25 Matching Annotations
  1. Nov 2018
    1. doesn't

      Grammatical error. Contractions are improper grammar in formal documents unless in a quote.

    2. Dissent by Rehnquist Dissent by Stevens

      To have everything fit grammatically, the title of Justice should be included for both individuals here.

    3. Justince

      Spelling error, as it should read "Justice"

    4. Does an act of Congress prohibiting the burning of the American flag violate the Second Amendment freedom of expression?

      Issue is irrelevant, as the case fact contradicts the issue by being nothing about burning flags nor the Second Amendment.

    5. Yes. By a vote of 5‐4 the Court ruled in favor of Johnson.

      This holding is far too short. It lacks statement of who authored the majority opinion. Additionally, there is a grammatic error of using an underscore instead of either a hyphen or the phrase "5 to 4"

    1. Thomas: concurring O'Connor: dissenting Breyer: dissenting (with Stevens and Souter) Souter: dissenting (with Stevens, Ginsburg, and Breyer) Stevens: dissenting

      This is not a majority opinion. All but one Justice is labelled as "dissenting". This would need to be changed to reflect the majority ruling stated in the Holding.

    2. 10 percent of the private schools available were religious

      Incorrect fact. The controversy was that a large majority of district schools were religiously affiliated, while a minority were not.

    3. Separate Opinions

      This section mentions Justice Ginsburg in one of the other Justice's opinions, but lacks Ginsburg's opinion itself, among others. All Justice opinions, relevant to this case, need to be represented in this section.

    4. 7–2

      The case was ruled upon in a 5-4 favor, not 7-2.

    5. 1982

      This year is incorrect. Zelman v. Simmons-Harris was ruled on in 2002.

    6. as studies found it to be one of the worst-performing districts in the country

      This fact is irrelevant to the case. The only relevance to gained is that it failed to meet standards to where it had to impliment the voucher program.

    7. Baltimore

      This is an error. There is reference to both a Baltimore school district and Cleveland school district. Since the district is the same legal entity in this case, the misnomer needs to be corrected.

    8. 14th Amendment

      This appears to be a discrepency between the Facts and Legal Issue sections. In the Facts, it was stated the argument was based on the 1st Amendment, yet here it is stated as the 14th.

    9. Epstein and Walker, p194

      This is not a legal citation, as it would read something akin to "536 U.S. 639" if it was cited as a legal document.

  2. Oct 2018
    1. If we apply the principle for which the State of Maryland contends, to the Constitution generally, we shall find it capable of changing totally the character of that instrument

      I feel like this hurts the Justice's case. If I am not mistake, this appears to be a reference to the ability to ratify the Constitution? If I am incorrect, please give clarification.

    2. The result is a conviction that the States have no power, by taxation or otherwise, to retard, impede, burden, or in any manner control the operations of the constitutional laws enacted by Congress to carry into execution the powers vested in the General Government.

      I'm confused by the wording here. If the state governments are meant to balance the reach of the federal government, wouldn't it be the right of the states to interfere when they feel the federal government has overstepped?

    3. No trace is to be found in the Constitution of an intention to create a dependence of the Government of the Union on those of the States, for the execution of the great powers assigned to it

      I feel that the the statement is wrong here. Wouldn't this fall under the case of the 10th Amendment? "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people"?

  3. Sep 2018
    1. If we have no adversity, hasn't this case become mooted

      It is here I feel that Justice Sotomayor would dissent, due to her belief that the content of case renders it moot.

    2. there's nothing being taken away from

      Up to this point, I am to believe Sotomayor and Kagan are among the majority opinion. They seem to believe that a religiously affiliated playground would be disqualified for State aid.

    3. Free Exercise Clause prevents the government from imposing special disabilities on the basis of religious views or religious status, and forcing a choice between the exercise of religion and receiving either a government benefit, right, or privilege.

      If this is the case, why are the Justices even debating as far as they are? Would the activity done by the church in this court case be covered by this Free Exercise Clause? I feel like I need more explanation here.

    4. surfacing being softer doesn't enable religious activities, it doesn't allow it, it doesn't prohibit it.

      I feel confused here as to why this was brought up. Why mention such a detail if it neither helps your argument nor does it help the counterargument? Once more, I feel that a point like this only detracts from the discussion.

    5. religiously affiliated school that was not adjacent to a church and it had a playground

      I feel like this detracts from the case. Wouldn't a school, no matter its religious affiliation, still count as a school? In addition, is a church, no matter what education it offers on its grounds, still count as a church? In my opinion, a Lutheran school is not the same sort of institution as a Lutheran church.

    1. Those who apply the rule to particular cases, must of necessity expound and interpret that rule. If two laws conflict with each other, the courts must decide on the operation of each.

      This is something I do not understand. What if the Court cannot find a clear interpretation in the Constitution in regards to a case of theirs? What is to be done then?

    2. Mr. Marbury, then, since his commission was signed by the President, and sealed by the secretary of state, was appointed

      I find this a bit dubious. Why was Justice Marshall allowed to preside over this case? From what knowledge I recall from a former class, Mr. Marshall was the Secretary of State in question here. Would this not have been seen as a form of bias that a justice is not supposed to have, especially when said justice was party to case's events?

    3. the court must determine which of these conflicting rules governs the case.

      I am confused by this passage. If the Supreme Court is ultimately beholden to interpretation of the Constitution, wouldn't the Constitution be the ultimate guideline for every case? What if a state law clearly violates rights in the Constitution in some way, even unintentionally?