Supreme Court Case Research Project and Presentation
200 points Due: _12-3-14_________
Directions: You and a partner will be assigned one of several landmark Supreme Court cases
dealing with Civil Rights and Liberties. There will be three parts to this assignment, a
report (case brief), a visual display, and a presentation, each part of the assignment will
be graded separately.
Landmark Supreme Court Cases: You and your partner will be assigned one of the cases
listed below. Once your case has been assigned, highlight or circle your case for future
reference. You may find background information on your case on the internet
(www.oyez.org), in your textbook (pp. 799-806), or by using one of the reference books
in the library. (Underlined cases cannot be found in the text. You must use other sources
to find your information.)
1. Boy Scouts of America v. Dale (2000)
2. Brown v. Board of Education (1954)
3. Buckley v. Valeo (1976)
4. Engel v. Vitale (1962)
5. Escobedo v. Illinois (1964)
6. Gideon v Wainwright (1963)
7. Gitlow v. New York (1925)
8. Goss v. Lopez (1975)
9. Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
10. Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)
11. Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier (1988)
12. Korematsu v. United States (1944)
13. Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)
14. Mapp v. Ohio (1961)
15. Miranda v. Arizona (1966)
16. New York Times v. Sullivan (1964)
17. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
18. Regents of University of California v. Bakke (1978)
19. Roe v. Wade (1973)
20. Schenck v. United States (1919)
21. Texas v. Johnson (1989)
22. Tinker v. Des Moines School District (1969)
23. United States v. Leon (1984)
B3- American Government
Part One: Writing a Case Brief (100 points)
For the first part of your assignment you will conduct research on your case by creating a case
brief (a summary of the case that is formatted a certain way, see the guidelines below). Your case brief
must be typed and attached (use glue NOT staples or tape) to the back of your poster / display [If you
choose to do the Power Point option, your case brief must be the last slide of your presentation].
Writing a Case Brief
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Define the Issue: What Constitutional issue is being challenged by the case?
Brief Summary: Write a brief (no more than 3 paragraphs) of the premise of the case.
Give as many details as you can find. Be sure to include the final vote count on the
ruling.
The Holding (Decision): How did the court rule? Did they agree with the decision of the
lower court or did they overturn the ruling?
The Rationale: What reasons did the court give for ruling the way it did? Summarize the
opinions that were written for the case. Be sure to include the main opinion, any
concurring opinions, and any dissenting opinions if applicable. (no more than 2
paragraphs)
The paper MUST be in an appropriate font and size (example: Times Roman / 12pt)
The paper must contain a works cited page with at least two sources that you will
reference within the report.
Part Two: The Visual Display (50 points)
For this part of the assignment you and your partner will create a visual display that summarizes
the case. Your display can be a poster or a Power Point presentation. Your display must have pictures
and titles that show the details of your case. If you choose the poster option, you must attach your case
brief to the back of your poster. If you choose to create a Power Point, the case brief must be the last
slide on your presentation. All visuals must be appropriate for school and demonstrate that time and
effort was put into the presentation. Any students observed assembling their visual in class the day of
the presentation will automatically lose 1 letter grade on the visual display portion of the assignment.
Part Three: The Presentation (50 points)
You and your partner must prepare a short (2-3 minute) presentation of your case. The
presentation should provide the key information about your case (see information in your brief for
details). Do not just read your brief to the class. Prepare your presentation in advance so that you can
provide a detailed summary of the case that truly expresses its importance. Both members of the group
are expected to participate in the presentation. If one member of the group fails to show up on the day
of the presentation, he / she will receive a 0 for the presentation portion of the project and their
partner is expected to perform without them. If you have a conflict with the date of your presentation, it
is up to the group to notify their teacher well in advance.
B3- American Government
SAMPLE CASE BRIEF & FORMAT
Follow this format. Your brief should be no more than two or three double-spaced
pages.
NEAR V. MINNESOTA, 283 U.S. 697 (1931) [complete name of case, citation, date]
decision by Supreme Court of United States [name of court issuing the opinion]
FACTS: J. M. Near published the Saturday Press in Minneapolis. In a series of articles he
charged, in substance, that a Jewish gangster was in control of gambling, bootlegging and
racketeering in the city, and that the city government and its law enforcement agencies and
officers were not energetically performing their duties.
A Minnesota statute (referred to as a “gag law” provided for the abatement, as a public
nuisance, of a “malicious, scandalous and defamatory newspaper, magazine or other periodical.”
Near was cited as being in violating of this law and brought into court. An injunction was
issued by a district court that halted all activity of the Saturday Press. Near was prohibited from
ever publishing the newspaper again unless he could convince the court that he could operate a
newspaper free of objectionable material.
Near appealed this ruling. The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the
law, holding that under its broad police power the state could regulate public nuisances, including
defamatory and scandalous newspapers. The U. S. Supreme Court granted Near's petition for
certiorari.
LEGAL QUESTION: Is the action by the state of Minnesota against the newspaper (a
prior restraint) a violation of Near’s Fourteenth Amendment rights, which guarantees that “no
state shall deprive any person of life, liberty or property, without due process of law”?
DECISION: Yes. (5-4, Chief Justice Hughes wrote the majority opinion.)
COURT'S RATIONALE: The Minnesota statute is not designed to redress the wrongs of
the individuals who have been attacked by Near. Instead, it is directed at suppression of the
offending newspaper or periodical and puts the publisher under an effective suppression. The
object of the law is not punishment but suppression, and not only of the offending issue but of all
B3- American Government
future issues as well. The statute is not consistent with the conception of liberty of the press as it
has been historically conceived and guaranteed.
It is true that the principle as to immunity from previous restraint is stated too broadly; this
immunity is not absolutely unlimited. But the limitation has been recognized only in exceptional
cases. These cases include (1) certain utterances during wartime, (2) the publication of obscene
matter, (3) or material that incites acts of violence and the overthrow by force of orderly
government.
However, there are occasions in which limiting freedom of the press to only freedom of
prior restraint is not enough. Punishment after publication can impose a kind of prior restraint
upon the individual. A citizen must have the right to criticize government — without fear of
punishment.
DISSENTING OPINION: (written by Justice Butler, joined by Justices Van Devanter,
McReynolds and Sutherland)
The dissent argued that the majority decision gave freedom of the press too broad a meaning
and scope. Justice Butler argued that the Minnesota statute applied only to those engaged in the
business of regularly and customarily publishing “malicious, scandalous and defamatory
newspapers,” not to newspapers in general. The Minnesota statute was passed as part of the
state’s police powers, and there exists in the Minnesota a state of affairs that justifies this measure
for the preservation of peace and good order.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CASE: The case establishes the precedent that the press is to
be protected against prior restraint by the government except in exceptional situations. It was also
the first case involving newspapers in which the Supreme Court applied the provisions of the
First Amendment against states through the language of the Fourteenth Amendment
(incorporation of free press guarantees into those liberties that states may not abridge without due
process of law).
B3- American Government
Supreme Court Case Research Project and Presentation
NAMES__________________________________
PERIOD______________
Rubric Elements:
1. Part One: Writing a Case Brief (100 points)
2. Part Two: The Visual Display (50 points)
3. Part Three: The Presentation (50 points)
1. Part One: Writing a Case Brief:
50 Points
75 Points
80 Points
100 Points
2. Part Two: The Visual Display:
20 Points
40 Points
45 Points
50 Points
3. Part Three: The Presentation:
20 Points
40 Points
45 Points
50 Points
TOTAL POINTS = ____________________
200 – 180 = A
179 – 160 = B
159 – 140 = C
139 – 120 = D
119 or Lower = F
B3- American Government