3. Read Jurisprudence: Law and Society, pages 1 to 10. This is the course textbook and it can be found under the Handouts tab.
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4. Using the guidelines in the reading, write a case brief for Brown v. Board of Education 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
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5. Submit your case brief in a single Word file.
Please include your name in the assignment. You have up to three attempts at submitting a file and I grade the most recent submission.
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6. Answer the Discussion Board question:
A bright line test is a rule in law where compliance can be readily determined; for example, a speed limit. Our laws do not permit wide exceptions to indeterminate speed limits (but compare Montana’s “reasonable speed” law). Conversely, compliance with a case-by-case test depends on the individual facts and circumstances in that situation, such as a jury’s application of the death penalty: the courts do not automatically execute all persons convicted of homicide.
Compare and contrast the bright line test and the case-by-case approach by describing an advantage and disadvantage to each. Use an example if you think it helps to illustrate your point. Try to think of situations where the bright line test makes sense and other situations where the case-by-case approach makes sense. You may also wish to consider the issue of judicial economy, which is the cost to administer a rule (speed limits laws are cheap to enforce while death penalty appeals are very expensive to society).
THIS PART WRITE SEPARATE JUST 3 SENTENCES.
(A bright line test rule versus a case by case ruling are very different but can also be beneficial if used at the correct time. Take shoplifting for example. If shoplifting was prosecuted with jail time and a record every single time someone shoplifted it would not only be costly for the company and the police department but also very time consuming for every one involved. All parties involved would need a lawyer as well as having to pay all the fees associated with going to court. In addition the shoplifter would then end up with a record. If shoplifting was instead prosecuted on a case-by-case bases it can be handled at the degree determined by the company that was being stolen from. For example, a young child takes a bouncy ball from a shelf and puts it into her pocket without her mother seeing it. On a case-by-case bases the company speaks with the mother and explains the situation and from there the mother can speak with her young child to educate them on what the correct thing to do is. However, if is was the bright line test rule instead, the young child would have had the police called on her and have prosecuted in court for stealing a small toy. In this specific scenario, it would be wasteful to use the bright line test rule. )
