Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. Supreme Court cases

The United States Supreme Court Case Article Improvement Project is a project started to improve the quality and uniformity of the Supreme Court case articles on Wikipedia. Please see the introduction below. Most of our work centers around the to-do list, below.

Project Collaboration Article

Periodically, Project members come together and choose a Project Collaboration Article to give us all a focus. The goal of this PCA is to improve a Supreme Court decision article to the standard of featured article. Nominations for the next PCA may be submitted at any time. The next PCA is decided by majority vote whenever the previous PCA is completed.

The current PCA is: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld

Introduction

The idea for this project came while adding "The Bench" section to a number of the articles. It was noticed that there is a large lack of uniformity among the articles as to how certain things are written or formatted. Also, the outline (when there was an outline at all) seemed to change often. The readers would benefit from a more uniform outline as to how the articles are written.

A later part of the project is to put complete information in every section of each article and check each article for grammar and formatting. The last part of the main project will be to assure there are no "red links" left. Since new mentions to articles and stubs are added all the time, this will surely be an ongoing project. The goal is to have anyone who contributes an article regarding a Supreme Court case follow the formats laid out by this project and if they are not followed, to have someone helping with the project correct any problems in a timely manner.

Wikipedia is an amazing project. In order to further its greatness, this sub-project will improve quality in this particular area so that any reader who wants to learn about the Supreme Court cases can navigate and read them more easily and also have supporting information. Wikipedia is knowledge. Knowledge is power.

The project

Since this project is obviously a large task, it is not likely to be completed quickly or easily and as stated above, it will be ongoing. Due to the project's size, the main project is currently being done is waves. The main source used to find the articles involved is the List of United States Supreme Court cases. This list is used and dealt with by the project.

The phases

The phases or "waves" of the project are easier to accomplish in a certain order, but there are no set rules; any Wikipedian can work on any phase at any time.

• Infoboxes All cases should have infoboxes, which effectively replace a defunct "The bench" section. (Example here.) A guide to creating infoboxes is here. Infoboxes can be created using this template. Previously, infoboxes were substituted, like this one, but the appearance is identical and so changing old templates is a very low priority.
• Case citations: The object of the phase is to add, verify and/or format case citations.

Proper format- ''[[Name v. Name]]'', VVV U.S. PPP ([[year]]) See case citation for further help.

1. Add the proper case citation to every reference within each article.
2. Add the proper case citation to every case on List of United States Supreme Court cases.

• Avoid redirects: The main object of this phase is to change every instance of Supreme Court wikilinks to read United States Supreme Court, but be directed to Supreme Court of the United States, which is the actual article.

Proper format- [[Supreme Court of the United States|United States Supreme Court]]

This should also be done to every wikilink involved. Other examples are the names of the Justices.

• External link to text: Every article should have an external link section with at least one link to the full text of the decision. The easiest and probably most reliable place to link to is FindLaw.com. Opinions can be found by searching at http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/supreme.html.
• Outline: The desired outline for every article is shown below. This phase is simply to add the outline. Every part does not have to be filled in, so you do not have to be able to read the opinion or know everything about the case. This phase has several parts (being the different sections) and is fully described below.
• Categorize: Every article should be put into the category of United States Supreme Court cases, but also can be put into proper categories regarding the type of case law.

Example: Category:United States copyright case law

• Copyedit: Make sure everything that should be linked is linked. Proofread for grammar, style, etc.
• Fact-check: (For those who qualify only.) Read and checked for accuracy by a legal scholar or knowledgeable person in the area of law.

Guidelines and article outline

The following is the current desired outline for Supreme Court case articles. It contains all the necessary information and, if followed, will give some structure to the articles. This outline is not set in stone. This project is a living project and any element of the project or the outline can and will be adjusted upon reasonable debate.

Suggested article outline

1. Infobox - As described above, every case should have an infobox.
2. Introduction - The introduction should always contain the case name (bold AND italics) with the citation and a brief case description (one or two lines is sufficient; simply stating that it was a Supreme Court case and what it had to do with, and why it was important).
3. Prior history - The first header should be "Prior history." This section should contain information on the case's prior history, its history in lower courts, as well as any precedents that the case references. Often times there are one or two precedents used by the Justices as main precedent to either uphold or overturn. These precedents should be mentioned and linked in this section.
4. The case - This section is obviously the heart of the article. It should contain a summary of the case as well as any important events of note that occurred during the case. Also, any excerpts from the decision or dissenting opinions should be put in this section.
5. Effects of the decision - This section should contain information about the effects the decision had on the relevant law. This would include effects the case had on precedents involved in the consideration of the decision as well as effects on the regular business of the American people. The basis of this section is to say in plain English what effect the case had on the law (e.g., Roe v. Wade made abortion legal in all 50 states).
6. Subsequent history - This section should contain any events that occurred after the decision. Such events would include what happened after a case was remanded to a lower court, "Nixon turned over his tapes and resigned", etc. Also included in this section would be any information on cases that have since been decided using this case as precedent or cases that have since clarified, nullified or reversed the current decision.
7. External links - Every article should have a section for "external links" ("external" capitalized, "links" lowercase). Every external link section should include a link to the complete text of the decision that will likely be there for some time to come, preferably with both majority and minority opinions (Good sources are Oyez, LII and Findlaw). The formatting for a Findlaw opinion is {{ussc|VVV|PPP|year}} Any other interesting external links can be added, as well.
8. Additional sections - Many articles also contain Notes or References sections as necessary.
9. Categories - Every article should be in the Category:United States Supreme Court cases category. The goal is to place each article in its appropriate case law category as well, but at the very least, it should be in the main category so it can be shown. Category:United States case law shows most relevant sub-categories of case law, including case law relevant to a certain amendment(s) of the Constitution.

• List - It is not part of the article outline, but every case should be listed on the List of United States Supreme Court cases page in the appropriate place as well.

Alternative outline

As appropriate, an alternative outline can be used for the bulk of the article. The infobox and introduction remain the same, as do external links, etc.

1. Background of the case - Subheaders will vary based on relevant substantive background, but the following are included as examples:
   1. Underlying factual pattern This section should just describe what the Court argued, not rebut it; counterarguments by the dissent should be described in the dissent, though mentioned here if the majority's argument expressly replies to the dissent.
   2. Trial court proceedings and decision This includes any key proceedings and findings of fact at the trial level, as well as the court's decision and rationale.
   3. Court of Appeals decision Similarly, this section includes the decision and rationale of the court of appeals.
2. The Court's decision - This section contains the court's decision and its reasoning. If it takes a while to explain how the justices voted, then it might be appropriate to have a subheader for the majority and other opinions following the explanative paragraph.
   1. Carswell's majority opinion This section should just describe what the Court argued, not rebut it; counterarguments by the dissent should be described in the dissent, though mentioned here if the majority's argument expressly replies to the dissent.
   2. Friday's concurring opinion - as applicable
   3. Lillie's dissenting opinion - as applicable
3. Critical response - This section can include media commentary and law review/scholarly criticism; may also include criticism expressed by other judges on other courts.
4. Subsequent developments - This can include developments in the case on remand from the Court, other factual changes that are relevant or consequent to the decision, or subsequent relevant case law. It can additionally or alternatively (as a subheader or header) contain information about subsequent jurisprudence; see end of United States v. O'Brien for a good example.

Starting a new case article

You can start a new case article using the following process:

1. Subst template Begin each page with the following template based on whether the case has a Volume and Page number in the Court Reporter:

Recently decided: {{subst:Template:SCOTUS-case|Name v. Name|##-####|year}} (for example: {{subst:Template:SCOTUS-case|John Doe v. Jane Doe|05-0534|2006}} )

Older case: {{subst:Template:SCOTUS-case|Name v. Name|VVV|PPP|year}} - for example: {{subst:Template:SCOTUS-case|Roe v. Wade|410|113|1973}} )

Then save the page. This will place the case in two relevant categories and produce this.

2. Infobox Then add information to the Infobox which has been added to the article. See Template:SCOTUSCase

3. Write the article! Keeping in mind the outline above, read the decision and whatever other information you can find and write the meat of the article itself.

4. List and categorize it Add the new article to the appropriate list and categories for cases as explained above.

5. Create redirects If a case name can be spelled out in different ways, it is useful to redirect these variations to the main article to facilitate searches for the article and prevent accidental duplications. For example, National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation is redirected from "National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel"; "National Labor Relations Board v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Company"; "National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Co."; "National Labor Relations Board v. Jones and Laughlin Steel Corp."; "NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation"; "NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel"; "NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Co."; "NLRB v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp." The case is also redirected from two variations of its U.S. reports citation - "301 U.S. 1" and "301 US 1".

6. Review Review it yourself or ask for others here to review it for you. Perhaps add it to the to-do list.

Resources

• List of United States Supreme Court cases - Every case article should be on this list.
• Category:United States Supreme Court cases - Every case article should be found in this category.
• Findlaw.com - A great resource to use when researching information on a particular case.
• LII - Cornell's Legal Information Institute, another good source for opinions
• Category:U.S. Supreme Court stubs - Supreme Court stubs
• Oyez.com - excellent place for documents - even has audio files for the arguments of more recent decisions

Examples of good articles

• Roe v. Wade
• Lawrence v. Texas
• Dred Scott v. Sandford
  

(Though none follow a suggested outline particularly well, all are featured articles.)

Wikipedians involved

Any wikipedian interested in helping with the project should feel free to add their name below.

• Skyler1534 - Project founder, but now inactive
• Jacob1207 - Formatting; Grammar and Style; Content
• PedanticallySpeaking
• Hephaestos
• Neutrality - Copyediting; fact-checking; grammar; wikistyle
• Postdlf - New cases, legal analysis, infobox information
• Kmf164 - Adding and copyedit new cases, consistent with the guidelines; fact-checking
• BD2412 - continuing to add notable old cases
• Wikiacc (talk)
• zenohockey - Copyediting, light fact-checking, (when I find time) working on infoboxes (or whatever they're called)
• Jxn - occasional corrections/etc, expanding stubs, hopefully adding infoboxes/templates/whatever if we've all decided upone one.
• User: Wikizach - can help research more info about cases and add it on to articles
• Assawyer - general editing, fixing infoboxes, etc.
• Eastlaw - currently adding articles on notable older cases, also doing some general editing
• kchase02 - project's current informal coordinator
• Edward Lalone
• Ryan Luck
• Ben Siders - will help with copyedits and grammar, spot check facts
• RidG - back from my long absence; adding new cases and expanding stubs
• TheronJ - general editing, infoboxes, fact checks
• LemonSawdust - Whatever, errata, miscellany, etc.
• MZMcBride - Infoboxes, etc.
• Adamc714
• Justin — opinions by Justice O'Connor and Justice Kennedy; 1st Amendment and/or 14th Amendment cases
• Jersyko
• <<Coburn_Pharr>> - particularly editing opinions by Justice Breyeror those dealing with Civil Rights.
• tim4christ17 - Adding {{WP_SCOTUS}} tags to cases
• ShirzadianM - Developing new cases, editing cases

Project accomplishments

The following is a list of accomplishments that are direct results of this project:

• Every Supreme Court case article on the list up to the year 2000 now has a verified case citation in the article introduction and next to the names of cases referred to within the article.
• The following case articles have been significantly expanded through the hard work of Jacob1207:
  • United States v. E. C. Knight Co., 156 U.S. 1 (1895)
  • Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973)
  • Batson v. Kentucky, 476 U.S. 79 (1986)
  • Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989)
• Every case on the List of United States Supreme Court cases up to the year 2000 now has a uniformly formatted case citation next to it and is arranged in order. All inappropriate or nonexistent cases have been removed from the list.

Comments

Any comments regarding the project should be directed to the Talk page. Wikipedians interested in helping with the project can add their names to the list of those involved or leave a message on Kchase's talk page.