POL 462
Midterm
Spring 2007

This completed examination is due no later than the beginning of class (not the end of class) on Thursday, March 8, 2007.  It is to be typed, double-spaced, and footnoted.  It is to be submitted in duplicate, and it must be submitted in hardcopy, not electronic copy.  Documentation must conform to either the BlueBook or the Maroon Book – your choice.  Please note the course syllabus with regard to the MidTerm Examination.

On February 20, 2007, the Supreme Court decided the case of Philip Morris USA v. Williams, No. 05-1256.  The Slip Opinion of this case is available from the Supreme Court's Website.  Consult only that version of the opinion (the Slip Opinion) and use that set of paginations for any citations to the opinions in the Philip Morris case that you use here.

Prepare a detailed, well-written legal memorandum that analyzes the Philip Morris case and the doctrine outlined there.  This must focus on the available (Supreme Court) precedent (not just the Philip Morris cases) and the doctrine the Court developed on the issue of Punitive Damages in that case.  This should focus on the connection to the Constitutional provisions that were relied on in the punitive damages cases we examined on this subject (as well as other Supreme Court cases).  The memorandum should present a coherent, organized, structured framework of the doctrine, documented by the holdings and the "tests" the Court outlined in its opinion on the subject.  It should end with a clear statement of the current status and problems that exist in connection with the doctrine.

A legal memorandum is not an essay that describes a subject such as punitive damages.  It does not focus on a history or a chronology.  Rather, this kind of memorandum focuses on the legal doctrine that can be extracted from the cases the Supreme Court has decided on the subject.  It needs to analyze the doctrinal development based on the cases the Court has decided.  While you may consult secondary sources, the memorandum should be based only on court opinions (primary sources) for support or guidance in the analysis of the doctrine.  In terms of formatting, a memorandum has a TO:, a FROM:, a DATE:, and a SUBJECT: heading.