Case Brief The Legal Research Process

The Legal Research Process (FLAC)  Step 1: Facts (Analyze the facts)  Step 2: Issues (Determine the legal issues)  Step 3: Law (Relevant Law)  Step 4: Analysis – (Analyze the law & apply it to the facts)  Step 5: Communication (Rationale) – Communicate the results of the research

Ricci Case Step 1: Facts  Supreme Court (highest court) ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge  White firefighters were upset that New Haven voided the entire 2003 promotional exam after the results made 18 whites – but no blacks – eligible to become officers labeling it invalid under the constitution

 The city scraped the promotion board because they were afraid of a lawsuit from minorities who would be turned down following the test  Judge Sotomayor was on a three-judge panel that unanimously rejected the reverse discrimination complaint by the white firefighters  Sotomayor stated that the “test” was arbitrary because the there was a disproportionate failure rate among minorities

 Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a minority (Hispanic Women)  Frank Ricci – white fire fighter who is dyslexic filed the lawsuit

What are the Issues?  Does Frank Ricci have a valid case of reverse discrimination against the city of New Haven?  _embedded&v=re-_paP3lm4 _embedded&v=re-_paP3lm4  Was the fire fighter test arbitrary creating an unfair test for minorities ?  Was Judge Sotomayor’s rejection of the law suit a result of her mood or personal prejudices? (Legal Realism View)  _embedded&v=OfC99LrrM2Q _embedded&v=OfC99LrrM2Q

Law (Relevant Law)  New Haven worried about violation of Civil Rights Act of 1964 – because exam had a “disparate impact” on minorities  Disparate: elements very different from one another  Title (VII) AKA Title 7 – prohibits intentional acts of employment discrimination based on race, color, sex and national origin (disparate treatment) and policies or practices that intentionally or have a disproportionately adverse discriminatory effect

 Under Title VII, an employer can engage in an act of intentional discrimination for the purposed of avoiding or remedying a disparate impact only if there is evidence

Analyze the Law & Apply  This step means: reading the relevant law, synthesizing it and applying the facts  That is think like a lawyer!  As a class what is your legal reasoning with regards to the facts and the law?

Communication (Rationale)  Supreme Court (Highest Court) Buck stops here!!!  Ruling: White firefighters were unfairly denied promotions because of their race (reverse discrimination).  New Haven was wrong to scrap promotion exam because no African Americans and only 18 white firefighters were made eligible for promotion