List of Possible US Supreme Court Cases to brief (choose 1):

Heien v. North Carolina, 574 US ____ (2015)

McFadden v. United States, 576 US ____ (2015)

Ohio v. Clark, 576 US ____ (2015)

Whitfield v. United States, 576 US ____ (2015)

Reading and Briefing Cases

Being able to read and brief the legal case decisions summarized and referenced in your textbook will help you in the completion of course assignments, further your understanding of the criminal law, and assist you in future courses.

Briefing Cases (Generally)

First, when you are discussing a case you should start by identifying the main concept that the case is addressing (such as the Ex Post Facto Clause, Overbreadth Doctrine, or Mens Rea). Then you need to review the meaning of that concept in your own words before you start discussing your opinions. This allows me to see if you are understanding the concepts and provides better context to your work. I want to emphasize that you do this in your own words rather than copying definitions straight from the textbook. You can use your own examples to help explain concepts or describe how you came to understand the concept as well.

Second, when you are discussing a case brief you do need to provide a brief summary of the case prior to discussing it. This brief summary should include at minimum: some facts of the case (enough to understand the issue at hand), the issue being addressed by the court, the ruling of the court, and the court’s reasoning for that ruling. This helps me see that you are understanding the cases and provides better context to the discussion points you bring up in your assignment.

Third, once you have covered the concept and case you are discussing, you can then go into your own thoughts/opinions or bring up an issue you want to discuss.

Fourth, overall your work should reflect a well-thought out, organized, and clearly written thought about the case. Remember to cite all work properly.

For specific step-by-step instructions/requirements see below.

Locating the Cases

Most of the cases you will be reading in this course will be decisions made by the Supreme Court of the United States. The following resources will help you locate the full SCOTUS opinions. It is important that you read and brief the actual opinion, rather than rely on someone else’s interpretation of the decision. In order to access these SCOTUS opinions online, always search for the name of the case and the year it was decided.

The Oyez Project: http://www.oyez.org/

This website is a great resource for current and past SCOTUS decisions. If you click on “Cases” at the top of the home page, it should provide you with the current SCOTUS term and then provide past years on the left-hand side. Go to the appropriate year for the case you are looking for, and then find the name of the case.
SCOTUS: http://www.supremecourt.gov/

This is the official website of the U.S. Supreme Court. It is not as easy to navigate as other websites, but it does provide a search bar where you can look for past decisions using the name and year of the case.
SCOTUSblog: http://www.scotusblog.com/

This website is a great resource for recent SCOTUS decisions. It also has many writers who provide insight on cases and do a great job explaining decisions and issues facing SCOTUS. I highly recommend this source if you are interested in keeping up with the Court.
Google

If you have a hard time finding a specific case using these sources, you can have some luck just searching for the name of the case and year using Google. Just be aware that there is a lot of information out there regarding these decisions, so be sure you are reading the actual SCOTUS decision and not something else. Typically when you Google a case name and year, it will bring up the PDF from http://www.supremecourt.gov/. This should be the actual decision, so make sure that is the source you are downloading from. If you check out the example case brief of the SCOTUS decision I provided, you will see what an actual SCOTUS opinion should look like. If you download a file, make sure it looks like that.
Approaching the Cases

Keep the following tips in mind when briefing cases:

Skim the case. Start by skimming over the case and getting a quick impression of the facts, issue, and holding in the case.
Read the case slowly a second time. Go over the case very slowly and start writing down the details.
Write down the relevant facts in your own words.
Identify the issues, reasoning, and holding in your own words and do not merely copy the language in the decision. This will ensure that you fully understand the case.
Consult a law dictionary for the definition of unfamiliar legal terms.
Write down any questions you may have concerning the case.
The brief should be precise and limited to essential points.
Consider why the case is included in the textbook and how the case fits into the general topic covered in the chapter. Also, consider how the case may related to other areas you have studied.
Structure of Cases

Appellate courts are usually composed of a multiple judge panel that consists of three or more judges. The U.S. Supreme Court has nine justices. After the oral arguments are made in a case, the justices typically meet and vote on a case and then assign which justice will write the “majority” opinion. Justices in the majority may also choose to write a “concurring” opinion that will support the majority opinion, but for different reasons then those given in the majority opinion. Justices who disagree with the majority will often write a “dissenting” opinion. When there are multiple justices who dissent, one may write the dissent and the other justices will “join” their opinion or they will each write their own dissent based on their own reasoning. The majority opinion will often address the issues raised by the dissenters as well.

Case decisions are divided into two parts: an introduction and the judicial opinion.

1. Introduction

Title: Cases are identified by the names of the parties involved in the litigation. At the trial level, this typically involves the prosecuting authority (a city, county, state, or the federal government) and the name of the defendant. On direct appeals, the first name refers to the appellant who is bringing the appeal and the second to the appellee who is defending against the appeal. Individuals who have been convicted and have exhausted their state appeals may file a constitutional challenge or collateral attack against their conviction in federal court provided that they have raised a federal constitutional claim in their state appeals. On collateral attack, the parties are termed petitioners and respondents. The first name in the title is the name of the prisoner bringing the case, or the petitioner, and the second name, or respondent, is typically the warden or individual in charge of the prison in which the petitioner is incarcerated. You will also notice the presence of “v.” between the name of the parties, which is an abbreviation for the Latin versus.
Citation: Immediately following the names you will find the legal citation that directs you to the book or legal reporter where you can find the case in a law library. Many cases are also available online. The standard form for citations of cases, statutes, and law journals is contained in The Bluebook published by the Harvard Law Review Association.
Judge: The name of the judge who wrote the majority opinion typically appears at the beginning of the case and will often briefly list how the other judges decided as well.
Outline: A full, unedited case in legal reporters will being with an outline or summary that provides the main legal points in the case.
2. Judicial Opinion

History: The opinion will often start with a summary of the decisions of the lower courts that previously considered the case and the relevant statutes involved.
Facts: Each case is based on a set of facts that present an “issue” or question to be answered by the judge.
Law: The judge then apply legal rules to the facts and reach a “holding” or decision in the case. The judge will also provide the “reasoning” or explanation for the holding. The judge will often provide detailed background on legal and factual concerns as well. Judges also rely on “precedent” or previous holdings by courts in the explanation of their decision. The decision will end with a summary of their decision and the disposition. Judges writing dissenting opinions will go through the same steps in explaining their own view of the case.
Briefing Cases (Specifically)

A case brief is a concise, shorthand written description of the case and is intended to assist you in understanding and organizing the material and in preparing for course discussions, assignments, and exams. Generally, case briefs should include the following standard information:

The Name of the Case and the Year the Case was Decided: The name of the case and year of decision will help keep the cases organized in your notes and help you recall back to it later on. The year will also help you see the progression of decisions on a certain issue over time.
The State or Federal Court Deciding the Case and the Judge Writing the Decision: This will help you locate the case in the hierarchy of court cases. Also, try to trace the path the case took to get to the court.
Facts of the Case: This is important to understanding how the case originated and will help you understand the issue the court is addressing. Remember that not every fact is important. You need to learn how to pull out the important information and avoid cluttering your notes with unimportant details. Try to focus on this information: a. The background facts leading to the defendant’s criminal conduct. The defendant’s criminal act, intent, and motives. The relevant facts as distinguished from the irrelevant facts
Criminal Charge: Always identify the crime the defendant has been charged with and write down the text of the criminal statute when possible.
The issue that the court is addressing in the case: This is a vital part of any case brief and sometimes the most difficult part to identify. Typically, you will find this in the form of a question and introduced by the term “whether.”
Holding: This will be the answer to the question or issue being addressed in the case.
Reasoning: State the reasons why the court is making the decision it is. It will be important to list the precedents the court is relying on to make their decision and you may want to brief the important ones.
Disposition: This is the action the court is taking with the case and there are several options a court may take. (1) A court can “affirm” or uphold the decision of a lower court (2) A court can “reverse” the decision of a lower court (3) A court may also affirm a portion of a decision and reverse a portion (4) A court may reverse a lower court decision and then “remand” or return the case for additional judicial action.
Concurring and Dissenting Opinions: There will often be judges who either concur or dissent with the majority opinion and will write an opinion explaining why. Write down the main arguments the judges are making in support of their decision.
Public Policy and Psychology: Be sure to consider the impact the decision in the case will have on the criminal justice system and society. Also be sure to consider what factors may have influenced the judges decisions.
Personal Opinion: Summarize your own decision in the case and discuss whether you agree with the decision and why you feel that way.