Posted: September 1st, 2022

CASE LAW The decision of the Ninth Circuit of Appeals

all the instructions in the files. (125 words)
Assume you are a lawyer arguing a case in the Fifth Circuit of Appeals in New Orleans on the issue of whether or not prisoners can be required to cut their hair short and to have a haircut every month. Your client, an inmate in prison in Louisiana, wants the right to wear his hair long. The Fifth Circuit has not decided a case on the same issue, but your legal research shows that the Ninth Circuit of Appeals (for Washington and other states) has already decided this issue, saying that prison inmates have a right to have long hair. Will the decision of the Ninth Circuit be of any use to you when arguing your case before the Fifth Circuit? Justify your answer.

Case 2 (125 words)

Bob and Clara, who for years were live in lovers, had a big fight one night. Clara hastily moved out of the apartment they shared. Three days later, Clara went to the police and told them that Bob was dealing drugs from his apartment. Clara said she no longer lived there but had a key to the apartment, that she had gone back there a couple of times, and that she and Bob were in the process of reconciling – none of which was true. Clara led the police to the apartment and opened it with her key. The police saw marijuana, amphetamines, and other illegal drugs in the apartment. They seized all of these and later introduced them in court as evidence against Bob. You are the judge. Will you admit or exclude the evidence? Support your decision.
CASE LAW
The decision of the Ninth Circuit of Appeals will be useful as a precedent. The earlier decision in the Ninth Circuit of Appeals can be followed in the Fifth Circuit of Appeals since the two cases are similar. The use of the Ninth Circuit of Appeal case as the precedent is considered legal reasoning, emphasizing what had been decided in the past. The Ninth Circuit of Appeal case decision has theoretical authority given that the circumstances in which it was made, such as decision makers’ identity, those involved in the arguing case, and the availability of evidence and time. The past decisions provide good reasons for believing the decision to be correct in law.
CASE 2
As a judge, I would exclude the evidence following the exclusionary rule. In the US, whenever the police violate the Defendant’s Fourth Amendment protection against illegal seizures and searches, the evidence is not admissible in a court of law. In Bob and Clara’s case, Clara is not legally allowed to welcome the police to search and seize evidence items without Bob’s consent. There is no exception in the exclusionary rule that can allow the judge to use the evidence in the case. Clara had left the apartment for three days, which means they are not together with Bob and, therefore, Bob still has full legal right from unauthorized inspections, searches, and seizures. I would exclude all the evidence seized from Bob’s apartment without his permission from the court.

References
Ashford, P. (2019). The Admissibility of Illegally Obtained Evidence. Arbitration: The International Journal of Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management, 85(4).
Bricker, A. B. (2019). Is Narrative Essential to the Law?: Precedent, Case Law and Judicial Emplotment. Law, Culture and the Humanities, 15(2), 319-331.

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