Question
How in the world am I to frame this brief of summary Judgement? 1.Anderson v. LA Raza News Instead of a full mock trial with
How in the world am I to frame this brief of summary Judgement?
1.Anderson v. LA Raza News
Instead of a full mock trial with witnesses, your law firm will argue a summary judgment. Defendants will argue before the judge why the case below should be dismissed and not go to trial.The plaintiffs will argue why the case should go to trial.Read about summary judgments in Chapter 6.
Mary Anderson, a minister, and leader of the Heavenly Church of God, a worldwide group with a reputed 10 million members, spoke in a city park (in a state that does not follow Colorado's approach to libel law) to a gathering of 200 people. A number of Hispanics were in the audience. The speech, delivered in English, focused on whether America can assimilate recently arrived immigrants, including those from Spanish-speaking countries. Anderson often had spoken on this topic, urging Congress to limit immigration.
Juan Hernandez, a reporter for La Raza, a Spanish language newspaper, who did not attend the speech, wrote a story on the presentation, basing the article on telephone conversations with four persons who were present at the speech. All four persons told the reporter that Anderson said that recent immigrants were "litterbugs" and were responsible for the city's filth. Three of the four said that Anderson's remarks clearly referred to Hispanics.
The paper's editors had a meeting to decide how to present the story. The problem was that there is no exact Spanish word for "litter," "littering" or "litterbug." The editors chose to use the word "cerdos," which means "pigs" in Spanish. They decided alternative words were inappropriate, too vulgar, or too inflammatory. When the word "cerdos" was used, both in the headline and in the story about Anderson's speech, the editors enclosed it in quotation marks to indicate, according to the editors, that the word was being used figuratively and not in its literal sense.
After the article appeared in the paper, Anderson sued for libel. She presented to the court signed statements from several community leaders, including some Spanish speakers, stating that they interpreted the headline and story to mean that Anderson had referred to Hispanics as "pigs," and that, if so, their opinions of Anderson had been adversely affected. Anderson also presented to the court a transcript of the speech showing that the English word "pigs" had never been used. Finally, Anderson submitted a statement from a doctor verifying that Anderson was emotionally upset by the public reaction to the story. Anderson (or LA Raza) has hired your firm? How will you represent her (them)?
Name:
Case: Anderson v. LaRaza
Your firm is representing the: Plaintive or Defendant.
A.Facts - Write a brief summary of the case.
B.Issue - What legal issue is at hand? Write the issue in a one-sentence question.
C.Rule - What laws, precedent is relevant to the case. If the laws have criteria to be applied, what are they?
D.Analysis - Apply the rule of law to the facts of the case.
E.Conclusion - What should be the final outcome of the case?
Step by Step Solution
There are 3 Steps involved in it
Step: 1
Get Instant Access to Expert-Tailored Solutions
See step-by-step solutions with expert insights and AI powered tools for academic success
Step: 2
Step: 3
Ace Your Homework with AI
Get the answers you need in no time with our AI-driven, step-by-step assistance
Get Started