SmartBrief
Confirm favorite deletion?
Legislation and Regulation Keyed to Manning, 5th Ed.
Babbitt v. Sweet Home Chapter of Communities for a Great Oregon
Citation:
515 U.S. 687 (1995)Facts
The Endangered Species Act of 1973 prohibits the “taking” of endangered species, with “take” defined to include “harm.” In 1975, the Secretary of the Interior promulgated a regulation defining “harm” to include “significant habitat modification or degradation where it actually kills or injures wildlife by significantly impairing essential behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding, or sheltering.” The respondents, small landowners, logging companies, and families dependent on forest products industries in the Pacific Northwest and Southeast, brought a facial challenge to this regulation. They argued that the Secretary exceeded his statutory authority by including habitat modification within the definition of “harm.” The respondents claimed that application of this definition to the red-cockaded woodpecker and northern spotted owl had injured them economically by limiting their logging activities. They contended that Congress did not intend “take” to include habitat modification, pointing to legislative history where language explicitly including habitat modification was removed from the bill before enactment.
Only StudyBuddy Pro offers the complete Case Brief Anatomy*
Access the most important case brief elements for optimal case understanding.
*Case Brief Anatomy includes: Brief Prologue, Complete Case Brief, Brief Epilogue
- 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.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.