On Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 7:59 AM Alice Walker <[email protected]> wrote:

LEGAL MEMORANDUM #1

TO: Student - FALL 2018-BA 18 (81151)

FROM: A. Ratkus, Instructor

DATE: September 13, 2018

RE: Case Analysis #1

Our firm has a very old and long history representing members of the Rockefeller family. Joe Smith, a white male from the Rockefeller family. Joe was denied admission to Cornerstone University (CU) in 2016. Joe is a practicing Druid. Joe believes that under the scoring system used by CU he would have been admitted but for that scoring system that considered sex, race and financial means. Joe’s parents want us to explore the possibility of suing North Carolina for discrimination (based on race, sex, national origin, religion, or financial means) and equal protection issues.

Your assignment is to research the facts of the case and write me a legal memorandum applying the facts and discussing the state of the existing case law. Your analysis should include all relevant portions of the US Constitution.

I understand there are several cases that might be helpful:

· Yick Wo v Hopkins, 118 U.S. 356 (1886)

· DeFunis v Odegaard, 416 U.S. 312 (1974)

· Bakke v UC Board of Regents, 438 U.S. 265 (1978)

· Rostker v Goldberg, 453 U.S. 57 (1981)

· U.S. v Virginia, 518 U.S. 515 (1996)

· Grutter v Bollinger, 539 U.S. 306 (2003)

· Sassman v. Brown, 73 F.Supp. 3d 1241 (2015)

I have provided citations for these cases. You should research and thoroughly discuss the relevance of all of them. Any additional and relevant case law you find will be helpful.

You may work with other students, but I expect each student will write their own unique memo. All the relevant aspects of plagiarism will apply. Your analysis should be 5 page min., double spaced, Arial (12 pt) type, with one inch margins on all sides. Your paper must include at least three (3) reference sources (books or web sites you got information from).

Sample legal memos are posted on Blackboard. If you come up with questions, feel free to ask them in class. This assignment is due not later than 2:05 PM, October 18. No e-mail memos will be accepted without prior approval. Extra credit will be given for memo’s received NLT 2:05 PM, October 16. Note, no late assignments will be accepted!

Fact Sheet

Cornerstone University (CU), the oldest military school in the country, has a long history of admitting students who are predominantly white males from well-to-do families. The first year in which a student who did not fit this profile was admitted to the school was 2015. The school is owned and operated by the State of North Carolina.

In an effort to remedy past discrimination, CU devises a complex system of point scoring to determine admissions to the school.

1. Every applicant is scored the same based on GPA. Extracurricular activities and extraordinary accomplishments or experiences, including whether someone comes from meager financial means, are all considered in scoring.

2. Applicants are given 1 point if they are male, 2 points if they are female, and 1 additional point if they are a member of an historically disadvantaged minority (the school classifies blacks, Native Americans, Latinos and Asians in this category).