Learning Goals
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- Reflect on “real life” legal procedures
- Practice critical thinking skills
- Practice writing skils
- we are doing Option B. U.S. Supreme Court
Oral Argument You must listen to 60 minutes of one
of the following actual oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, available
on Oyez.org. These are real-time recordings
of the actual arguments before the Supreme Court, so this is your best
opportunity to understand how an argument before the Supreme Court works, short
of visiting the Court in Washington D.C. yourself (which I highly recommend).
·
Bostock v. Clayton
County (2020) (sexual orientation discrimination under Title VII), available
here (click on “Oral Argument”
in the vertical blue banner on the left)
·
U.S. Patent &
Trademark Office v. Booking.com (2020) (whether the addition by an online
business of a generic top-level domain (“.com”) to an otherwise generic term
can create a protectable trademark), available here (click on “Oral Argument”
in the vertical blue banner on the left)
·
Little Sisters of the
Poor v. Pennsylvania (2020) (religious exceptions to Affordable Care Act
requirements that employers cover contraceptives in health care plans), available
here(click on “Oral
Argument” in the vertical blue banner on the left)
·
Espinoza v. Montana
Dept. of Revenue (religious discrimination in state-sponsored scholarship
program in Montana) (2020), available here (click on “Oral
Argument” in the vertical blue banner on the left)
2. Write a
Reflection Memo
After attending a proceeding or listening to an oral argument,
please write a short memo answering the following questions: Option B:
U.S. Supreme Court Oral Argument
1.
What case did you listen to?
2.
Briefly describe the issue(s)
before the Court – one paragraph is enough.
3.
What three things surprised you? Why
did these things surprise you? E.g., did you have a preconceived notion that
turned out to be wrong? Why do you think
these things occurred?
4.
Has listening to this oral
argument affected your attitude toward plaintiffs or defendants, attorneys, justices,
or our legal system? Please explain.
→ Be
sure to include an introductory paragraph that previews your key points in the
paper, and a conclusion pulling it all together.
Memo Requirements
·
1-2 single-spaced pages (definitely
not more than 2 pages please!)
·
Typed, 11-12-point font
·
1” margins
·
Include both introduction and conclusion
paragraphs, and make sure you have a strong topic sentence for each paragraph.
·
Submit to D2L Assignments folder by
11:59 pm on Sunday, March 28. I will gladly accept papers early!
→ Keep in mind that D2L will automatically check
your paper against all papers in the Turnitin database, including other
students’ papers and everything available on the web. Therefore, please make
sure that the paper you submit is indeed your own work.
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