PROJECT 4

MODEL SUPREME COURT

 

 

FOR YOUR 15% PROJECT GRADE FOR THE 4TH QUARTER, EACH CLASS WILL SIMULATE THE FEDERAL SUPREME COURT CASE PROCESS.  EACH CLASS WILL BE DIVIDED INTO THE FOLLOWING:

1.  LAWYERS - 2 PER CASE - 9 CASES PER CLASS

2.  JUSTICES - 9 PER CLASS - ROLE-PLAY THE ASSIGNED JUSTICE

3.  FRIEND OF THE COURT LAWYERS - AS NEEDED PER CLASS

 

LAWYERS, CASES AND JUSTICES WILL BE ASSIGNED ON 4/16(G) & 4/17(B). 

THE COURT DOCKET WILL BE ESTABLISHED IN CLASS ON 4/16(G) & 4/17(B) - USE YOUR CLASS PERIOD HANDOUT WITH THE ASSIGNED LAWYER PAIRS AND JUSTICES TO RECORD THE DATES FOR THE ORAL ARGUMENTS NEXT TO EACH LAWYER PAIR.

 

 

LAWYER PAIRS AND FRIEND OF THE COURT LAWYERS WILL:

1.     RESEARCH AND PREPARE A “BRIEF”.  (TYPED, 2 PAGE MAXIMUM SUMMARY OF MAIN

        POINTS AND ARGUMENTS SUPPORTING THE SIDE OF THE CASE ASSIGNED TO YOU.

        TEN COPIES OF YOUR BRIEF ARE DUE ON:  B-5/3   G-5/4

2.     PREPARE NOTES FOR YOUR ORAL ARGUMENT DATE.  (SEE DOCKET ESTABLISHED IN

       CLASS:  B-4/17   G-4/16)

3.        TURN IN YOUR CLASS PERIOD HANDOUT WITH THE ASSIGNED LAWYER PAIRS,

       JUSTICES AND THE COURT DOCKET DATES ALONG WITH YOUR DECISIONS IN EACH

       CASE FROM YOUR CLASS. (RECORD ON  THE BACK OF THE HANDOUT)

        (EXTRA CREDIT FOR SERVING AS A SUBSTITUTE JUSTICE)

 

 

JUSTICES  WILL PREPARE A FOLDER WITH THE FOLLOWING:

1.    A PRINTOUT OF YOUR JUSTICE WITH A BIOGRAPHY AND LIST OF OPINIONS WRITTEN

       BY YOUR JUSTICE.

2.    A ORIGINAL COPY OF EACH CASE ASSIGNED IN YOUR CLASS.

3.        COPIES OF BRIEFS FROM CLASS LAWYERS FOR EACH CASE. (READ BRIEFS BEFORE

EACH CASE ORAL ARGUMENT)

4.    A COURT DOCKET OF ORAL ARGUMENT DATES (USE CLASS PERIOD HANDOUT)

       FOLDER CHECK WITH THE ABOVE ON 5/3(B) & 5/4(G)   

 

 

JUSTICES ARE RESPONSIBLE TO DO THE FOLLOWING:

A.  LISTEN, ASK QUESTIONS (15 PTS) AND VOTE ON EACH CASE PRESENTED.

B.  TYPE ONE MAJORITY OPINION ON YOUR ASSIGNED CASE FROM ONE OF THE  9

     CASES  USING THE BRIEFS, ORAL ARGUMENT POINTS AND QUESTIONS AND THE

     ORIGINAL DECISION IN THE CASE.

C.  TURN IN THE TYPED MAJORITY OPINION AND ANNOUNCE THE COURT DECISION THE

     NEXT CLASS PERIOD BEFORE THE NEW ORAL ARGUMENTS BEGIN.

     (YOU MAY TURN IN ONE DISSENTING OR ONE CONCURRING OPINION FROM THE

       OTHER CASES FOR EXTRA CREDIT)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ORAL ARGUMENTS: BEGIN ON 5/18(G) - 5/21(B)

1.  LAWYERS WILL PRESENT THEIR CASES ACCORDING TO THE DATES SET BY THE

     JUSTICES ON THE COURT DOCKET FOR EACH CLASS.

2.  EACH LAWYER WILL HAVE UP TO 7 MINUTES TO PRESENT THEIR ORAL ARGUMENT

     AND ANSWER QUESTIONS BY THE JUSTICES.  TIME NOT USED CAN BE RESERVED FOR

     REBUTTAL. 

3.  JUSTICES WILL CONFER THE LAST 30 MINUTES OF CLASS TO DISCUSS AND VOTE AND

     ASSIGN THE MAJORITY OPINION WRITER. ( LAWYERS NOT ARGUING WILL SERVE AS

     SUBSTITUTE JUSTICES ACCORDING TO THE CHIEF JUSTICE SUB LIST)              

4.  UP TO THREE CASES  PER DAY WILL BE HEARD UNTIL ALL CASES ARE FINISHED.    

 

 

GRADING:

A SCORING GUIDE LISTED ON THE WEB PAGE UNDER 4TH QUARTER PROJECT LISTS ALL CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION FOR EACH LAWYER AND JUSTICE TO DETERMINE YOUR FINAL GRADE FOR PROJECT 4.

 

ADDITIONAL GRADING GUIDELINES:

-          ATTENDANCE/PARTICIPATION IS REQUIRED FOR THE MODEL SUPREME COURT -

(SEE THE ASSESSMENT SHEET FOR THE SPECIFIC DATES AND POINTS)

 

SOURCES:

 

Web sites -FindLaw- http://www.lawcrawler.com/

                 Hermes - http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/index.html

                 Washington Post - The Supreme Court -

                    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/supcourt/supcourt.htm