The Law Dictionary for Everyone
Following is the case brief for United States v. Morrison, 529 U.S. 598 (2000) Case Summary of United States v. Morrison: Virginia Tech freshman Christy Brzonkala accused fellow classmates Antonio Morrison and James Crawford of raping her. Brzonkala sought justice through the school’s sexual assault policy, and Morrison was found guilty of sexual assault. He was suspended for two semesters. […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940) Case Summary of Cantwell v. Connecticut: A man and his two sons, who were all Jehovah’s Witnesses, were going door to door in a predominantly Catholic neighborhood, asking people to hear recordings about their religion. Their preaching offended some listeners. The State charged, and ultimately convicted, them […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Kent v. United States, 383 U.S. 541 (1966) Case Summary of Kent v. United States: Morris Kent, at age 16, committed several serious crimes. The Juvenile Court, without providing Kent’s counsel with important files or allowing a hearing on the issue, decided to waive jurisdiction so Kent could be tried as an adult. Kent’s […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Matal v. Tam, 137 S. Ct. 1744 (2017) Case Summary of Matal v. Tam: Simon Tam and his band, “The Slants,” tried to register the band’s name with the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO). The PTO denied the registration, finding that the band name was disparaging to Asians in violation of the Disparagement Clause […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Wolf v. Colorado, 338 U.S. 25 (1949) Case Summary of Wolf v. Colorado: In two Colorado prosecutions for state crimes, evidence against the defendants was allowed at trial even though it was obtained through an unlawful search and seizure in violation of the Fourth Amendment. The convictions were affirmed by the Colorado Supreme Court. […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for McCutcheon v. Fed. Election Comm’n, 134 S. Ct. 1434 (2014) Case Summary of McCutcheon v. Fed. Election Comm’n: Two federal election laws imposed certain limits on how much a person could donate in elections. The “base limit,” restricted how much someone could donate to a particular candidate or committee. The “aggregate limit,” restricted how […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681 (1997) Case Summary of Clinton v. Jones: Paula Jones filed a sexual harassment claim in federal district court against President Bill Clinton for acts alleged to have occurred when Clinton was still Governor of Arkansas. The district court denied the President’s motion to dismiss on grounds of presidential […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984) Case Summary of Strickland v. Washington: Defendant Washington was arrested for a number of crimes he committed in a 10-day crime spree. He ultimately pleaded guilty. At sentencing, the defendant’s attorney did not obtain character witnesses or order a pre-sentence report. The judge then sentenced the defendant […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Utah v. Strieff, 136 S. Ct. 2056 (2016) Case Summary of Utah v. Strieff: A police officer, suspecting that a house was being used for drug transactions, stopped Strieff when he walked out of the house. The officer asked for identification. When Strieff provided it, the officer ran a check on his name, discovering […]
Read moreFollowing is the case brief for Webster v. Reproductive Health Services, 492 U.S. 490 (1989) Case Summary of Webster v. Reproductive Health Services: The State of Missouri enacted a law restricting abortions. Four sections of the law most relevant were: (i) a preamble stating that life begins at conception; (ii) a restriction on the use of public facilities for abortions […]
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