Class Project

POL 461
Fall, 2006

The link below connects to a PDF file containing the final version of the Military Commissions law signed by President Bush 17 October, 2006.  (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to read this file.)  The enrolled version -- the actual law -- is not yet available so the link is to the Senate version.  S. 3930 is the Senate bill (number) of the passed version of the statute involved.

S. 3930

A (hypothetical) case challenging the constitutionality of various provisions contained in this statute has been decided by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. That court upheld the statute without an opinion, and the Supreme Court has granted the Writ of Certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to review the case.  You are to select either the Petitioner's side or the Government's side (the respondent) in this case and prepare the legal brief on the merits arguing the constitutionality of the provisions of this statute in the Supreme Court.  Given the hypothetical nature of this claim at this time, you need not outline any facts, but rather address the constitutional issues that are raised in the statute.

The Project is due, no later than the beginning of class on Friday, 8 December 2006 by 1:00 PM.  Late submissions will NOT be accepted.  You are to submit two (2) copies of your brief by the deadline.  While representatives may discuss and collaborate on the development of their briefs, the final submission should be the individual work of each representative.  Collaboration must be indicated by identifying all the "members of the firm" who participated in the discussions in the appropriate fashion.

Your brief must conform completely to all the requirements of the Supreme Court’s Rules for formatting, printing, covers, and content of a Brief on the Merits for the Petitioner or the Respondent.  That is, the Brief you submit must contain all the elements required by the Court (except the Statement of Facts) and it must conform to the Rules of the Court.  The Court’s Rules are available electronically on the Supreme Court’s website.  See also, Stern et al, (See below.).

N.B.  Any procedural or subsequent questions relating to the preparation or submission of the Amicus Brief should be clarified by consulting:

Stern et al., Supreme Court Practice: For Practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, 8th ed. (Bureau of National Affairs, 2002).

Citation formatting will conform to standard practice for briefing to the Supreme Court.  Stern et al. is available on Reserve in the Hicks Undergraduate Library.
        The binding for the brief should generally conform to the Supreme Court Rules, but any questions, clarifications, or exceptions can be obtained by submitting your request IN WRITING to the Clerk of the Court.

If you need clarification of a Supreme Court Rule or Court procedure submit the request to the Clerk of the Supreme Court (i.e., the instructor) in writing, electronically.  Any rulings by the Clerk will be posted on the course website for everyone to check.