September 27, 2016

POS 282 INTRODUCTION TO AMERICAN LAW
In class today, Tuesday 9/27, I distributed 3 handouts: assignment #1 (reproduced below): the case you'll be briefing, Jones v. Flowers, 547 US 220 (2006): and the Maine statute regarding use of force in defense of premises (to go with the Katko case). I began by going over the requirements of the assignment. We then finished going over the Speelman hypotheticals that I had distributed last week. We looked at whether there were defenses to the letter that the BHA had sent, and also how the case might have come out if the BHA had needed to do some research in order to figure out in which jail Speelman was being kept. We began the Katko case, going over the brief segments down to the cause of action. When we resume our discussion of Katko, we'll begin with the concept of common law. The assignment for Thursday 9/29 is to begin the Jones case brief assignment. I'll take your questions about the briefing of Jones, so be sure to get started on that process. Also, review the Katko case and its briefing, and study the Maine statute handed out today, asking yourself whether the Brineys could have been convicted in a Maine criminal case for the spring gun.


Assignment due Thursday, October 6, 2016

The assignment (graded) is to do a Case Brief of the case of Jones v. Flowers 547 U.S. 220 (2006) (also distributed to the class today).

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. Do not include the “even though…” segment. Brief only the majority opinion. For the dissenting opinion, summarize in plain English (not using the Brief Format) all those points on which the dissent disagrees with the majority.

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 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. Do not show your work to anyone else; do not look at anyone else’s work. Do not discuss your case brief with anyone but me.

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.