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CHAPTERS 9 AND 4: INTRODUCTION TO U.S. AND CALIFORNIA COURTS:
U.S. SUPREME COURT, CIVIL LIBERTIES AND CIVIL
RIGHTS
U.S.:http://www.uscourts.gov or http://www.law.emory.edu/FEDCTS or http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct
California Courts: http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/
Los Angeles .County Court:
http://www.co.la.ca.us/courts/superior-auc
City of Los Angeles Municipal Court: http://www.lamuni.org
I. Questions to ask about
U.S. Supreme Court cases
--see http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct
A. What was the situation in the country before
the case started?
B. What facts gave rise to the case?
C. Who (or what litigant) first filed the case (the plaintiff)?
D. Who (or what party to the case) was the litigation
first filed against [the defendant] (pp. 243-245
and 250-251)?
E. Was the court of original jurisdiction (the trial
court) a federal or state court?
Was the court of appellate jurisdiction (the appeal court) a federal or state court?
(p. 243)
F. Was civil
law or criminal law (either felony or misdemeanor) involved (p. 832)?
G. What state or federal law was mentioned in
the brief submitted by the plaintiff or the defendant?
(page 265)
H. What provision of the original US
Constitution or Amendments was involved?
I. Did the original plaintiff or original
defendant appeal the case to the
U.S. Supreme
Court?
J. What were the plaintiff's and defendant's
U.S. Supreme Court arguments?
K. Was the judgment of the Supreme Court members for the plaintiff
or defendant?
l. How many Justices voted for the plaintiff;
how many for the defendant?
2. How many opinions were written? (See p. 266, center, for an example)
3. Who wrote the majority opinion (or plurality
opinion, p. 265)?
4. Who wrote a concurring opinion? (p. 266, center)
5. Who wrote a dissenting opinion? (p. 259)
L. What was the long term result or
significance of the judgment?
l. For the plaintiff?
2. For the defendant?
3. For the history of the United States and
daily lives of people in the U.S.?
II. Three historically
significant federal cases arising
under civil law
A. Marbury v. Madison (1803): establishes judicial review (pp. 248-251)
B. Dred Scott v. San(d)ford
(1857): prohibits the abolition of
slavery by Congress (p. 251)
C. U.S. v. Nixon (1974): Watergate
Tape Case concerning executive
privilege
(pp. 210, 253-254)
III. Definitions: court
packing, p. 257; seniority, p.
265 and ch. 5; small claims divisions, including
Federal Tax Court, p.
246; amicus
curiae, p. 265, stare
decisis/precedent, pp. 112, 250, 251
256, 259; injunction,
p. 105; writ; litigant=party; counsel=attorney; indictment by grand jury;
an information; juries:
grand, criminal, civil, p. 832; class
action lawsuit, lecture, litigation=lawsuit,
impeachment and trial, pp. 122, 208, 258; incorporation of the Bill of Rights, pp. 96-99, affirmative
action, pp. 63-64,
110, 112, 268, 362, 378F; Missouri Plan for the retention-election of
California
judges and justices
9/7/99