Your assignment is to write an approximately 10 page essay in which you critically engage with one of the Supreme Court opinions we have covered in class. The assignment asks you to display the skills we have been developing throughout the term. The elements I am asking for, and which I detail below, are (a) a presentation of the basic facts, issue, holding, and judgment of the Court in the case, as well as an articulation of how this particular opinion fits in with the Courts decision (per curiam, majority, concurring, dissenting); (b) a detailed presentation of the rationale for this holding; and (c) a critical evaluation of the rationale that (d) connects with one or more of the theories of constitutional interpretation or the nature of law we covered in class. I am asking you to show that you understand the case, the decision, this particular argument, and how it relates to views about the constitution or legality.
