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Understanding the Minnesota Judiciary: Judicial Decision Making
Lesson Plan
Abstract : This lesson describes Minnesota’s different levels of courts differentiating them by structure, function, and decision making processes. The lesson includes a brief lecture/direct instruction component as well as a guided discussion activity. The direct instruction component is appropriate for any Civics course with a Judicial Branch unit focus. Due to its content, the lesson activity as written is most suitable for older high school students in Government or Civics classes.
Objectives :
- The students will be able to describe the three levels courts in Minnesota’s Judicial Branch.
- The students will be able to accurately apply the different decision-making processes employed by each level of the MN courts.
- The students will write a Supreme-Court-style opinion encompassing an analysis of legal arguments and interpretations beyond their own opinions.
Grade Level : Most appropriate for Seniors/Juniors
Time to Complete : Approximately 50-60 minutes
Materials Needed: Student worksheet (chart and scenario); completed teacher-copy of chart for reference/projection; Judicial Decision Making Talking Points, and Minnesota Courts Student Reading.
Procedure :
- Distribute blank worksheets with the chart on top and activity below and the student readings.
- Using the Minnesota Courts Student Reading, have students complete the chart individually or in small groups to the best of their ability.
- In large group, review the details that complete the chart, go through with class and ensure each completes the chart on their sheet. (approximately 15 minutes)
a. Explain that when judges make decisions, they have rules to follow and the rules are sometimes different depending on what court is hearing the case. When a case is appealed to a higher court (in most cases the Minnesota Court of Appeals), “standards of review” provide the rules for reviewing the district court’s actions.
Describe the “standards of review” used by the appellate courts (this step will provide a more complete picture of the decision making process at each level of court): Standards of Review:
- Questions of law. Appellate judges determine for themselves what law to apply, what the statute means, what the constitution requires. They do not have to give the district court any deference on questions of law.
- Clearly erroneous. District court’s determination of what happened (factual findings) is given deference by the appellate courts. If there is no reasonable evidence to support the findings, the appellate courts will set it aside. District courts’ decisions regarding the facts are given deference because the district court judge observes the testimony and can best decide if witnesses are credible and telling the truth.
- Abuse of discretion. District court judges manage trials the best they can. They have some discretion in many of the decisions they make such as what instructions to provide the jury, what evidence to allow, etc. The appellate judges can order a new trial if during an appeal it is shown that the district court abused its discretion and its decisions may have changed the outcome of the trial.
Abuse of Discretion Examples
Student example: your school does not require school uniforms and your parents let you decide what to wear. You get to exercise your “discretion.” But if you were to decide to wear your pajamas to school, your parents would see that as an abuse of your discretion.
Student example: your parents let you drive the car back and forth to school and to activities with your friends. Choosing to drive 50 miles to a pizza place would probably be seen as an abuse of your discretion.
Judicial example: A judge in a divorce case determines how much one party will be required to pay to the other party for “maintenance” (living expenses). If most judges would order between $800 and $1,200 a month in similar cases, it would be an abuse of discretion to award maintenance of $4,000.
This lesson plan was developed as part of a curriculum-development workshop that was sponsored by the Minnesota Supreme Court Historical Society, with the assistance of the Minnesota Supreme Court, the Minnesota State Bar Association Civic Education Committee, and the Learning Law and Democracy Foundation. Lesson development was supported in part with funds from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund of the Clean Water, Land, and Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution, which Minnesotans passed into law via the 2008 general election ballot.
` Understanding the Minnesota Judiciary: Judicial Decision Making
Student Handout (COMPLETED)
LEVEL OF COURT WHO?^ HOW DO THEY DECIDE?
District Court
1 judge and jury unless party waives right to a jury trial
(289 district court judges in Minnesota)
Judge/jury decides the facts of the case and apply the law. Law can come from a statute or previous cases Judges manage the trial; decide what instructions to provide the jury, what evidence to allow
MN Court of Appeals
Case is considered by a 3-judge panel
(19 judges in state)
Everyone has the right to one appeal. Judges must take the case. Judges consider briefs and oral arguments (no witnesses). Judges apply precedents. (decisions of earlier cases) Judges determine the standard of review and decide if errors occurred during the trial. Judges accept facts found by lower court unless there is no reasonable evidence to support the district court’s findings of fact. Appellate judges determine for themselves what law to apply, what the statute means, what the constitution requires.
MN Supreme Court 7 justices
Supreme court not required to take every case on appeal except must take 1st^ degree murder and elections cases. Justices consider briefs and oral arguments. Court not absolutely bound by precedents (can decide they made a mistake in an earlier case, times have changed, precedent is too old, this case needs to be distinguished or clarified, etc.) Justices decide if law is constitutional.
STUDENT HANDOUT: Judicial Decision Making
Understanding the Minnesota Judiciary: Judicial Decision Making
Student Handout
LEVEL OF COURT WHO?^ HOW DO THEY DECIDE?
District Court
MN Court of Appeals
MN Supreme Court
HYPOTHETICAL CASE: STATE V. MRS. AVERAGE
Mrs. Average is arrested for violating the Minnesota Adultery statute with her neighbor.
Minnesota Statutes, §609.36 defines adultery as sexual intercourse between a married woman
and a man not her husband. The charge is a gross misdemeanor. If convicted, both parties
involved are subject to a sentence of not more than one year in jail or a fine of not more than
$3,000 or both. Mrs. Average both denies the affair and challenges the validity of the statute
and waives her right to a jury trial. In exchange for a lighter sentence, her neighbor testifies
under oath that the affair did indeed occur.
STUDENT HANDOUT: Judicial Decision Making
QUESTION
You are the trial judge, what do you do?
QUESTION
Assume Mrs. Average is found guilty and appeals the guilty verdict, challenging the facts
presented and the validity of the law. You are now a member of the Court of Appeals. With the
people seated next to you, discuss the appeal and decide whether to affirm or overturn the
lower court’s decision. Explain your reasoning here.
QUESTION
You are now on the Supreme Court. Assume the Court of Appeals rejects her earlier appeal,
affirming the district court’s decision. Mrs. Average files a further appeal with the MN Supreme
Court claiming that the Minnesota’s Adultery statute is invalid and unconstitutional because
gender discrimination is a violation of equal protection of the laws. Discuss with a small group
of people (uneven up to 7) whether you think her argument is valid and reach a majority
decision. After your discussion, write your majority or dissenting opinion as to her legal
argument and what the final decision in her case should be. Find arguments that support your
decision in the legal memorandum prepared by your law clerk. Include a reflection upon the
differences between individual and group decision-making processes.
STUDENT HANDOUT: Legal Memorandum
look closely at suits challenging differences in rights and benefits based on one’s sex. In Craig
v. Boren (1976) the Court reviewed an Oklahoma law that allowed women to buy beer at 18
but restricted men until age 21. The state argued that concerns about traffic safety justified
the difference based on an assumption about the relative levels of responsible driving by men
and women. The statistical evidence did not support that conclusion. The court found the
relationship between traffic safety and the gender classification too tenuous. There was no
evidence supporting a belief that a person’s sex made the person more likely to become a
drunken driver. The classification was based on a stereotypical perception of teenage males
and females. The court concluded that the law was not “substantially” related to an
important state interest.
Other reasons that Minnesota’s adultery statute may be vulnerable to challenge include the
fact that there have been no reported decisions involving prosecutions under that law for
over eighty years. A defendant could be expected to argue that the long-standing failure to
enforce the law should ban prosecution. The theory is one of reliance on government
inaction. Another possible rationale for attack would be on selective-prosecution grounds in
that the conduct is rarely prosecuted and it would be unjust to prosecute one woman when
others are not prosecuted for the same conduct.
