Case Study Andrus v. Texas

Each student must write a detailed case study of a recent U.S. Supreme Court or state Appellate Court decision.  Your instructor will choose the court cases to be studied. Note that your case study must be turned in before the end of the 15th Week. 

Case Study Guidelines:

The case study should be no more than 3 pages in length, single spaced.

Use Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation should be used for referencing – see the instructor or Legal Information Institute Basic Legal Citation for additional details if you are unclear on this.

Paper structure:

Title and Citation

1. Procedural History
2. Summary of Facts

Issues

1. EXTRA CREDIT (5 pts) – Party’s Arguments: each party’s opposing argument concerning the ultimate issue

Holding: While the holding may be distilled down to as little as one word – affirmed, reversed, affirmed in part and reversed in part, and or remanded – you should state what the holding means in one sentence. For example, do not simply write “affirmed,” but rather “Affirmed. The statute is void for vagueness.”

1. Opinion/Reasoning: summary of majority, concurring and dissenting opinions (if any); detail what justices voted and their justification. EXTRA CREDIT (5 pts) – Include a description/analysis of key cases that the judge relied upon.
2. Analysis/Conclusion:succinct concluding statements which contextualize the judgment. Example: Did this case establish new or reinforce current precedence? What policies or practices were established as a result of this decision?  How did this affect justice and Constitutional interpretation?
3. Comments/Your Opinion  
4. Questions raised or left unanswered by the case
5. 4. Use proper grammar, formatting, and sentence structure – The use of the Writing Lab is suggested for editing.

Need help?  Refer to the following aids: 

1. A. How to write a case brief for law school: Excerpt reproduced from Introduction to the Study of Law: Cases and Materials, Third Edition (LexisNexis 2009) by Michael Makdisi & John Makdisi 
2. B. Case-Brief.pdf

C. Sample Brief: McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)

1. D. Sample Brief: United States v. Lopez (1995)
2. 5. Also, please refer to your textbook Chapter 2 and Week 3 about legal citations and case briefs.
3. HINT: Beginning law students often print off the case and “book brief” it (or you can use Adobe and use their colored highlighters), meaning they highlight portions of the case that fall under the different categories in a color-coded fashion (see pic below). For example, highlight the case facts in orange, and highlight the judge’s reasoning in blue. This will help to break the case down into more manageable parts. Next, focus on each color-coded section independently and re-write and paraphrase. Before you know it, you have your brief typed. COURT CASES ARE NOT COPYRIGHTED, so copied text and quotes without citation are acceptable. However, paraphrasing (putting the text in your own words) ensures that you understand the case and helps put the case in simplier terms for others to understand. Quoting selected parts of the judge’s reasoning can be extremely effective and help you remember the case.

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