Can you help me with this ?

For this assignment, you will write a summary and analysis of a Supreme Court of the United States case. It must be written in Courier font, size 12, double-spaced, no more than 5 to 6 pages. It should also include a title page (does not count towards page limit). There will be are 30+ cases to select from, but there is a limit of two students per case. You are required to select a case and to read the whole case. You will then write a summary of the case that includes the following: a short description of the events leading up to the case (not including lower court rulings), a breakdown of the ruling with who affirmed or dissented and the legal thinking behind all affirmations and dissents.

For the second part, you must analyze the ruling and argue whether or not you think the majority opinion is right or wrong. You can point out what you think are flaws in the opinion’s logic, if it is an older ruling you can suggest that the world has changed so much that the opinion is no longer relevant, or that some factor or issue was not sufficiently addressed in the opinion. This should be about one page. You must include page numbers when you quote or reference the opinion. The purpose of this assignment is to test your skills in reading and deconstructing legal writing and logic.

Tips for Success

· Court cases can be difficult to read. Read slowly and carefully. When in doubt, look up words or concepts you do not understand.

· Use the listed questions above to help you organize your assignment. You will do better the more of them you answer.

· Direct reference to the opinion will help to support both your summary and interpretation of the ruling. Remember to use page numbers.

· Take some time to look through descriptions of the cases. You do not want to pick a case that you cannot work with for a least a few weeks.

· I want your interpretation of the case, while I strongly encourage you to find other materials that address the case; I also want you to apply your own reasoning skills to the opinion.

· Just because a case is old doesn’t mean it isn’t interesting, give serious thought to some of the older ones.

Cases

2

Abrams v. United States (1919)

Ashcroft v. ACLU (2004)

Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition (2002)

Beauharnais v. Illinois (1952)

Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969)

Branzburg v. Hayes (1972)

Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (2011)

Central Hudson Gas & Electric v. Public Service Commission of New York (1980)

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010)

Chaplisnky v. New Hampshire (1942)

Cohen v. California (1971)

Eldred v. Ashcroft (2003)

Elonis v. United States (2015)

FCC v. Fox Television Stations (2010)

Federal Communication Commission v. Pacifica Foundation (1978)

Ginzburg v. United States (1966)

Golan v. Holder (2012)

McCullen v. Coakley (2014)

Miami Herald v. Tornillo (1974)

Miller v. California (1973)

Morse v. Frederick (2007)

NAACP v. Alabama (1958)

National Broadcasting Corporation v. Federal Communication Commission (1943)

Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart (1976)

New York Times Co. v Sullivan (1964)

New York Times Co. v. United States (1971)

O’Brien v. United States (1967)

Paps A.M. v. Erie (2000)

Red Lion Broadcasting v. Federal Communication Commission (1969)

Reed v. Town of Gilbert, Arizona (2015)

Reno v. ACLU (1997)

Renton v. Playtime Theatres (1986)

Riley v. California (2014)

Smith v. Maryland (1979)

Snyder v. Phelps (2010)

Terminiello v. Chicago (1949)

Texas v. Johnson (1989)

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent School District (1969)

United States v. O’Brien (1967)

Village of Skokie v. National Socialist Party of America (1978)

Virginia v. Black (2002)

Walker v. Texas Division, Sons of Confederate Veterans (2015)

Whitney v. California (1927)

Williams-Yulee v. Florida Bar (2015)

Wooley v. Maynard (1977)