(Supreme Court Case)

Term Paper Breakdown
1) 10 full page paper – Not including a cover or title page
2) At least one scholarly source per page
3) Wikipedia or You Tube or anything of the like does not count as a source
4) Bibliography Page at the end
The assignment for the paper is to take ANY Supreme Court case and discuss not only what the case was about in terms of each sides arguments but also discuss what went into making the case at that particular time necessary in US history in the first place.
Many believe Supreme Court cases are decided because that cases particular issue(s) “time had come”. What does that mean?
What was going on with society at the time of the case was finally heard and decided. Was it a time of civil rest or unrest? Was the nation in a time or peace or war? Economic boom or economic recession – was there a cultural revolution going on or was the status quo in place.
Who was on the Court at that time – what was its make-up – 5/4 Conservative or 6/3 Liberal?
Did the court have a strong Chief Justice or just a care-taker one?
Where was society and the American people as a whole at the time that the case was brought to trial?
Was the case charting new ground or being used to settle an established principle?
These are the questions you should be asking in your paper. Anyone can look up a case and state what happened –
It’s the Why – that’s key – what was going on in society at the time that the case was heard and decided…..life is a lot about timing – why did the clock strike midnight on your case at that time.
Did the Justices vote as expected or did they chart a new course for themselves?
Why then and not 5 years earlier or 20 years later.
It’s about creating a road map to what society was doing at that time to fully understand why that society at that time needed that decision – or better yet – deserved that decision.
This is what your term paper is about – discover what was going on behind the scenes to better understand the outcome.