When you read the case, pay attention to any facts and highlight them as you go.
In general, your heading will always include the: Case name; Court name; Date of decision; and The page number where the case appears in the applicable reporter. Try and create a heading that conforms to a legal citation manual (e. g. , the Bluebook or ALWD Manual). For example, you might try using a heading that looks like this: Roe v. Wade, 410 U. S. 113 (1973). Within that citation is the case name, the court name, the date of decision, and the page numbers where it can be found.
For example, if you are explaining the procedural history of Roe v. Wade, you might state that the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled the Texas abortion statute unconstitutional and there was a direct appeal by Texas to the United States Supreme Court.
For example, the issue in Roe v. Wade might be stated like this: Does the Texas abortion statute violate the Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution?
For example, the holding of Roe v. Wade is: (Vote: 7-2) Yes: The Texas statute is unconstitutional because the Constitution and the Ninth Amendment recognizes the right to an abortion.
In Roe v. Wade, the rule of law is the test used to reach the holding, which was that the Texas statute was unconstitutional. In that case, the rule of law was announced that during the first trimester of pregnancy, most abortion regulations would be invalid. During the second trimester of pregnancy, some regulations may be okay. During the third trimester, abortions can be outlawed.
Within the reasoning, a court will explain the particular facts of the case that lead them to use the law they did and to decide the outcome the way they did. For example, in Roe v. Wade, the court reasoned that a woman has a privacy right, as well as an interest in avoiding physical and psychological harm, and therefore abortions cannot be outright denied. The court further stated that while the state of Texas had legitimate interests in banning abortions, those interests had to be balanced with the interests and rights of the female. As a pregnancy progresses, the interests of the state become stronger. This reasoning gives you clues to what some material facts might be. For example, the fact that Texas’ abortion law was an absolute prohibition is material. This is the case because the court concludes that while Texas has interests, they have to be balanced. Put a different way, if Texas’ law would have allowed abortions in some circumstances, perhaps the case would have turned out differently.
Material facts can also be thought of as those facts which a party would use to prove his or her case. [9] X Research source Think about who the parties are, what their dispute is, and how they got to where they are.
For example, if you are briefing a case for your contracts course about an office lottery pool, you will want to focus on what the court says about the agreement between the parties, and pay less attention to what the court says about the tax consequences to the lottery winners.
You should brief your entire case before determining the material facts for this reason. If you know the holding and the reasoning, you will be able to better analyze the facts. In general, if a fact is brought up in the reasoning of a case, it is likely going to be a material fact. For example, in Roe v. Wade, ask yourself how the fact that the Texas statute outlawed all abortions affects the holding and reasoning of the case.
Example A: The plaintiff emailed a contract to the defendant. The plaintiff and defendant disagree on specific terms of the contract. Thus, the method of sending the contract is not a material fact, because the method of transmission does not affect the court’s interpretation of the terms of the contract. Example B: The plaintiff emailed a contract to the defendant. The defendant refuses to perform because the contract did not arrive in time. Plaintiff sues for nonperformance. Now the method of sending the contract is a material fact, because the details of the method of transmission, whether by email, postal service, etc. , is necessary for the court determine whether the contract arrived in time.
