Court Cases

Question 1

Which case established judicial review?

Answer 1

Marbury v. Madison

Question 2

Which case established the right to privacy, and what does it reveal about constitutional interpretation?

Answer 2

Griswold v. Connecticut. It revealed two key approaches to constitutional review: originalist and living constitution

Question 3

Which case established the test for whether due process was followed, and what are the components of that test?

Answer 3

Mathews v. Eldridge, the Mathews test

1. What is the value of the interest at stake
2. What is the likelihood of wrongful deprivation given the steps that were followed, and what is the value of additional safeguards?
3. What is the burden on the government?

Question 4

Which case involved the equal protection clause as it pertains to Affirmative Action? What scrutiny was applied?

Answer 4

Grutter v. Bollinger, Strict Scrutiny

Question 5

What test is applied in determining if speech censorship violates the 1st amendment, and what case did we review it in?

Answer 5

The O’Brien Test (is there a compelling government interest, and is that interest unrelated to the suppression of free speech), Texas v. Johnson

Question 6

Which case avoided applying the Lemon test, and why?

Answer 6

Van Order v. Perry. The majority ruled that the ten commandments monument had historical value as well.

Question 7

In which case did the issue of the freedom of press vs. national security arise?

Answer 7

New York Times Co. v. United States

Question 8

What was the decision in Beck v. Shelton?

Answer 8

Town officials did not violate FOIA by using emails because they were not chatrooms (not the same as a meeting). The FOIA also does not forbid all discussion in public, so the claims regarding random discussions between officials in public places were also rejected.

Question 9

What case involved an exaction, and what test did the Court use in examining the exaction?

Answer 9

Dolan v. City of Tigard. The Court used “rough proportionality” (is there a reasonable relationship between the government interest and the requirements) to determine if an essential nexus existed

Question 10

What did the majority rule in Grose v. Sauvageau?

Answer 10

Notice laws are meant to protect those who search the record of deeds. Likewise, the certificate of purchase meant the original owner could still have bought back the property. Therefore, Sauvageau, despite having preexisting knowledge, keeps the property.

Question 11

Which case involved the risk contractors take when contracting with the government? How did they rule?

Answer 11

Thompson v. Voldahl. The taxpayers were owed their money back despite the job being finished because the government had illegally given out the contract (failed to hold the appropriate public hearing)

Question 12

Which case denied monetary damages for inappropriate awarding of a public contract and why?

Answer 12

Lawrence Brunoli v. Town of Bradford. They argued the taxpayer would pay twice if they had to pay for the job and monetary damages. In addition, injunctive relief is sufficient deterrence for corruption/favoritism when awarding public contracts.

Question 13

Which case discussed the three exceptions to at-will employment? Which two applied?

Answer 13

Berube v. Fashion Centre Ltd. The implied contract and good faith exceptions were applied (public policy was not).

Question 14

Which court case discussed the Pickering test and to what extent was it applied?

Answer 14

Garcetti v. Ceballos. They held Ceballos was speaking as a public employee (attorney) and therefore had no protection under the first amendment. The second question therefore does not apply, and Ceballos is without a claim.

Question 15

Which court case involved a notary public negligently preparing a will? How was immunity implicated?

Answer 15

Biakanja v. Irving. The notary public was found to have acted negligently prepared a will he had insufficient expertise to prepare, which resulted in a loss for the plaintiff. He therefore is not immune from liability

Question 16

Which court case involved exceptions to the FTCA? What did the court decide?

Answer 16

Dolan v. U.S. Postal Service. The court held that the exception involving the negligent transmission of mail did not refer to the situation at hand. Therefore, the claim can proceed via the FTCA.

Question 17

How does the rule of law apply to Papachristou v. City of Jacksonville?

Answer 17

The court wrote that the vagrancy ordinance was both vague and could apply to acts associated with future legal and illegal acts. Therefore, it allowed too much arbitrary discretion and was effectively a context for rounding up “undesirables”. In a society governed by rule of law, citizens must be able to understand the law, know what it will result in, and expect fair treatment under it; thus, the ordinance had no place in the U.S.

Question 18

Which Supreme Court case involved the Brady rule? Was it applied?

Answer 18

United States v. Agurs. No. The court held that the evidence would have made no difference in the outcome, so it was not required by the Brady rule.

Question 19

What questions did the court ask in Bing v. North Carolina State Bar?

Answer 19

1. Did the legislature illegally delegate legislative authority to the Board of Examiners?
2. Was there a need for expertise that allows the legislature to only give general guidelines, rather than specific rules?
3. Are there adequate safeguards in place?

Question 20

Which case implicated the importance of the record in administrative case, and what did it result in?

Answer 20

Frankel v. Board of County Commissioners of Teton County. The record was so incomplete and poorly prepared that the court could not properly review the case. The case was remanded with instructions to conduct the hearing again following the appropriate steps.

Question 21

Which Illinois case implicated public ethics laws? Did the court agree regarding overzealous prosecution?

Answer 21

People v. Howard. The court held that there might be an opportunity for the legislature to review the statute, but it had no authority to change it itself.

Question 22

What did the court say concerning the conflict of interest in Van Itallie v. Franklin Lakes?

Answer 22

Both commissioners stated their conflict of interests, which alleviates part of the problem. In addition, their potential connections to the case were too distant to merit concern.

Question 23

Which case involved the American rule? Did the court buy the private attorney general argument?

Answer 23

Alyeska Pipeline Service v. Wilderness Society. The court did not agree that it should make a new exception to the American rule. It is entirely up to the legislature.

Question 24

What was the result in Dondi Properties Corp v. Commerce Savings & Loan Ass’n?

Answer 24

The judges denied all motions and adopted a set of ethics guidelines from the Dallas Bar Association. Bickering back and forth increases costs and slows cases down - legal system needs to work better.