Except where clearly noted, the cases and other materials in this book have been edited, and in some cases significantly abridged. Places where text has been removed or altered are indicated either by ellipses ( . . . ) or brackets ( [ ] ), respectively. We have also included many dissenting and concurring opinions, but not all of them. Therefore, when dissents and concurrences do not appear in this book, readers should not necessary conclude that those opinions do not exist. The deleted portions of the cases, including the deleted concurrences or dissents, can be found via the course website (see below).
A website accompanies this casebook. It is at www.polisci.berkeley.edu/courses/coursepages/ps157b/.
At the site, you will find numerous links that will help you understand the materials in the casebook. First, there are links to all of the full, unedited decisions of the Supreme Court. Second, there is a series of court- and law-related links. Here you will find information about the Supreme Court as an institution, the justices, press coverage of the Court, and other legal resources. Third, the website has links to a vast array of primary source materials related to American constitutional law, ranging from a searchable version of The Federalist Papers to the latest Congressional legislation.
The site also contains several class-related resources. First, via the "course info" portal, you can find the syllabus, email your GSI's and the instructor, and double-check other class information and policies. Second, by going to the "chat" portal, you can enter an on-line chat room exclusively available to students in the class. The primary purpose of this chat room is to enable us to have "virtual" office hours, where several students at once can discuss the class with each other and the professor and GSIs.
Case Names: Cases are named for the parties involved in the case. The first name listed is the party that initiated the current case. This party is called the plaintiff, or in appeals cases, the appellant or the petitioner. The party on the other side is known as the defendant, or appellee or respondent. Note that as a case moves up the judicial chain, the names can switch back and forth. This happens because the rule for naming cases applies throughout the process: the party responsible for initiating each new court case will be the first one listed.
Case Citations: In 1875, the federal government took over the job of publishing Supreme Court decisions in annual volumes called the United States Reports. Since that time, the most widely accepted citation has been in the following format: __U.S.__ (Year). For example, Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States has the citation 379 U.S. 241 (1964). This means that the case is found in volume 379 of the U.S. Reports beginning at page 241, and that it was decided in 1964. A specific citation to a particular line in a case will carry one more number, the precise page on which the quote appears. Thus you might see a reference to 379 U.S. 241, 245 (1964) or 379 U.S. at 245.
Prior to 1875, Court opinions were published privately by individual "reporters." (This was actually a pretty lucrative business, since any lawyer who wanted a copy of a court opinion would have to purchase it from the private reporter selected by the Court.) Cases decided between 1789 and 1874, therefore, originally carried the name of the publishing reporter in their cite. For example, McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316 (1819) indicates that the case is found in volume 4 of Wheaton's published opinions beginning at page 316.
The __U.S.__ (Year) format has now been applied retroactively to cases since the Court's first term. As a result, even those cases decided prior to 1875 are generally now cited using the __U.S.__ (Year) format. For instance, McCulloch v. Maryland is commonly cited using the contemporary U.S. Reports style as 17 U.S. 316 (1819).
From time to time in this book, however, you will see the justices cite older cases using the pre-1875 citation system. As such, it may be useful to refer to the following table from time to time to help you determine the corresponding U.S. Reports citation:
| Decision Year | Reporter | Original Cite | New Cite |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1789-1800 | Dallas | 1-4 Dall. | 1-4 U.S. |
| 1801-1815 | Cranch | 1-9 Cr. | 5-13 U.S. |
| 1816-1827 | Wheaton | 1-12 Wheat. | 14-25 U.S. |
| 1828-1842 | Peters | 1-16 Pet. | 26-41 U.S. |
| 1843-1860 | Howard | 1-24 How. | 42-65 U.S. |
| 1861-1862 | Black | 1-2 Bl. | 66-67 U.S. |
| 1863-1874 | Wallace | 1-23 Wall. | 68-90 U.S. |
You will also occasionally see the justices cite cases in the forms __S.Ct.__ or __L.Ed.__. For example, you may see New York v. United States, 66 S.Ct. 317 or New York v. United States, 90 L.Ed. 326. These two forms are contemporary, privately published decisions. The first, S.Ct., refers to decisions published in annual volumes under the name The Supreme Court Reports, while the second, L.Ed., refers to decisions published in annual volumes under the name Lawyers' Edition.
Finally, you may see citations to lower federal court decisions: Cases from the Courts of Appeals are usually listed as __F__ (Year), or __F.2d.__ (Year), or __ F.3d.__ (Year).
About Supreme Court Decisions: The first opinion that appears when the Court hands down a decision is usually the "opinion of the Court." This opinion represents the ruling supported by a majority of the justices. There will also often be concurrences and dissents. A justice will file a concurrence, or concurring opinion, when that justice agrees with the verdict, or holding, in the case, but disagrees with the majority on the reasoning behind the decision. A dissent means the justice disagrees with the verdict in the case. Increasingly in recent years there also have been justices who file opinions "concurring in part and dissenting in part." This means that they agree with parts of the decision and disagree with other parts, and they wish to distinguish between the two for the record. Finally, there are sometimes decisions known as Per Curiam opinions. These are often cases where a majority agrees on the verdict, but there is not a majority that agrees on the basis for that verdict. In these cases the Court will issue a brief Per Curiam opinion that announces the Court's ruling or holding in the case. This is often followed by a series of concurring opinions that lay out the different foundations for the ruling that each justice would support.
Another term you will often encounter is stare decisis, which is Latin for "the decision stands." This is precedent, and generally means that the Court will abide by an earlier case or decision that they believe governs the case before them. Legal decisions are filled with other Latin terms as well as a very specialized vocabulary. Please see the website for links to a glossary of these terms.