Week 3 – Assignment

Legal Case Summary

[WLO: 4] [CLO: 1]

Prior to beginning work on this assignment, review Chapters 1, 4, and 8 from the course

text, Legal Rights of School Leaders, Teachers and Students. Additionally, read the case from

the webpage Burriola v. Greater Toledo YMCA (W.D. OH 2001)Links to an external site..

 

Introduction

For this assignment, you will summarize a judicial decision. The goal of this assignment is

to support you in the practice of reading a legal document and communicating your

understanding of the decision. Please use the following template which highlights the

elements that should be included in a case summary. The key is to systematically arrange

related parts of the decision that are often scattered throughout the written judgement,

assimilate the information, and make it manageable.

 

Write

After reading Burriola v. Greater Toledo YMCA (2001), use the following template to answer

the guiding questions for each section.

 

Legal Case Summary Template

 Nature of the Case (Facts):

 

o Identify the parties to the lawsuit.

o Articulate their dispute in your own words, including the few

important facts necessary to understand the case (e.g., the time of

day a defendant was arrested is usually not important).

 

 Issue:

 

o State the basic legal question that is to be decided in the case.

(Hint: The issue of the case is usually easy to spot). An example of

an issue would be can police officers legally enter a home to

search when they hear someone yelling for help?

 

 Holding (Decision):

 

o Summarize the basic answer to the basic legal question in the

case.

 

 Rule of Law:

 

o State the rule of law announced in the case. A court first must

announce a specific controlling principle of law (e.g., the court’s

interpretation of a constitutional provision, not the constitutional

provision itself) that applies to the issue in the case. The rule itself

must be quoted because every word matters: there is a significant

difference between “a” and “the” or between “may” and “must.”

The rule of law is often only one or two sentences.

 

 Reasoning:

 

o Summarize the reasons behind the court’s decision. It often traces

the history of the law at issue. In the reasoning, the court often

cites other cases, legal precedent, or explores legislative intent to

explain and justify its holding. In the reasoning, the court will also

use its own interpretation of a rule of law to support its

conclusion.

 

 Application to Advocacy and Legal Decisions:

 

o Assess how the practice of reading and analyzing legal cases can

be used to help you make legal decisions or advocate for

educational reform or social justice in a public school or childcare

institution.

 

 

The Legal Case Summary paper

 

 Must be at least one double-spaced pages in length (not including title and

references pages) and formatted according to APA StyleLinks to an external

site. as outlined in the UAGC Writing CenterLinks to an external site..

 Must include a separate title page with the following:

 

o Title of paper in bold font

o Space should appear between the title and the rest of the

information on the title page.

o Student’s name

o Name of institution (The University of Arizona Global Campus)

o Course name and number

o Instructor’s name

o Due date

 

 Must utilize academic voice. See the Academic VoiceLinks to an external

site. resource for additional guidance.

 Must include an introduction and conclusion paragraph. Your introduction

paragraph needs to end with a clear thesis statement that indicates the

purpose of your paper.

 

o For assistance on writing Introductions & ConclusionsLinks to an

external site. and Writing a Thesis StatementLinks to an external

site., refer to the Writing Center resources.

 

 Must use at least one outside source in addition to the course text.

 

o The Scholarly, Peer-Reviewed, and Other Credible SourcesLinks to an

external site. table offers additional guidance on appropriate

source types. If you have questions about whether a specific

source is appropriate for this assignment, please contact your

instructor. Your instructor has the final say about the

appropriateness of a specific source.

o To assist you in completing the research required for this

assignment, view the Quick and Easy Library ResearchLinks to an

external site. tutorial, which introduces the University of Arizona

Global Campus Library and the research process, and provides

some library search tips.

 

 Must document any information used from sources in APA Style as outlined

in the Writing Center’s APA: Citing Within Your PaperLinks to an external site.

 Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA

Style as outlined in the Writing Center. See the APA: Formatting Your

References ListLinks to an external site. resource in the Writing Center for

specifications.

 

 

Carefully review the Grading Rubric

1. Clearly and accurately identifies the parties involved in the lawsuit.

2. Clearly and accurately articulates the dispute in one’s own words, including the facts necessary to understand the case.  

3. Clearly and accurately states the basic legal question to be decided in the case.

4. Clearly and comprehensively summarizes the answer to the basic legal question in the case.

5.  Clearly and accurately states the rule of law that is announced in the case.

6. Clearly and comprehensively summarizes the reasons behind the court’s decision.

7.  Clearly and comprehensively assesses how the practice of reading and analyzing legal cases can be used to make legal decisions or

advocate for educational reform or social justice in a public-school or childcare institution.

8.  Displays meticulous comprehension and organization of syntax and mechanics, such as spelling and grammar. Written work contains no

errors and is very easy to understand.

9. Accurately uses APA formatting consistently throughout the paper, title page, and reference page.

10. The length of the paper is equivalent to the required number of correctly formatted pages. 

 

11. Uses more than the required number of scholarly sources, providing compelling evidence to support ideas. All sources on the reference

page are used and cited correctly within the body of the assignment.