1 Academic Enrichment Program CRAFTING EFFECTIVE RULE STATEMENTS

1 Academic Enrichment Program CRAFTING EFFECTIVE RULE STATEMENTS FROM CASES

2 Crafting Effective Rule Statements from Cases Objectives Appreciate importance of rule statements Distinguish rule statements from other text within cases Illustrate the layers of rule statements found within cases Demonstrate how to craft an effective rule statement from a case

Rule Statements: Why You should Care about them The Law Exams IRAC Issue, RULE, Application, Conclusion 3

4 Rule Statements: Definition and Origin Definition Governing proposition that court applies to issues that parties have raised Origin Constitution Statute Previous cases Administrative regulation

5 Rule Statements: Classified Patterns If/then Elemental Factor Balancing test Disjunctive Hybrid

6 Rule Statements: Examples Actus reus is an essential element of a crime. Actus requires a voluntary act, omission, or possession. A voluntary act is one that the defendant commits with his own effort and determination. An omission generally requires (1) a legal duty to act that the defendant is capable of performing, (2) and the defendant’s failure to act. Possession requires that the defendant have control of the object long enough to terminate possession.

Rule Statements: Detecting them within Cases Explain legal topic Generally organized from general proposition to more specific Typically fact sanitized Present tense Followed by citation Case, constitutional provision, statute, regulation 7

8 Rule Statements: Examples Cox v. Director of Revenue, 98 S. W. 3 d 548 (Mo 2003) “Director shall suspend a driver’s license if the arresting officer had probable cause to believe the person was driving a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of at least. 10 of one percent” “The meaning of driving is physically driving or operating a motor vehicle. ” “The legislature’s re-enactment of the terms ‘driving’ and ‘operating’. . . emphasize that both words have distinct meanings. ” “The dictionary defines drive as ‘to guide a vehicle along or through a roadway. ” “The dictionary defines operate as ‘to cause to function usually by direct personal effort. ’”

9 Rule statements: Non-examples Cox v. Director of Revenue, 98 S. W. 3 d 548 (Mo 2003) Here, officer found D sitting behind the steering wheel, with the key in the ignition and the engine running. Based on these stipulated facts, the officer had probable cause to believe Cox was operating the vehicle. Director properly suspended D’s license Judgment is reversed and case remanded

10 Rule statements: Criteria Cast in your own words Captures essence of legal proposition Accurate Precise Complete Concise

11 Rule Statements from Cox: paraphrased Quoted “Director shall suspend a driver’s license if the arresting officer had probable cause to believe the person was driving a vehicle with a blood alcohol concentration of at least. 10 of one percent” “The dictionary defines operate as ‘to cause to function usually by direct personal effort. ’” “The legislature’s re-enactment of the terms ‘driving’ and ‘operating’. . . emphasize that both words have distinct meanings. ” Paraphrased If an arresting officer has probable cause to believe a person was driving with a BAC of at least. 10, the director shall suspend the person’s license. Operate generally means to use direct personal effort to cause a vehicle to function. If the legislature defines a term using two separate terms, each term has a distinct meaning

12 Rule Statements: Next Steps Legal Synthesis Inductive reasoning Back to Cox v. Director of Revenue Holding

13 Rule Statements: Next Steps Legal Synthesis Inductive reasoning--back to Cox v. Director of Revenue Rule Depending upon how a court interprets a statute’s actus reus element, an act can be voluntary even if committed while the actor is asleep or unconscious. For example, in Cox, the court held the defendant was operating a vehicle when an officer found him sitting behind the steering wheel of a car, asleep or unconscious, with the key in the ignition and the engine running because the officer had probable cause the believe the defendant had used direct physical effort to cause the vehicle to function.

14 Rule Statements: Wrap up Often the main reason why you are reading the case you assigned. Often involve layers of rules, those that directly pertain to the case, and those that you infer from the case and other cases. Become core to the schema that you are building as you learn the law of a given topic.