun possession permits, and handgun carry permits. We will pick up at that point on Monday. The additional assignment for Monday 4/14 is to read through Part I of the Argument in the Drake Brief in Opposition, through p. 7.


POS 359 THE CURRENT SUPREME COURT TERM
In class today, Friday 4/11, I collected the Free Exercise papers, and we went over your thoughts about how these questions should be resolved. On Monday, 4/14, I plan to return the papers. Then on Monday we will continue our discussion about the McCutcheon decision, picking up with the post-Buckley era of Supreme Court decisions and the legislative response.