Instructions
This assignment is comprised
of 2 parts, the first of which is due this week. Part II will be due in Week 7.
In Part I this week, choose a
case from the STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA that involves civil rights or civil
liberties that was decided by the United States Supreme Court. If SOUTH
DAKOTA does not have a case that was decided by the United States Supreme
Court, choose a civil rights case from another state for which the United
States Supreme Court issued a decision.
Here is a brief description of
civil rights and civil liberties: Civil rights refers to equal social
opportunities under the law. It gives you these freedoms such as the right to
vote, the right to public education, or a fair trial, among other things,
regardless of your wealth or race. Civil liberties mean freedom of religion,
equal treatment and due process under the law, and the right to privacy.
You should be able to go online
and look up SOUTH DAKOTA’S and famous cases decided by the Supreme
Court. For example, Brown v Board of Education (1951) started
in Topeka, Kansas, and ended up in the Supreme Court of the United States.
Another example would be Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley v Steve Sisolak,
Governor of Nevada (2020) that started in Nevada and ended up the
United States Supreme Court. A good source of information about cases decided
by the United States Supreme Court is www.scotusblog.com. Other sources can be
researched online using search terms for “civil rights cases decided by the
U.S. Supreme Court.” Be sure to use a case actually decided by the
United States Supreme Court, and NOT a case decided by your state’s supreme
court or a different court. A case that is still pending before the United
States Supreme Court should NOT be used.
Research your court case and
write an outline of the case that you will be using to prepare a presentation,
which will be a narrated PowerPoint.
This week’s assignment should
include (a) summary of the case; (b) a case outline; and a summary.
Summary of the Case
In one or two paragraphs, provide
a general overview of the case that serves as a snapshot of what the case is
about and how it ended up in your state high court. A summary is using your
words to write a brief history of the case. Do not give your opinion or your
interpretation but stick to the facts only.
Case Outline
Your court case outline should
include:
Title: Name of the case
Facts of the case: Provide
key facts involving the case.
History of the case: What
legal action was taken based on what your state laws say about this case?
Legal questions: What were
the legal issues the court had to decide?
Decision or holdings: Did
the court decide for the plaintiff or the defendant? Explain the reason behind
the decision?
Verdict and opinion
(judgement): What were the concurring and dissenting opinions? How many
judges decided for the defendant and how many justices decided against the
defendant? What was the final verdict from the judge or the jury, if it was a
jury trial?
Conclusion:
What was the resulting impact of
the ruling? How did the citizens of your state benefit from it? Was this a good
decision?
Requirements
- The length of your outline will vary. Usually, an
outline is anywhere from 1-3 pages long. Make sure to write full sentences
to explain your case. It is a concise list to be used as a reference for
you during the presentation.
Using the outline, you will be describing the court case in your
presentation and the scenario around the court case. The use of Wikipedia
as a primary source of information is to be avoided – it is not a reliable
source of information.
Search for an example of a case outline in the Internet. Without
going into much detail at this state, each of the items listed above has a
subject sentence with 3-6 bullet points that can help you expand on the
topic.
For Week 7, you will be creating a narrated PowerPoint from this week’s
outline.
This assignment is worth 200 points.
- 1-inch margins
- Double spaced
- 12-point Times New Roman font
- Title page
- References page (minimum of 2 scholarly sources in
addition to textbook if cited)