Complete a majority case brief as Supreme court justices Anthony Kennedy This means that you will be deciding on this case as the real Justice Kennedy would, and you will write the opinion

Judicial Opinions

Overview: After the simulation, justices write judicial opinions in reaction to the oral argument, merits briefs, conference, and draft opinions as well as the facts of the case, Constitution, and case law. Justices circulate drafts so they know how their colleagues plan to rule and why, and so they can respond to one another in their final judicial opinion draft.

Instructions: You are a Supreme Court justice preparing an opinion for announcement. Read the case materials: case hypothetical, merits briefs, and judicial opinion drafts of your colleagues, and review your notes from oral argument and conference. Write a majority opinion resolving the major legal question in light of the facts of the case, Constitution, and case law, as well as all case materials: merits briefs, oral argument, and the views of your colleagues (in conference and draft opinions). Opinions must support an argument, refute counterarguments, and respond to attorneys (oral argument and/or merits briefs), and fellow justices (conference and/or draft opinions).

Opinions should contain the following five elements, in the following order:

1. an introductory statement of the nature, procedural posture, and prior result of the case;

2. a statement of the issues to be decided;

3. a statement of the material facts;

4. a discussion of the governing legal principles and resolution of the issues; and

5. the disposition and necessary instructions.

Each of these is developed further below.

Assessment: Complete opinions must support an argument, refute counterarguments, and respond to attorneys (oral argument and/or merits briefs), and fellow justices (conference and/or draft opinions). Strong opinions will be well organized, logically argued, and well supported through reference to and explanation of Supreme Court decisions and legal principles. Assessment rests on how well you make use of, identify, and explain relevant course material. It also rests on staying in character and not diverging from your justice’s political ideology and/or judicial philosophy.

Introduction

The purpose of the Introduction is to orient the reader to the case. It should state briefly what the case is about, the legal subject matter, and the result. It may also cover some or all of the following:

1. The parties: The parties should be identified, if not in the Introduction, then early in the opinion, preferably by name, and names should be used consistently throughout. (The use of legal descriptions, such as “appellant” and “appellee,” tends to be confusing, especially in multi-party cases.)

2. The procedural and jurisdictional status: relevant prior proceedings, and how the case got before the court should be outlined.

Statement of issues

The statement of issues is the cornerstone of the opinion; how the issues are formulated determines which facts are material and what legal principles govern. Judges should not be bound by the attorneys’ analyses; they should state the issues as they see them, even if this differs from how the lawyers state them. That an issue has been raised by the parties does not mean that it must be addressed in the opinion if it is not material to the outcome of the case. The statement of issues should be brief.

Statement of facts

In a single-issue case, the facts can be set forth in one section early in the opinion. Only the facts that are necessary to explain the decision should be included. Excessive factual detail can be distracting. Dates, for example, tend to confuse readers and should not be included unless they are material to the decision or helpful to its understanding. Although brevity and simplicity are always desirable, they are secondary to the need for a full and fair fact statement. Facts significant to the losing side should not be omitted. Above all, the statement of facts must be accurate. The judge should not assume that the facts recited in the parties’ briefs are stated correctly.

Discussion of legal principles

The discussion of legal principles is the heart of the opinion. It must demonstrate that the court’s conclusion is based on reason and logic. It should convince the reader of the correctness of the decision by the power of its reasoning, not by advocacy or argument. The judge must deal with contrary authorities and opposing arguments, and must confront the issues squarely and deal with them forthrightly. Although the opinion need not address every case and contention, the discussion of legal principles must be sufficient to demonstrate to the losing party that the court has fully considered the essentials of its position.

An opinion should address only the issues that need to be resolved to decide the case. However, judges must be careful not to decide issues that are not before them and to avoid advisory opinions and unnecessary expressions of views that may tie the court’s hands in a future case.

Rationale

This section consists of a detailed explanation of the rationale for the holding. Some of this will be a restatement of some of the arguments laid out in the previous section. What justifies your decision? Why is the law stronger on this side than the other? How do you respond to the arguments of the other side?

Disposition and instructions

Disposition of a case—and the mandate to the lower court or agency, when that is a part of the disposition—is the most important part of the concluding paragraph. Opinions must spell out clearly what the lower courts or agencies are expected to do, without trespassing on what remains entrusted to their discretion. Thus, even if an abuse of discretion is found, the appellate court’s decision is on the law, and the lower court or agency on remand retains the authority to exercise its discretion properly.

(Adapted from Judicial Writing Manual: A Pocket Guide for Judges Second Edition Federal Judicial Center 2013)/

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SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

Federation of Tobacco Growers, Manufacturers, and Sellers v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, ___ U.S. __ (2022)

Opinion of [Sotomayor, J.] (student name)

(Note: anything in brackets [ ] is an explanation. Your opinion should not have brackets.)

Introduction

The case, Federation of Tobacco Growers, Manufacturers, and Sellers v. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, was brought before the Supreme Court on appeal by the Petitioner, Federation of Tobacco Growers, Manufacturers, and Sellers, seeking reversal of the decision of the 14th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Statement of Issues

This Court has been tasked with assessing whether [issue 1]… Additionally, Petitioner has asked the Court to determine whether [issue 2]….

Statement of Facts

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