Constructing a Lecture on APA Amicus Briefs

• PowerPoint Lecture due this week ( Lockhart v. McCree)

One of the best ways to truly understand a topic is to learn it and then teach it to others.

• You are responsible for researching one of the amicus curiae briefs submitted to the United States Supreme Court by the American Psychological Association
• After completing your research, you will construct a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes the important parts of the brief and discusses the brief’s impact (or lack thereof) on the Supreme Court’s decision
• This PowerPoint will be in the form of a lecture and will be viewed and critiqued by two of your fellow students

Find a Brief 

• All of the amicus briefs filed by the APA can be found on its website: http://www.apa.org/about/offices/ogc/amicus/index-alpha.aspx (Links to an external site.)
• Look through the briefs for one that you find interesting
• The brief you select must have the full text available. Start early because APA briefs are full of legalese and can be dozens of pages in length
• No two students can choose the same brief, so topics are on a first-come basis
• Your choice should have been submitted by Week 3 as an uploaded file for instructor review

After Choosing Your Brief

• You will need to know the Supreme Court decision on the case
• The United States Supreme Court website contains a listing of opinions http://www.supremecourtus.gov/ (Links to an external site.)
• Other sources for Supreme Court opinions
  • Law school bulletins – Cornell University is an excellent resource: http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/ (Links to an external site.)
  • Newspaper archives
  • Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times writes great Supreme Court pieces: Linda Greenhouse (Links to an external site.)

In Your PowerPoint Lecture

• Describe – succinctly and in your own words – the issue confronted in the Supreme Court case. This can be done via voice recordings attached to your slides or by writing out the narrative of your presentation in the notes section of your slides
• Describe the APA’s stance and the key parts of its amicus brief, including relevant research
• Summarize the opinion of the court. You can address both the majority opinion and the dissenting opinion(s) to create a full picture of how the justices felt about the issue at hand
• Remember to provide references in APA format – these can be at the footer of slides – and include a references slide at the end of the lecture
• The lecture should be at least 15 slides but no more than 35

Grading  

• The construction of your lecture will be worth 150 points
• Due Sunday, 11:59 p.m. ET
• The Grading Rubric provides detailed guidelines for this assignment
• Forms will be provided for you to fill out as you critique the other lectures; these should be used as a guide to what components are important to include in your own lecture
• The critique form is located in Week 8

Post your PowerPoint lecture. You will be able to see the presentations submitted by other students after you provide your presentation.