US/VA GOVERNMENT

PROJECT 4

MODEL SUPREME COURT

FOR YOUR 25% PROJECT GRADE FOR THE 4TH QUARTER, THE CLASS WILL SIMULATE THE FEDERAL SUPREME COURT CASE PROCESS. THE CLASS WILL BE DIVIDED INTO THE FOLLOWING:

1. LAWYERS - 2 PER CASE - 9 CASES

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

3. FRIEND OF THE COURT LAWYER - 1

LAWYERS, CASES AND JUSTICES WILL BE ASSIGNED ON 4/5/01

THE COURT DOCKET WILL BE ESTABLISHED IN CLASS ON 4/5/01- 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 LAWYER 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: 5/11/01

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

CLASS: 4/5/01

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 5/11/01

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 8

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 5/25/01 TO 6/5/01

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 SHEET WILL BE DISTRIBUTED AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 4TH QUARTER LISTING 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 - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/supcourt/supcourt.htm