Week TEN Common Mistakes on the Draft Brief; Final

Transcription

1 Week TEN Common Mistakes on the Draft Brief; Final Bluebooking Tips; How to Avoid Traps in Oral Argument Laws are like sausages. It s better not to see them being made. - Otto von Bismarck

2 Announcements Upcoming Dates and Deadlines: March 3 pm: Final Brief Due April 15 (last class): Both sections meet: 1 3 pm No Office Hours on Thursday Oral Argument Schedule Optional Strategery Sessions Location TBA Monday, March 10 2:15 - Petitioner Title VII Monday, March 10 3:30 Petitioner First Amendment Monday, March 10 4:45 Respondent Title VII Tuesday, March 11 4 Respondent First Amend.

3 WRITING TIP OF THE WEEK Don t forget that you are writing to the Supreme Court. When referring to the Court, say this Court Always capitalize Court when referring to the USSC. Don t say, The Supreme Court will decide that t...

4 Final Tips p on Writing g Your Brief and Preparing for Oral Argument

5 1. Be sure you ve taken every opportunity to present the rules in the light most favorable to your client.

6 OBJECTIVE STATEMENT OF RULE: In determining whether a stop was justified, the courts examine the totality of the circumstances to determine whether there were specific and articulable facts that, t taken together with reasonable inferences from those facts, suggest that the defendant was engaged in or about to be engaged in criminal activity. State v. Glover, 116 Wn.2d 509, 513 (1991).

7 DEFENDANT S STATEMENT OF RULE: A seizure is unlawful lif the State cannot prove that the officer had specific and articulable facts giving rise to a reasonable suspicion that the person seized was engaged in or about to be engaged in criminal activity. Glover. Although the courts look at the totality t of the circumstances in determining whether the facts were sufficient to support a finding that the officer had an articulable suspicion, the courts have repeatedly held that the fact that the person was in a high crime area is not sufficient to establish an articulable suspicion. Gleason.

8 GOVERNMENT S STATEMENT OF RULE: Because officers need to be able to question individuals suspected of stopping a crime, a Terry stop is permitted whenever an officer has a reasonable and articulable suspicion that an individual is or is about to be engaged in criminal activity. it Glover. In making these stops, the officer does not need to have the level of information necessary to justify an arrest; he or she need only have the ability to reasonably surmise from the information at hand that a crime is in progress or has occurred. Kennedy.

9 2. If you have favorable case law, state the rule as broadly as possible. If you have bad case law, try to interpret the case as narrowly as possible.

10 3. Don t pass up pgolden opportunities to present your theory of the case.

11 Random Photo

12 4. Check to make sure your brief is consistent with regard to: Terminology Italics vs. Underlining Numbering Font size and margins Tab indents

13 5. Don t make sloppy mistakes: Don t forget this is on summary judgment Petitioner = EEOC; Respondent = Paris Henderson 6 th Circuit it Court Sixth Circuit it (or Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals) Paris Henderson, not Paris Hilton Spelling errors in ALL CAPS point heading Title VII issue: Don t forget that you are not making a constitutional argument

14 SEVEN BLUEBOOKING TIPS 1. Leave no ambiguity about what citation corresponds to what case. WRONG: In Von Raab and Skinner, this Court upheld suspicionless urinalysis testing of adults, whose privacy expectations exceed that of high school students, because the need to guarantee public safety by drug testing outweighed those expectations. ti 489 U.S. at 677; 489 U.S. at 633.

15 SEVEN BLUEBOOKING TIPS 2. Adding emphasis to a quote: The nationwide drug epidemic makes the war against drugs a pressing concern in every school. Earls, 536 U.S. at 834 (emphasis added). BB 5.2 p. 69

16 SEVEN BLUEBOOKING TIPS 3. When referring to a case for the first time in the text of the sentence, follow the case name with the full citation: In Santa Fe Independent Sch. Dist. v. Doe,, 530 U.S. 290, (2000), this Court held that...

17 SEVEN BLUEBOOKING TIPS 4. Rule: Always underline or italicize a case name. Never underline or italicize if referring to the actual party. Earls requires that... The Lemon test t considers... In that case, Lindsay Earls argued that... Mr. Lemon appealed...

18 Random Photo

19 SEVEN BLUEBOOKING TIPS 5. Parentheticals should never start with a capital letter unless it s a quote. Barefoot v. Estelle,, 463 U.S. 880, 898 (1983) (noting the importance of rationality when imposing death sentences).

20 SEVEN BLUEBOOKING TIPS 6. When citing to multiple consecutive pages, only use the last two digits. Barefoot v. Estelle,, 463 U.S. 880, 885, (1983). BB Rule 3.2

21 SEVEN BLUEBOOKING TIPS 7. When in doubt about how to Bluebook, remember the Semitsu rule. Find a law review article that cited to the source!

22 Assignment for Next Week Listen t to Sample Oral Arguments (link sent via ): Garcetti (Supreme Court) Jespersen (Ninth Circuit)