APPLYING RULE TO FACTS

CHARACTERISTICS OF A STRONG APPLICATION OF

RULE TO FACTS

©2013 UMKC School of Law Lawyering Skills I

Components of a strong application of rule to facts

fact Critical language why Strong

application

Read the following examples of application of rule to facts Even though you do not know anything about the facts, which application works the best? Why?

Rule for Intent The element of intent is satisfied if the actor desires to cause consequences of his act, or he believes that the consequences are substantially certain to result from it.

Application 1 He fired blindly through a store window covered with paper into a mall with fifty people. He was not substantially certain to hit one.

Application 2 Firing into a mall with only fifty people in it is not substantially certain to result in one of the people being hit by a bullet. Therefore, Simms demonstrated no intent to cause a harmful physical contact with Winston.

Application 3 Because only fifty people were in the mall, Simms was not substantially certain to strike one of them by shooting blindly across one stretch of the mall. Nothing suggests that customers were congregating outside the store or that, even had they been doing so, Simms would have known they were there. As a result, his odds of hitting another person when his view was blocked would be based upon the likelihood that, of all the spaces fifty individuals could occupy in four blocks of mall, one individual happened to occupy that single space that would put her in his random line of fire.

Which one is best?

Why?

Application 1 He fired blindly through a store window covered with paper into a mall with fifty people. He was not substantially certain to hit one.

Applying Rule to Fact Not So Good

•The first sentence does not connect the fact to the rule. •The statement of facts would have already informed the reader what happened. •The sentence is essentially wasted words.

•Why was he not substantially certain to hit one? •The reader is forced to fill in the blank. •Can you count on the reader to get it right?

Application 2 Firing into a mall with only fifty people in it is not substantially certain to result in one of the people being hit by a bullet. Therefore, Simms demonstrated no intent to cause a harmful physical contact with Winston.

Applying Rule to Fact Better

•The first sentence ties the facts more directly to the language of the rule, but still leaves the reader to infer why that fact satisfies that language. •The second sentence explicitly ties the fact to the larger concept rather than forcing the reader to make the connection.

Application 3 Because only fifty people were in the mall, Simms was not substantially certain to strike one of them by shooting blindly across one stretch of the mall. Nothing suggests that customers were congregating outside the store or that, even had they been doing so, Simms would have known they were there. As a result, his odds of hitting another person when his view was blocked would be based upon the likelihood that, of all the spaces fifty individuals could occupy in four blocks of mall, one individual happened to occupy that single space that would put her in his random line of fire.

Applying Rule to Fact Strong

What Makes it Strong?

• The focus of each sentence containing a fact is what that fact means. • how it should be interpreted • how it does or does not satisfy a portion of the rule • what specific language from the rule the fact does or does not satisfy • why, precisely, the fact does or does not satisfy the rule

• A fact never exists in a stand-alone sentence that merely states the existence of the fact.

• The explanation of that fact’s meaning utilizes other facts where appropriate to support that interpretation.

• The explanation of what the fact means is connected to the application of the rule to other relevant facts.

Components of a strong application of law to fact

Specific fact

Critical language from the rule

Why the fact does or does not satisfy that language

fact Critical language why Strong

application

EXERCISE: APPLYING RULE TO FACTS

Using the “fact + critical language + why” approach, choose facts for each part of the rule provided below and create a short application for each of those facts. Choose at least two facts that support that the school was entitled to restrict the speech on each part of the rule. Choose at least two facts that support that the school was not entitled to restrict the speech on each part of the rule. Bring your applications to workshop and be prepared to share them.

FACTS Ms. Juarez has been the journalism teacher at Sam Houston High School in Carrizo Springs, Texas, for five years. She is young and attractive – the boys comment on her looks frequently among themselves – and is generally well-liked by her students. Julie Fenton, however, is furious with Ms. Juarez because Ms. Juarez removed Julie from the school newspaper staff due to Julie’s plagiarizing an article from the Internet.

FACTS (cont.) Julie created a webpage with some very derogatory material and showed it to some of her friends when they were at her house. Eventually, word got out, and students at school began to access it. Students were viewing it during classes, during lunch, and at home. Messages about it – some approving, some disapproving – were flying all over Twitter and Facebook and instant messaging. When the principal discovered the page, he expelled Julie for the rest of the semester.

FACTS (cont.)

Ms. Juarez is a second-generation Mexican American whose parents became U.S. citizens before she was born. Sam Houston High School has a large Hispanic population, and discussions about illegal immigration have been heated. There have been some shouting matches, and even a couple of fights between some Hispanic and Anglo students.

JULIE’S WEBSITE ABOUT MS. JAUREZ

Ms. Juarez (no makeup)

THE SLUT JUAREZ PAGE

How she sees herself

Website for a Bitch

“I just love my boys.”

“Mmmmm. Call me soon, boys.”

THE COMPLAINT CORNER ADD YOUR COMMENT

•The bitch is incompetent! •That’s okay. Two good shags ‘ll get you an “A.” •I hear she and “J. S.” are a regular thing. No wonder he gets such good grades . •Does she really get high? I could enjoy her that way. •Can’t you tell in class? She has to be stoned.

Push for Juarez’s address and directions. Football team only, please.

“Drop by after class and relax.”

The SLUT’s Bio a) Graduate of Mexican

High b) B.S. in B.S. from

Wetback U. c) Alien Status: Illegal d) Employment History

a) Drug runner b) Cocaine dealer c) Migrant worker d) El Paso hooker

Rule

Schools may punish student speech, including speech off-campus, that is: – Disruptive OR – Offensive.

Speech that can reasonably be anticipated to materially and substantially interfere with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the school

Disruptive Speech

Offensive Speech

Vulgar, lewd, indecent, or plainly offensive speech.

fact Critical language why Strong

application