Name of the case:

Each case has a citation. The citation has the last names of the parties, the court, the year of the decision. The names of the parties is either underlined or italicized. Not both. The year of the decision is placed in parentheses. The court is placed between two numbers. In this case, the U.S. Court is indicated by U.S. whereas a State court would be the abbreviation or initials of the State. (ex. MO for Missouri). Marbury v. Madison is a US Supreme Court case. It is the case that gave the high Court its power to decide if Congress and the President are following the Constitution.

Facts:

Next, in its own section, analyses a summary of the facts. This should be about two paragraphs. It is a BRIEF so the facts will only include the most important information. The who, what, when, where, how that led to the matter or conflict coming before the U.S. Supreme Court. Summarize the facts using straightforward English.

Holding:

This section is the Court's decision, opinion, ruling. It has a formal name - holding. 'The US Supreme Court's holding is what the Court decided or ruled in the case.

In law, the high Court decision is called the holding. Summarize the decision that was written by a particular judge or justice. In this case John Marshall wrote the decision on behalf of the Court. Marshall wrote it but all of the Justices played a role in some way.

Use only the last name of the Justices. Indicate their position on the Court with CJ for Chief Justice or J for associate Justices. There are nine (9) Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court. It is comprised of one Chief Justice and eight associate Justices.

Different Justices will write opinions. It only takes five (5) Justices to form a majority opinion.

At the beginning of the case, the opinion will state the name of the Justice writing the opinion on behalf of the majority. This decision becomes the law of the land.

Summarize the decision in straight forward English. (see below) Begin your summary of the holding with these the words - "The U.S. Supreme Court held..." Concurring Opinion: This section is for any Justice who has more to say or perhaps has a different legal theory. But they agree with the majority decision. 'Concur' means to agree. If there is a Concurring Opinion, write the last name and summarize the Concurring Opinion in simple English. If there is no Concurring Opinion, then write NONE after Concurring Opinion.

Dissenting Opinion: 'Dissent' means disagree. If there is a Concurring Opinion, write the last name and summarize the Concurring Opinion in simple English. If there is no Concurring Opinion, then write NONE after Concurring Opinion.

What is the Court trying to protect?:

This part is about your opinion. The Supreme Court is comprised of human beings who have different ideas and backgrounds. These Justices are hearing oral arguments and reading precedent, precedent is the established case law, and coming to a decision. What do you think about the majority decision? Was the Court trying to protect some interest, concern, tradition, person, institution or ideal? What do you think the Court is trying to protect when it came to its decision in this case.

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FORMAT to use for briefs in this class. I have given you the citation for this case. Each case will have its own citation and be a page in length altogether, maybe a page and half. If you have two full pages then your summary is too long. Remember to use your own words.

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Your Name

Name of the case: Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. 137 (1805)

Facts:

Holding: (Marshall, CJ) The U.S. Supreme Court held...

Concurring Opinion:

Dissenting Opinion:

What is the Court trying to protect?: