Supreme Court: McKinney v. Arizona

Step 1: Background Information

Review the textbook chapter on the court system, view the video below, and view the Oyez link below.

• Textbook: Chapter 13, specifically 498 – 508Openstax: American Government 2e. published on Feb. 21 2019 by Glen Krutz , Oklahoma State University and Sylvie Waskiewicz, PhD

• The Lost Art of Democratic Debate [TED Talk]
• Judicial Decisions: Crash Course Government and Politics

• https://www.oyez.org/cases/2019/18-1109
• Google search as needed for additional information

Step 2: Select the Paper Topic

Select a Supreme Court case that’s either currently being decided or has been decided in the past two years.

Step 3: Analyze and Evaluate

After selecting a case, conduct research to fully understand the facets of the case.

Step 4: Write the Paper

Using the background resources provided in addition to researching a Supreme Court case of your choosing, write a two page paper [Times New Roman, 12-point font, double spaced] that shows you understand the significance of a case that makes it to the Supreme Court.

Your paper should consist of at least 5 paragraphs [totaling 1.5-2 pages] following this format:

1. Introduction Paragraph: Summarizes the purpose of the paper,draw the reader in.
2. Paragraphs 2-3: Provide an explanation about the Supreme Court’s role and importance in the federal court system as well as how cases make it to the Supreme Court.
3. Paragraph 4: Describe and analyze a selected Supreme Court case
   1. Describe the case [who/what constitutes either side of the case – who is being represented? What are both sides arguing?
   2. Describe why the case made it to the Supreme Court.
   3. Explain the outcome of the case if available, including the precedent that was set as a result. If the outcome is not available yet, predict which side may win and the precedent that will be set as a result.
4. Conclusion paragraph: Summarize the paper and tie it all together.
5. Citations: At the end of your paper, create a citation for each source you USED in the paper.  You may use either APA or MLA style [APA is preferred].