Due: October 5, 1998
Assignment
There are two principal Supreme Court opinions making the case that
wiretapping is not covered by the Fourth Amendment (i.e., that it is not a
search or seizure). One is the majority opinion in
Olmstead (1928). The other is Justice Black's dissent in
Katz (1967). (Recall that Katz overturned
Olmstead. By dissenting, Black was indicating a
preference to stick with Olmstead's interpretation of the
scope of the Fourth Amendment.)
I have attached the relevant portions of these two opinions (277
U.S. 463-466 for Olmstead and 389 U.S. 365-367 for
Katz.) In each case I have bracketed the relevant
portion. Of course, you may want to look at the full opinions for
context.
Compare these two opinions. Which does a better job of making the
case? How does it do so? Does it bring forward additional arguments
that the other ignores? Or simply present the same arguments in a
more convincing way? If it is the language used to express the
arguments, rather than the arguments themselves, that makes the
difference, be specific about what aspects of the writing make
the difference. If it is the arguments themselves that make the
difference, be specific about which ones.
Your essay should be roughly a couple pages in length, and should be
written for an audience of roughly your own educational level, but
that is not familiar with these two opinions.
You should use the
evaluation guidelines below as a source of more information on my
expectations for your essay.
Evaluation guidelines
Please rewrite your paper until you are convinced that the answer to
each of the following questions is "yes." When you confer with each
other about your drafts on the 18th, these questions will guide your
discussion. When I grade your essay, I will again use these
questions, both to give you feedback and to come up with your letter
grade. Specifically, I will start with an A and take off one grade
"notch" (e.g., from A to A-, or from A- to B+) for each question where
the answer is "no". Be warned that some of the questions are
so critical that if the answer is "no," then one or more additional
answers are necessarily also "no." For example, if the answer to
question 1a is "no," you are doomed for 1b through 1e as well.
- Thesis
-
Does the essay has some specific point it tries to make, discernable
to the reader after reading the full essay?
-
Is that point within the parameters specified by the assignment?
-
Does the essay stick to that single point?
-
Is it immediately clear to the reader what point the essay is going to
make, without needing to read beyond the first few sentences?
-
Is the language used to state the thesis clear, straightforward, even
powerful?
- Audience
-
Is the essay consistent in the assumptions it makes about the
audience's background knowledge and vocabulary?
-
Are those assumptions within the parameters specified by the
assignment?
-
Is the general style, tone, or voice of the essay appropriate to a
general academic audience, or if a different audience is explicitly
stated in the assignment, to that audience?
- Organization
-
Does the essay have an introduction that lets the reader know what to
expect from the essay?
-
Does the essay have a conclusion that leaves the reader with a
satisfied feeling that the matter has been neatly wrapped up?
-
Does the body of the essay (between the introduction and conclusion)
have a discernible organizing principle?
-
Does each paragraph and each larger organizational unit start with a
clear statement of topic, except where there is a good reason to do
otherwise?
-
Are there smooth, sensible transitions from each topic to the next?
- Supporting evidence
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Is each claim you make backed up by specific supporting evidence?
-
Have you properly documented the sources of all your evidence, even
when that evidence is not directly quoted?
-
Do you comment upon each quotation or other piece of evidence and work
it into the flow of your essay?
-
Do you provide evidence that could on its face be taken as counter to
your thesis, and explain how it fits into your understanding of the
matter?
- Mechanics
- Is the grammar, spelling, diction (word choice), and typography all
good enough to not distract the reader?
- Is the writing clear, crisp and direct?