On June 15, a newspaper columnist predicted that the coast of State X would be flooded on the following September
1. Relying on this pronouncement, Gullible quit his job and sold his property at a loss so as not to be financially ruined. When the flooding did not occur,
Gullible sued the columnist in a State X court for dam- ages. The court dismissed the case for failure to state acause of action under applicable State law. On appeal, the State X Supreme Court upheld the lower court. Three months after this ruling, the State Y Supreme Court heard an appeal in which a lower court had ruled that a reader could sue a columnist for falsely predicting flooding.
a. Must the State Y Supreme Court follow the ruling of the State X Supreme Court as a matter of stare decisis?
b. Should the State Y lower court have followed the ruling of the State X Supreme Court until the State Y Supreme Court issued a ruling on the issue?
c. Once the State X Supreme Court issued its ruling, could the U.S. Supreme Court overrule the State X Supreme Court?
d. If the State Y Supreme Court and the State X Supreme Court rule in exactly opposite ways, must the U.S. Supreme Court resolve the conflict between the two courts?
2. State Senator Bowdler convinced the legislature of State Z to pass a law requiring all professors to submit theirclass notes and transparencies to a board of censors to be sure that no “lewd” materials were presented to students at State universities. Professor Rabelais would like to challenge this law as violating his First Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution.
a. May Professor Rabelais challenge this law in the State Z courts?
b. May Professor Rabelais challenge this law in a Federal district court?
3. While driving his car in Virginia, Carpe Diem, a resident of North Carolina, struck Butt, a resident of Alaska. As a result of the accident, Butt suffered more than $80,000 in medical expenses. Butt would like to know, if he personally serves the proper papers to Diem, whether he can obtain jurisdiction against Diem for damages in the following courts:
a. Alaska State trial court
b. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (includes
Alaska)
c. Virginia State trial court
d. Virginia Federal district court
e. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
(includes Virginia and North Carolina)
f. Virginia equity court
g. North Carolina State trial court
4. Sam Simpleton, a resident of Kansas, and Nellie Naive, a resident of Missouri, each bought $85,000 in stock at local offices in their home States from Evil Stockbrokers, Inc. (“Evil”), a business incorporated in Delaware, with its principal place of business in Kansas. Both Simpleton and Naive believe that they were cheated by Evil Stock- brokers and would like to sue Evil for fraud. Assuming that no Federal question is at issue, assess the accuracy of the following statements:
a. Simpleton can sue Evil in a Kansas State trial court.
b. Simpleton can sue Evil in a Federal district court in
Kansas.
c. Naive can sue Evil in a Missouri State trial court.
d. Naive can sue Evil in a Federal district court inMissouri.
5. The Supreme Court of State A ruled that under the law of State A, pit bull owners must either keep their dogs fenced or pay damages to anyone bitten by the dogs. Assess the accuracy of the following statements:
a. It is likely that the U.S. Supreme Court would issue a writ of certiorari in the “pit bull” case.
b. If a case similar to the “pit bull” case were to come before the Supreme Court of State B in the future, the doctrine of stare decisis would leave the court no choice but to rule the same way as the “pit bull” case.
6. The Supreme Court of State G decided that the U.S. Constitution requires professors to warn students of their right to remain silent before questioning the students about cheating. This ruling directly conflicts with a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit that includes State G.
a. Must the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals withdraw its ruling?
b. Must the Supreme Court of State G withdraw its ruling?
