The Constitution: Creating/Amending

Research Paper Assignment
The research paper is an exercise designed to test your abilities in researching an historical topic, analyzing a problem, and clearly expressing what you have learned about that topic.

The Basics:
Points: 150
Paper Length: 8-10 pages
Format: Typed, Double-Spaced, Times New Roman 12 point font
Citations: Either in MLA or APA Format
Sources: At least one (1) primary source document and three to four (3-4) secondary sources should be used for this paper.

The Assignment:
The research paper is broken into two sections and will, in essence, ask you to do the same thing as your Case Journal, only in much greater depth and analysis! I’ve broken this down for you to hopefully make it as simple as possible! Think of the following as a checklist in order to succeed on the paper.
The assignment is as follows: Choose a provision within the Constitution (see attached list) and at least one major Supreme Court decision that deals with that provision and research/prepare a case brief that evaluates the Constitutional provision, discusses the facts of the specific case and then analyzes the case’s historical significance and impact on contemporary American society.

Part I: The Research
1. You must choose one provision of the Constitution.
Think of some of the Constitutional provisions that have come up frequently in our conversations (Equal Protection, Due Process, Separation of Powers, States’ Rights, etc…). The possibilities are almost endless. A list of provisions is attached, but feel free to do a Google Search!
2. Once you have chosen your provision, research Supreme Court Case(s) that deal with that particular Constitutional provision. i.e. How has the Court interpreted this provision?
It may be necessary to review more than one case for this part of your research depending on the provision chosen to ensure you have a complete understanding of the issue at hand! You want your analysis to be as thorough as possible.

Feel free to choose from the cases in your Case Journal. This assignment, however, should focus on a decision that you haven’t already written about! This will be your primary source for the paper.

3. Read over the decision you have chosen and then complete secondary research on the decision.
Secondary sources will be in the form of articles, books, etc…sources that have analyzed the decision after the fact! Remember, you need 3-4 secondary sources!

Part II: The Writing
1. Begin with a brief evaluation on the provision of the Constitution you have chosen. This will probably be anywhere from a few paragraphs to approximately 1-2 pages.

2.   Once you have read and researched your Supreme Court decision, you will prepare a 3-4 page summary of the decision. Think of this as an informal Case Brief. After all, none of us are lawyers here so I am not expecting the intricacy and technical writing that usually makes up a legal brief! This section should include the following components:
a.   Procedural History
i.   How did this case get to this particular court? Typically, you will be reading case law from the appeals court. That means the case has already been decided at a lower court and the losing party has appealed to a higher court.
ii.   Who is appealing on what issues?
iii.   What happened in the lower court?
b.   Legal Issue
i.   A well-written brief starts out by telling you the legal issue up-front.
1.   “The question before the Court is whether….”
2.   “This case was brought before the Court to decide whether…”
c.   Facts of Case
i.   Give a detailed description of the facts in the case. Stay objective!
d.   Decision
i.   Also known as the holding, this is the court’s decision on the issue. Who won?
ii.   Be sure to include whether or not the ruling of the lower court was affirmed or overturned
e.   Concurrence
i.   A Concurrence is a separate opinion in which one of the judges agrees with the ruling but has different reasoning. How was the reasoning different?
f.   Dissents
i.   A judge who is not in the majority will write a dissent. What principles or issues are the dissenting judge disagreeing with the majority on?

3. Once you have summarized the case, prepare a 3-4 page analysis!
a. For instance, the focus in the previous section was on facts (i.e. the Lochner decision struck down state regulation of working hours based on freedom of contract). The focus in this section is on historical significance and analysis (for example, the Lochner decision was characteristic of a laissez faire view of governmental regulation of the economy. Why did that view develop and change? What was happening during this time period to bring about this change? How was this change received? Explain. You will probably have to take a look at the historical era in which you case was decided to get a broader picture of these things!).

4. With your introductory and concluding sections, the paper itself should then total somewhere between 7-8.

As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or issues that may arise during this process!

Possible Constitutional provisions that can be used in the paper:
Affirmative Action
Commerce Clause
Due Process (5th and 14th Amendments)
Enemy Combatants under U.S. Law
Exclusionary Rule
Federalism
Fourteenth Amendment
Freedom of Religion
Full Faith and Credit Clause
Gun Control
Habeas Corpus
Military Tribunals
Miranda Rules
Prisoners’ Rights
Privacy
Right to Bear Arms (Second Amendment)
Right to Counsel (Sixth Amendment)
Search and Seizure (Fourth Amendment)
Self-Incrimination (Fifth Amendment)
Separation of Church and State
Separation of Powers
States’ Rights
Victims’ Rights

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