The majority, the concurring and/or dissenting opinions then follow. The majority opinion comes first. The draftsmen are listed above the text of the opinion itself. Sometimes, however, the opinion is written by „per curiam“ instead of a specific judge, which means „by the court.“ In this case, there is usually agreement between all the judges involved in the decision. For Plessy v. Ferguson, Justice Henry B. Brown wrote the majority opinion for the case, which upheld the constitutionality of Louisiana state law, which requires separate railroad cars for white and non-white passengers. The court based its decision on the fact that segregated cars did not necessarily violate the Fourteenth Amendment equality protection clause, as long as the accommodations were equal. Similar cases in federal and state courts have been reviewed and used as precedents to uphold the court`s decision. Associate Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote a dissenting opinion for the case, saying separation of citizens on the basis of race could never be legally justified by the U.S.
Constitution, which is „colorblind.“ A legal opinion is a document written by a judge following a civil or criminal case in which the court makes its final decision. It usually contains general information about the law in question, the legal issues that have been brought to light in the courts and the judge`s final decision in the form of a written justification. In cases where more than one judge has ruled, the opinion may also contain a dissenting opinion or an explanation of why a minority of judges accepted the majority decision. There may also be consensus. This is a judgment in favour of the majority decision, but presents different reasons for such a decision. By justifying the reasons for a particular decision, majority opinions interpret the law and can set precedents for new laws. Because of the interpretive nature of judicial opinions, cases such as Plessy v. Ferguson may be important for historical analysis. However, understanding how to read a legal opinion is the first step. Follow us on how to read a court opinion, using Plessy v. Ferguson as a model. While there are many ways to access the full text of the Plessy decision, I prefer LexisNexis Academic.
The decision is available at: www.lexisnexis.com.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/?shr=t&sfi=AC00NBEasySrch Plessy v. Ferguson affirmed the idea of „separate but equal“ in the United States. This precedent provided state legislators and laymen with a legal basis for systematic segregation. The summary of the case provides an overview of the legal proceedings that led to the referral of the case. It is rare for the U.S. Supreme Court to hear cases that have not already been brought in lower federal and state courts. For Plessy, the summary traces the arrest of Homer Plessy, during which the state of Louisiana accused Plessy of violating a decision of the General Assembly on September 10. July 1890, his plea to the state Supreme Court and his petition to the U.S. Supreme Court for an error that would overturn the state Supreme Court`s decision by overturning it.
For more information on reading a court case, see Orin S. Kerr, „How to Read a Legal Opinion: A Guide for New Law Students,“ The Green Bag 11, No. 1 (Fall 2007): 51-63. The decision describes the fundamental legal decision of the Court. In Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Louisiana General Assembly bill requiring segregated cars for white and non-white passengers, and struck down Plessy`s argument that such a law was unconstitutional on the basis of the Fourteenth Amendment`s equality clause. In this episode. Orin Kerr, a law professor at Berkeley Law School, explains how to read a legal opinion. The episode is a review of Professor Kerr`s most important article, How To Read A Legal Opinion: A Guide For New Law Students, 11 Greenbag 2d 51 (2007).
Professor Kerr discusses the parts of a brief, the aspects of a case that are important to a law professor and emphasizes the need to learn the new language of law. He acknowledges his own difficulties in reading case law when he began law school (we both do) and encourages students to recognize the learning curve involved in reading a legal opinion. Some important points to remember are. A legal opinion begins the legend. The legend of the Plessy case before the Supreme Court is Plessy v. Ferguson. „Plessy“ and „Ferguson“ refer to the surnames of the parties or litigants. In a criminal case, „United States“ indicates that the federal government is seized of the trial, and „State“, „Commonwealth“ or „the people“ usually indicates the involvement of a particular state.
Typically, the first name refers to the plaintiff or plaintiff, and the second name refers to the defendant, although this is not always the case. In Plessy`s case, Homer Plessy was the plaintiff. He prosecuted the Honourable John H. Ferguson, a judge of the Orleans District Criminal Court; Therefore, his name appears first in the legend. Kerr specializes in criminal procedure law and computer crime, and has also taught courses in criminal law, evidence, and professional liability. He is the author of more than 60 law review articles, more than 40 of which have been cited in court opinions (including seven articles cited in U.S. Supreme Court opinions). His fellowship has also been cited in more than 3,000 scientific papers. In addition to writing articles on the law overview, Kerr has written popular case books, co-authored the main criminal case document, and published countless blog posts on popular blogs such as Volokh Conspiracy and Lawfare. Want to know more about Professor Kerr? You can visit the following link: www.law.berkeley.edu/our-faculty/faculty-profiles/orin-kerr/Und follow Professor Kerr on Twitter @orinkerr-As always, if you have any suggestions for an episodic topic, please let us know! You can leslie@lawtofact.com email or tweet @lawtofact.-Find us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook! Check us out on iTunes, your opinion matters!-Want to stay up to date on all things Law to Fact? Subscribe to our mailing list by visiting www. LawToFact.com.-This episode is sponsored by Kaplan Bar Review.
When preparing for the bar exam, you need to choose the program of study that suits you. Kaplan Bar Review prepares you for the trial day with confidence by offering $100 off live and on-demand on the bar review with offer code Leslie100. Visit kaplanbarreview.com today to register. U.S. Supreme Court www.supremecourt.gov/opinions Legal Information Institute www.law.cornell.edu Oyez Project www.oyez.org Ex parte is also a Latin term for a case „by a party.“ Ex parte is followed by the name of the party who initiated the case, as in Ex parte Merryman. One person, Merryman, who was arrested during the civil war, questioned the government`s right to detain him without charge. He asked for an order that would require the government to accuse him of something or let him go. This essay is designed to help new law students prepare for the first few weeks of course. It explains what legal opinions are, how they are structured, and what law students should look for when reading them. Below the legend is the case citation, which contains a series of letters and numbers.
The summons contains the name of the court that decided the case, the code in which the notice was published, and the year in which the court decided the case. In Plessy v. Ferguson, Section 163 U.S. 537 refers to a U.S. Supreme Court case, which appears in volume 485 of the United States Reports beginning at page 759. 1896 refers to the date on which the court ruled on the case. As the new academic year is a few weeks away, I thought I`d republish a link to my short essay, „How to Read A Legal Opinion: A Guide for New Law Students.“ Here`s the summary: Use LexisNexis Academic to sift through other court cases and see if you can identify the laws, arguments, and key players involved. Research criminal and civil cases and see if you can determine who is prosecuting whom and why.
What are their arguments? What did the court decide and why? About our guests. Professor Orin Kerr joined Berkeley Law School in 2019 after serving as Frances R. and John J. Duggan Distinguished Professor at the University of Southern California`s Gould School of Law. From 2001 to 2017, he was a professor at George Washington University School of Law. Kerr was previously a visiting professor at the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania. An accomplished teacher, Kerr received the George Washington Law School Class of 2009 Excellence in Teaching Award. Subscribe to this paid newspaper for more curated articles on the topic Oh, and I apologize to those who have already seen the link. The cases are named after the parties involved.
If there are two parties, the first name is the plaintiff or the party bringing the action against the second party, the defendant. Sometimes business names do not contain two parts, such as cases whose names contain In re or Ex parte. In re is a Latin term meaning „in matter“ and is usually used in cases where there are not two opposing parts named. These may be property disputes, court orders or situations in which the Court of Justice is asked to clarify questions, such as: In re Debs.
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