Legal Issues Rarely Move Assignment

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Legal Issues Rarely Move Assignment

Part 1

Though much in law enforcement is thought to be high speed (pursuits, dynamic tactical entries, and quick reactions for defensive tactics), much of what we do comes from tradition and as well as through a slow legal process. Legal issues rarely move fast, the system is steeped with formality and a process that is designed to prevent rash and sudden decisions. The benefit is that when the courts decide upon a decision-making process to apply to scenarios, that process is then published and often remains the standard course of action for years before a unique challenge comes forward again. This is what is called “case law” and as a law enforcement officer you must know these, if you don’t and act errantly then you will be judged by these standards in the court of law.

Using scholarly resources, research three of the following four court cases.

Terry v. Ohio
Mapp v. Ohio
Tennessee v. Garner
Graham v. Connor

Please use the following format to write your own brief for each court case ruling. You can reference the example provided in the Lesson folder content.

Court case, year published

Brief of situation: 2-3 paragraphs (1/2-3/4 of a page) briefing the situation that occurred

Brief of decision: 2-3 paragraphs (1/2-3/4 of a page) briefing the outcome of the court

Implication to law enforcement: (1/2-3/4 of a page) briefing how the decision affects law enforcement officers.

Be sure to provide your scholarly sources for each case. Two good places to start are Find Law and Cornell Law. The SoJS Guide is also available as a resource. Wikipedia is not a creditable website and may not be used. Please do not go longer than two pages for each briefing.

Submit your completed assignment by following the directions linked below. Please check the Course Calendar for specific due dates.

Save your assignment as a Microsoft Word document. (Mac users, please remember to append the “.docx” extension to the filename.) The name of the file should be your first initial and last name, followed by an underscore and the name of the assignment, and an underscore and the date. An example is shown below:

In order to have a firm grasp on case law, it is important to understand how to read and brief the decision in a court case.

There are four basic parts to understanding a court case.

  1. Court case and year published
  2. Brief of situation: 2-3 paragraphs (1/2-3/4 of a page) briefing the situation that occurred
  3. Brief of decision: 2-3 paragraphs (1/2-3/4 of a page) briefing the outcome of the court
  4. Implication to law enforcement: (1/2-3/4 of a page) briefing how the decision affects law enforcement officers.

Example:

  1. Weeks v. U.S. (1914)
  2. Situation: Weeks was the defendant in a case accusing him of sending lottery tickets through the U.S. mail, which at the time was a crime. The police made entry into his home when a neighbor told the police where a spare key was kept. Police entered the home, without a search warrant, and gathered evidence that was later used to convict him.
  3. Decision: This case was eventually heard by the U.S. Supreme Court that determined that the police violated the Constitutional rights of Weeks found in the 4th Amendment. The evidence would not be allowed to be used in court and was the beginning of the “Exclusionary Rule.”.
  4. Implication to LE: Officers are required to make a legal determination when searching an individual or an individual’s property regarding under what legal standing they can search. If a search is not warranted by some means, then the evidence cannot be used in the court case.

Part 2

As explained in this module, the statutes subdivide assaults into 5 degrees based on the specifics of the crime. In the box below, you will find a very limited description of an assault. Working from this base-scenario, you will need to invent additional details about the assault in order for it to meet the criteria for each of the 5 degrees. In the end you will have 5 versions of the assault-description.

Base-Scenario:

  • Joe and Mike are at a bar on a Saturday night.
  • Joe hits Mike in the head.
  • Mike suffers an injury.

In a 1-2 page paper, written using proper spelling and grammar, address the following for each of the 5 degrees of assault:

  • Describe the requirements for that type of assault.
  • Enhance the base-scenario presented above by inventing additional, specific details about the incident (possible weapons, relationships of the parties, etc.) so that it meets the requirements for that type of assault.
  • Provide the statute number, subdivision, and paragraph information.

Submit your completed assignment to the drop box below. Please check the Course Calendar for specific due datesSave your assignment as a Microsoft Word document. (Mac users, please remember to append the “.docx” extension to the filename.) The name of the file should be your first initial and last name, followed by an underscore and the name of the assignment, and an underscore and the date. An example is shown below:

Jstudent_exampleproblem_101504

Pls use minnesota statue in both parts if needed.