The Courts and Judicial Opinions (Case Law)

1. The Courts and Judicial Opinions (Case Law)

2. Public policy (law) the rules of behavior imposed on society by a government with society's approval • Can be deconstructed into • statutory law • administrative law • case law • Provides a context in which individuals and corporations decide how to behave • incentives - carrots • regulations - big sticks

3. Decisions of the Judicial Branch of the Federal Government

4. The Characteristics of Law • A balance between • Constant change • Federal & State statutes [15,000/year] • Federal & State rules • Judicial opinions [55,000/year + 3 million extant] • Need for stability in defining, enforcing, & protecting the rights of individuals & organizations • A multiplicity of sources • Legislative, executive, & judicial branches of government • Federal government and 50 states • 80,000 local governments

5. The “Legal” (Public Policy) Process • Substantive law – the rules that govern behavior – statutes and rules • Procedural law • the process through which the statutes and rules are made • the process through which we determine whether the substantive law has been broken – administrative review, judicial review • Remedial law – the consequences of breaking either substantive or procedural

6. Some Introductory Materials • Supreme Court of the United States • US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit • US District Court. District of Minnesota • Court Links • Administrative Office of the US Courts • Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) • FindLaw : Cases and Codes : Introductory Materials (Thomson West) • Legal Information Institute (Cornell University) • Internet Legal Research Group • HG.org • LLRX.com

7. The Private Nature of Case Law Publications

8. The Published Findings of the Federal Courts • The outcome of a structure and a process • Represents a dialogue between the past and the present • Provide answers to some of society’s most compelling questions • These answers may be long-lived or temporary

9. Stare Decisis • Inertia of case law • http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Stare_decisis

10. On October 14, 2003 the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari – agreed to hear – the following case • Elk Grove Unified School District and David W. Gordon  v. Michael A. Newdow, et al. 542 U.S. 1 (2004) • The case will be limited to two questions • Whether respondent (Newdow) has standing to challenge the constitutionality of a public school district policy that requires teachers to lead willing students in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance • 2. Whether a public school district policy that requires teachers to lead willing students in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, which includes the words "under God," violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as applicable through the Fourteenth Amendment

11. Justice Scalia took no part in the consideration or decision of these motions and this petition • Supreme Court docket • The case was decided June 14, 2004  • The court reversed the Ninth Circuit's opinion • which had reversed the United States District Court for the eastern District of California (trial court) 328 F.3d 466 • which had dismissed Newdow's complaint against the School Board

12. 3M Chemicals • Information on PFOA (Dupont) • Class Action status

13. There is a practical beginning to a particular dispute that a court is asked to resolve, when a party files suit, and there are practical ends, when a judge issues an opinion from which an appeal is not, or in some instances cannot, be made • We should never forget that any dispute has multiple origins and that any resolution ruling against one party, in a society which values personal freedoms and due process, invites the aggrieved party to work toward changing the outcome

14. The Main Actors • Department of Justice • The Federal Judicial Branch (Firstgov) • Judicial Branch Resources on GOP Access • Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts • LexisNexis Academic  • FindLaw (West Group) • Federal Law Materials - Judicial Decisions (Cornell University) • Federal Judicial Center

15. Court Structure • Federal Constitution Article III Section 1 • The judicial power of the United States, shall be vested in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish • The judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, receive for their services, a compensation, which shall not be diminished during their continuance in office

16. The Judicial Power shall extend • to all cases ... arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made, or which shall be made, under their authority • to all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls • to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction • to controversies to which the United States shall be a party • to controversies between two or more states, between a state and citizens of another state, between citizens of different states, between citizens of the same state claiming lands under grants of different states, and between a state, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens or subjects

17. Supreme Court • In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which a state shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction • In all the other cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and under such regulations as the Congress shall make

18. United States Supreme Court • The Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight associate justices • At its discretion, and within certain guidelines established by Congress, the Supreme Court each year hears a limited number of  the cases it is asked to decide • Those cases may begin in the federal or state courts, and they usually involve important questions about the Constitution or federal law • Massachusetts v EPA (Northwestern University) • Massachusetts v EPA (Supreme Court) • Massachusetts v EPA (Findlaw)

19. United States Courts of Appeals • The federal judicial districts in each state are organized into 12 regional circuits each containing a United States court of appeals • These courts hears appeals from the district courts in its circuit and appeals from decisions of federal administrative agencies • The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in specialized cases, such as those involving patent laws and cases decided by • the Court of International Trade • the Court of Federal Claims

20. United States District Courts • The trial courts in which justices have jurisdiction to hear nearly all categories of federal cases, including both civil and criminal matters • Currently, there are 94 such districts, including at least one district in each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico • Three territories of the United States -- the Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands -- have federal district courts

21. US Bankruptcy Courts in Minnesota • Federal Rules on Bankruptcy (Cornell University) • Chief Judge Gregory F. Kishel • Mesaba bankruptcy

22. Two special trial courts that have nationwide jurisdiction over certain types of cases • The Court of International Trade addresses cases involving international trade and customs issues • The United States Court of Federal Claims has jurisdiction over • most claims for money damages against the United States, • disputes over federal contracts, unlawful "takings" of private property by the federal government • a variety of other claims against the United States

23. Rules of the Courts • Congress has authorized the federal judiciary to prescribe the rules of practice and procedures subject to Congressional oversight • The authority and procedures for promulgating rules are described in • Rules Enabling Act. 28 U.S.C. 2071-2077 • House, Committee on the Judiciary • Senate, Committee on the Judiciary • Local Rules of Court, United States District Courts • Local Rules of Court, United States Court of Appeals • Rules of the Supreme Court

24. The Litigation Process • One party – the plaintiff – is suing another party – the defendant – for something • The facts of the matter • The remedy proposed • Previous cases in which judges have ruled on similar facts – legal argument by analogy • Obviously, each side picks cases in which the judge issues an opinion in their favor • A case, in fact, can be used to support both sides • The outcome is that a judge chooses one interpretation of the facts and one set of cases over the other

25. The Judicial Process • Produces a variety of records - some private and some public  • personal correspondence between the attorneys and their clients  • briefs written by the attorneys, some termed “masterpieces of history”  • pretrial motions  • interrogatories  • documentary evidence written by expert witnesses employed by both parties  • depositions - written or oral answers to questions posed by attorneys to expert witnesses  • proceedings of the trial  • published opinion - the factual evidence and the argument deemed persuasive by a judge  • post trial motions  • case file containing most of the above material

26. Judicial Process – Appellate Courts • At the Appellate Level • records of the case already in existence  • written briefs filed by the attorneys  • transcripts of oral arguments on legal points 

27. Assignment 5. Due April 02 • A. Describe a federal judicial decision that has interpreted either the statute or the regulation you chose • What court was involved? • What were the facts? • What were the arguments? [Remember you are not lawyers] • What was the outcome? • B. What were the consequences of the particular case? • C. What have other courts said about the topic? (Current Law)

28. The Outcome of Litigation – the Published Opinion

29. Official Versions - Printed and Electronic • The United States Supreme Court • 8th Circuit US Court of Appeals • US District Court, District of Minnesota

30. Unofficial Sites • LexisNexis Academic  (Elsevier) • FindLaw (West Group) • Federal Law Materials - Judicial Decisions (Cornell University)

31. Finding Aids • Legal textbooks - authors generally refer to important cases that illustrate the points of law they are discussing • Law journals - authors of articles often refer to important cases that illustrate the points of law they are discussing • Legal encyclopedias - organized by topic (subject) comprise articles or paragraphs that synthesize and comment on specific points of law. Entries are accompanied by citations to cases that support the principles discussed • Legal digests - arranged by topic (point of law) provide summaries of important cases. They also provide citations to full-text reports of these cases • Topical case reporters provide access to the reporters by subject and case name • Online legal databases such as Westlaw and LexisNexis include the full-text of court decisions - allow searching by keyword, by subject, or party name

32. Finding Aids • Advanced Legal Research (George Jackson) • Legal Encyclopedia • American Jurisprudence (Am. Jur.) • Corpus Juris Secundum • Court Cases & Periodical Articles • LexisNexis Academic

33. Finding Aids – Annotated Statutes • US Code Annotated • summaries of opinions that have construed the statute • Notes on the history of and amendments to the statute • Relevant practice sets, periodical articles, and books • Cross-references to similar and related statutes • US Code Service (LexisNexis Congressional) • <Laws> • <United States Code> • <Boundary Waters Canoe Area> • <Use of Wilderness Areas>

34. Finding Aids • Digest (Cornell University)

35. The American Digest Series • West's system of digests is the most comprehensive subject index of case law • The entire field of American law is divided into seven main top headings, thirty-two sub-headings, and over four hundred topics • Each topic is further divided into sub-topics, which are identified by individual "key" numbers • Every case published identifies every point of law contained in it and includes a one-sentence headnote for each point • Each headnote is numbered, and the same number is printed in the reported decision at the paragraph at which the point of law is discussed • Each headnote is also labeled with the digest key number that identifies the content • The digest bring together all the headnotes with the same key number • There are several digests, each containing cases from a different geographical or jurisdictional source - Minnesota Digest

37. The American Digest Series • The American Digest series covers all the decisions published in all of West's Reporters, and is therefore the master index to all of U.S. case law • Volumes of the American Digest are issued regularly in a series called the General Digest , currently in its ninth series • Each new volume, several of which are issued per year, publishes the headnotes written in any of West's reporters since the last volume • Every five years the General Digest is consolidated (it used be to consolidated every ten years, hence the title) • The consolidated volumes are called Decennial Digests

38. Minnesota et al V Mille Lacs Band of Chippewa Indians 526 U. S. 172 Legal Information Institute (Cornell University) FindLaw (Thompson FindLaw) U S Supreme Court Center U S Department of Justice My home page Where to obtain Supreme Court opinions Multiplicity of Sources

39. Bureau of National Affairs • United States Law Week • Supreme Court Today • Environment Reporter • Chemical Regulation Reporter

40. Case Law Resources • Looseleaf Reporters • Electronic Databases • Law Related Databases (U Minnesota) • Finding Aids • Official Reporters – US Reports • Unofficial Reporters • Supreme Court Reporter • Federal Reporter (Appeals Court) • Federal Supplement (District Courts) • American Law Reports

41. Bhopal Accident • Mesothelioma • Vioxx Information Center • Tobacco Control Archives