Case Brief
American Studies
Dr. Weiselberg
Preparing a "Case Brief" for a Supreme Court Case
Task: Read the Supreme Court cases on pages 198-201, or on supplementary handouts. For the case you are assigned, fill out the information required below. Be prepared to present the material to the class. You might want to consider acting out the scenario or re-enacting the trial. No matter what, you should write on the board: the name of your case, the year, the issue statement and the court's opinion (you might want to hold off on telling the class the decision, or even have the class act as a jury before you tell them the actual court's decision). Individual case briefs will be collected. Use the headings and suggestions in the sample case brief below to create your own (and, while you're at it, check out one of the most important cases in U. S. History!):
Name and date of case
(Always listed in this order: Plaintiff/Prosecutor v. Defendant):
Marbury v. Madison, 1803
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court: John Marshall
Facts (this is the story, "what happened"):
In his last few hours in office, President John Adams made a series of "midnight appointments" to fill as many posts as possible with members of his party, the Federalists. One of these was William Marbury. However, Thomas Jefferson took over as President before the appointment was officially given to Marbury. Jefferson instructed Secretary of State James Madison to NOT deliver the appointment. Marbury asked the Supreme Court to require Madison to deliver the appointment. Marbury claimed that the Judiciary Act of 1789, a law passed by Congress, gave authority to the Supreme Court to force Madison to deliver the appointment to Marbury.
Concepts
(what the case is REALLY about; the case is a "case study" of this bigger issue):
Judicial Review, Judicial vs. Executive power
Issue Statement ("Whether _(def)_ violated (plaintiff's)_ right of _____ under _(law)", Or, "Whether __________ has the power to _________ under ________" ):
Whether the Supreme Court of the United States has the power, under Article III, Section 2, of
the Constitution, to interpret the constitutionality of a law or statute passed by Congress.
Opinion
(the court's decision and interpretation of the law):
The Supreme Court decided that Marbury's request to make Madison deliver the appointment was based on a law considered by the Court to be unconstitutional. (Marbury did not get his appointment).
Precedent Established
(The new, or reinforced, rules as a result of this decision):
Judicial Review - the Supreme Court can declare a law passed by Congress unconstitutional. Became part of the system of Checks and Balances.
