Court Systems
Pending Supreme Court Case Summary The assignment examines pending cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, that is, cases that will be argued (or have been argued) and eventually decided during the High Courts current session (2020 to 2021).
A final ruling is pending. With respect to the assignment, please select one case from the list of pending cases and answer the four questions below using the majority opinion from the last court that reviewed the case (the last appellate court that reviewed the case is listed alongside the name of the case).
The majority opinion for the case (from a lower court) can be found on www.scotusblog.com or by searching the specific appellate court’s Website (or using Google). Pease select one case: -Albence v. Guzman Chavez, United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit-Edwards v. Vannoy, United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit -Jones v. Mississippi, Supreme Court of Mississippi -Lange v. California, California State Appellate Court -Torres v. Madrid, United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Please address the following four questions:
1. What are the facts of the case? 2. Where did the case originate, which appellate courts have reviewed the case, and what was each of those appellate bodies ruling? 3. What are the legal questions associated with the case? 4. What do you predict the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on the case? In reference to paper mechanics, the paper should be exactly two and a half pages in length, be double-spaced, using Times New Roman, twelve-inch font, have one-inch margins, and include a cover page. Assignment headings, such as the student’s name, date, and course name, should appear on a separate page (not within the two and a half page paper requirement). In addition, enlarged headings or margins or extra spacing between lines or paragraphs are not included in the page requirement.
Please do not use any direct quotes in the paper, as papers with direct quotes will not be graded. Be cautious of relying exclusively on Websites with banks of cases that have already been briefed or outlined. This has been an issue in the past. Papers that strongly reflect writing posted online (e.g., quotes or exact statements) will be suspect of academic misconduct and will be reported to the UTEP Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution. That is, do not copy and paste statements from court opinions or case briefs that are posted on legal Websites or blogs. The paper is due as an electronic copy on the Blackboard assignment submission link by Monday, November 9th.
