IRAC Case Briefs for Law School & Bar Prep”

⚖️ Gideon v. Wainwright (1963) – Landmark Case Brief Court: Supreme Court of the United States Date: March 18, 1963 Citation: 372 U.S. 335 Author of Majority Opinion: Justice Hugo Black ❓ Issue Does the Sixth Amendment’s right to counsel in criminal cases extend to felony defendants in state courts through the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause? 📜 Rule The Sixth Amendment guarantees that “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right… to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.” Through the Fourteenth Amendment , fundamental rights such as the right to counsel are incorporated against the states. Prior to Gideon , under Betts v. Brady (1942) , states were not universally required to appoint counsel unless “special circumstances” applied. 🕰️ Facts Clarence Earl Gideon , a drifter in Florida, was accused of breaking and entering a poolroom with intent to commit petty larceny. Lacking money, Gideon asked the Florida trial...

  Terry v. Ohio Case Brief (1968) | IRAC Format Case Name: Terry v. Ohio , 392 U.S. 1 (1968) Issue 🔎 Does a police officer's stop and frisk of an individual without a warrant or probable cause violate the Fourth Amendment’s protection against unreasonable searches and seizures? Rule 📜 The Fourth Amendment prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures. However, a brief investigative stop ("stop and frisk") is allowed when a police officer has a reasonable suspicion , based on specific and articulable facts, that criminal activity is afoot and that the individual may be armed and dangerous. The frisk must be limited to a pat-down of outer clothing to check for weapons. Analysis 🧠 The Court reasoned that the Fourth Amendment’s protections are not absolute barriers to all police-citizen encounters. A balance must be struck between the individual’s right to personal security and the government's interest in crime prevention and officer safety. In Terry’s case...

  ⚖️ Brown v. Board of Education , 347 U.S. 483 (1954) — IRAC Brief ❓ Issue Segregation of public education based on race, even if the "tangible" (facilities) are equal, is a violation of the Equal Protection Clause for minority children under the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution. 🧑‍⚖️ In earlier cases, including that of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), such statutes had been upheld on the doctrine of their being ‘separate but equal.’ The question still remained whether this doctrine was true under the Constitution when applied to public education? 📘 Rule The Fourteenth Amendment states that under its Equal Protection Clause, “No State shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” 🕰️ Analysis   in the early  1950s, a number of cases attacking the constitutionality of racial segregation in public schools were filed in different states—Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, Delaware, and Washington, D.C.—...