Student Guide Student Guide Writing a Supreme Court Opinion Assignment Information Purpose Write a Supreme Court opinion that describes your decision for United States v. Fields. Assignment Prompt In this assignment, you will write a three- to four-paragraph Supreme Court opinion for the fictional case of United States v. Fields. Remember, you are serving as a Supreme Court justice. Your opinion must summarize the facts of the case, state your decision, and cite precedent to support your ideas. Assignment Instructions Step 1: Carefully review the progress you have made up to this point. a) Take time to review the facts. (1) Why was Abel Fields convicted? (2) What law was he convicted under? (3) How did the appeals court rule on the case? (4) What has Fields argued in his case before the Supreme Court? (5) What are Fields's prosecutors arguing? b) Take time to review precedent. (1) What did New York Times v. Sullivan demonstrate about the right to make false statements? (2) What did Texas v. Johnson demonstrate about the right to disagreeable speech? Step 2: Develop a three- to four-paragraph opinion. a) Your opinion should be three to four paragraphs long and written in your own words. b) The introduction should: (1) Review the facts of the case Page 1 | © Edgenuity Inc. (2) Summarize previous decisions made by lower courts c) The main body should: (1) Explain your opinion clearly in the form of an argumentative claim (2) Cite precedent to support your opinion d) The conclusion should: (1) Describe the importance of the decision you have made (2) Explain how the decision will influence future laws Step 3: Evaluate your opinion using this checklist. When you can answer “yes” to all of the questions, you are ready to submit your opinion to your teacher. Yes No Evaluation Question Does your opinion present information in ways that will engage your audience? Does your opinion use correct punctuation and grammar? Does your opinion include language that is appropriate to your audience and format? Does your opinion capture the interest of the audience? Does your opinion make a clear statement about the issue in the form of an argumentative claim? Do the body paragraphs provide supporting evidence in the form of details, statistics, facts, and quotations from precedent and the facts of the case? Does the conclusion describe the importance of your decision? Does your opinion include all of the required elements described above? Step 4: Revise and submit your opinion. a) If you were unable to answer “yes” to all of the questions on the checklist, revise and save your opinion before submitting it. b) When you are ready, return to the virtual classroom and use the “Browse for file” option to locate and submit your assignment. Ask your teacher for Page 2 | © Edgenuity Inc. assistance if necessary. Congratulations! You have created your own Supreme Court opinion. c) Ask your teacher for further instructions about whether you will be presenting your opinion to an audience of your peers. Page 3 | © Edgenuity Inc. Page 4 | © Edgenuity Inc.
