Constitutional Law Keyed to Feldman
Burton v. Wilmington Parking Authority
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- The Brief Prologue provides necessary case brief introductory information and includes:
- Topic: Identifies the topic of law and where this case fits within your course outline.
- Parties: Identifies the cast of characters involved in the case.
- Procedural Posture & History: Shares the case history with how lower courts have ruled on the matter.
- Case Key Terms, Acts, Doctrines, etc.: A case specific Legal Term Dictionary.
- Case Doctrines, Acts, Statutes, Amendments and Treatises: Identifies and Defines Legal Authority used in this case.
- The Case Brief is the complete case summarized and authored in the traditional Law School I.R.A.C. format. The Pro case brief includes:
- Brief Facts: A Synopsis of the Facts of the case.
- Rule of Law: Identifies the Legal Principle the Court used in deciding the case.
- Facts: What are the factual circumstances that gave rise to the civil or criminal case? What is the relationship of the Parties that are involved in the case. Review the Facts of this case here:
A Wilmington, Delaware restaurant in an off-street automobile parking building refused to serve Appellant food because he was black. The parking building was owned by the Appellee, the Wilmington Parking Authority (Appellee), an agency of the state of Delaware and the restaurant is the Appellee’s lessee. The Delaware Supreme Court held that the restaurant was acting in a “purely private capacity” under its lease. It also held that its action was not that of the Appellee and was not, therefore, a state action. Further, it also held pursuant to a Delaware code that the restaurant was not an inn and that as such, it “is not required [under Delaware law] to serve any and all persons entering its place of business.”
- Issue(s): Lists the Questions of Law that are raised by the Facts of the case.
- Holding: Shares the Court's answer to the legal questions raised in the issue.
- Concurring / Dissenting Opinions: Includes valuable concurring or dissenting opinions and their key points.
- Reasoning and Analysis: Identifies the chain of argument(s) which led the judges to rule as they did.
- The Brief Prologue closes the case brief with important forward-looking discussion and includes:
- Policy: Identifies the Policy if any that has been established by the case.
- Court Direction: Shares where the Court went from here for this case.