Respond: Supreme Court of the United States, Riley v. California

Respond: Supreme Court of the United States, Riley v. California

RESPOND •

Question 27.26

1. As mentioned in the headnote, U.S. legal opinions represent stasis theory in action: they contain an argument of fact in which the relevant facts of the case are presented, an argument of definition in which the relevant laws and prior legal rulings are reviewed, an evaluative argument in which the facts of the case are evaluated in light of the law, and, finally, a holding, or judgment, along with the reasoning behind that judgment. Divide the selection into these component parts. (Be careful! It’s easy to make a mistake here.)

Question 27.27

2. Reduce the Supreme Court’s reasoning in this decision to a Toulmin argument, as discussed in Chapter 7. In other words, map the legal issues and arguments being made onto the outline used to illustrate Toulmin argumentation “Outline of a Toulmin Argument,” in Chapter 7, “Structuring Arguments”). You’ll likely learn the most about this case, legal reasoning, and Toulmin arguments if you work with a classmate. Then, compare and contrast your analysis of the arguments with the analyses done by your other classmates.

Question 27.28

3. Not surprisingly, Justice Roberts acknowledges the “impact [of the Riley ruling] on the ability of law enforcement to combat crime” (paragraph 29). How does Roberts make explicit the limits of the court’s holding, or ruling? Why might we expect such qualifications of a claim in opinions from the Supreme Court? (Chapter 7 on structuring arguments discusses the use of qualifiers in its treatment of Toulmin argumentation.)

Question 27.29

4. How do the comments in Justice Alito’s opinion contextualize the court’s decision by highlighting and problematizing the need to balance the needs of law enforcement and the rights of individuals to privacy?

Question 27.30

5. Examine with great care footnote 1. Why might the word searches have been italicized? What bearing might this explicit statement in the court’s decision have on future legal debates and decisions about the issues of data aggregation and mining in the name of national security discussed in other selections in this chapter, specifically, Solove’s “The Nothing-to-Hide Argument,” Greenfield’s “What Your Email Metadata Told the NSA About You,” and the visual arguments relating to domestic spying?

Question 27.31

6. Roberts argues that “cell phones differ in both a quantitative and qualitative sense from other objects” that someone who is arrested might have on her/his person (paragraph 22). Summarize his arguments in a few healthy paragraphs so that you could use them in a research paper on the topic of cell phones and privacy. Be sure to distinguish between the quantitative and qualitative criteria Roberts uses and to link the arguments he makes explicitly to the issue of an individual’s privacy. Likely the simplest way to complete this assignment is to begin by making a list of arguments in each category and then to turn the lists into paragraphs. (Chapter 10 on evaluative arguments discusses the use of quantitative and qualitative criteria, and Chapter 20, Chapter 21, and Chapter 22 provide information on using and documenting sources.)

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