U.S. Supreme Court Case Essay 1. The following presentation is intended to help students complete the Supreme Court case essay assignment for Criminal Law. 2. Choose a Supreme Court case that interests you. You may choose any case on a criminal law topic heard by the Supreme Court of the United States to research and write an essay about it. One good case to review is Birchfield v. North Dakota, 579 U.S. ____ (2016). 3. Research the details about the case (answer the 5 research questions: Who, What, When, Where and Why). Take notes about what you discover. Note the sources of your information. You must list your sources at the end of the essay in BlueBook citation format, proper footnotes in Bluebook format throughout the essay, and properly cite the sources of each piece of information in the essay itself. For details on how to do this, please review the Legal Studies Program Writing Guide in the APUS Library. Of course you can also use the Bluebook, and you may ask your professor for assistance as required. 4. After researching a case, organize the information you have collected by making an outline. A basic structure for organizing your information might be as follows. A. Introduction: 1. Identify the name of the case and when it was heard before SCOTUS. 2. Identify the parties involved in the case. 3. Briefly describe the focus of the case. B. Describe the case itself: What was the controversy in the case? C. How did the case move through the courts before reaching SCOTUS? 1. What court had original jurisdiction in the case? 2. How had previous courts ruled in the case? D. What did the Supreme Court rule in the case? 1. What was the argument of the majority opinion? 2. What was the argument of the minority opinion? E. What was the reasoning used by the Supreme Court to reach its decision? How did it reach its decision? E. Conclusion: How does the Court’s ruling in the case affect Americans today? 1. Has the Court’s ruling in the case affected other rulings in other cases? 2. Has the Court’s ruling affected the interpretation and enforcement of any particular laws, and how those laws are enforced? 3. If applicable: Has the Court’s ruling in this case affected you, or someone you know, personally? 10. Write your essay. If you organized your information based on the suggested outline, then all you have to do is write down what you have learned from your research, and put it into a footnoted two to three page essay. Your first paragraph is the introduction (the information under letter A of your outline). The second paragraph is the information under letter B, and so on. 11. Sources: Be sure to cite your sources, using sequentially numbered footnotes. That means any information you learned from another source, such as a website, a magazine article, a videotaped interview etc., must be properly noted in your essay. Make sure you use footnotes in proper BlueBook citation style. Footnotes appear at the bottom of EACH page, not at the end of the document (those are endnotes). If you have questions about citations, ask your instructor prior to turning in the assignment. Legal  Studies  Program  Graduate  Research  Paper  Rubric                 Category   100%   50%   0%             Structure  /   Sound,  logical   Structure  lacks   Structure  is   Organization       structure  sets  tone   logical  flow,  does  not   disjointed,  does  not   10%   for  paper,  orients   thoroughly  orient   make  sense  and  does   reader  and  captures   the  reader  to  the   not  inspire  reader   interest.   purpose  and  flow  of   interest  at  all.   the  paper  and  lacks   interest.             Use  of  Reputable,   Student  effectively   Student  inefficiently   Student  did  not   Scholarly  Primary   leveraged  available   leveraged  available   leverage  available   and  Secondary   technology  and  other   technology  and  other   technology  and  other   Sources  10%   research  tools  to  find   research  tools  to  find   research  tools  to  find   and  use  at  least   and  use  at  least   reputable  sources,   sixteen  (16)   eight(8)  reputable,   using  only  open   reputable,  scholarly   scholarly  sources,   source  material  that   sources,  at  least  half   four  (4)  of  which  are   is  neither  reputable   of  which  are  peer-­‐ peer  reviewed  and   nor  scholarly.   reviewed  and  at   two  (2)  of  which  are   least  half  of  which   primary  sources  of   are  primary  sources   law  (constitutions,   of  law  (constitutions,   statutes,  case  law   statutes,  case  law   etc.)   etc.)             Issue  /  Problem   Issue  /  problem   Issue  /  problem   Issue  /  problem   Statement     statement  is  clear,   statement  is  there,   statement  is  not   10%   unequivocal  and   but  is  awkward,  not   written.   provable.   clearly  articulated,   and  not  provable.             Logical  Flow  &   Student  fully   Student  partially   Student  does  not   Content     explores  and   explores  and   explore  and  develop   50%   develops  the  law,   develops  the  law,   the  law,  apply  it  to   applies  it  to  the  facts   applies  it  to  the  facts   the  facts  and  reach   and  reaches  logical,   supported   conclusion(s).   and  reaches   somewhat  logical,   supported   conclusion(s).     Writing  Mechanics   10%     Student  writes   clearly  and  concisely   with  no  more  than   two  minor  errors.         Bluebook  Citation     10%     Student  uses  proper   Bluebook  citation   with  no  more  than   two  minor  errors.     Student  writes   somewhat   effectively,  with   frequent  errors.   Writing  is  illogical   and  hard  to  follow  at   times.     Student  uses   citation,  though  not   in  proper  Bluebook   format.         Short  Form  Rubric:     Structure/  Organization:    ____  /  10  points  (Insert  comments)   Use  of  Authority:    ____  /  10  points  (Insert  comments)   Issue  /  Problem  Statement:    ____  /  10  points  (Insert  comments)   Logical  Flow  /  Content:    _____  /  50  points  (Insert  comments)   Writing  Mechanics:    _____  /  10  points  (Insert  comments)   Bluebook  Citation:    _____  /  10  points  (Insert  comments)   logical,  supportable   conclusion(s).     Instead,  student   jumps  to   unsupported   conclusions.     Student’s  writing  is   not  understandable   due  to  frequent   errors.         Student  uses  no   recognizable  citation   format.  
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