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OUTLINE FOR CLASSES PREPARING FOR SUPREME COURT ARGUMENTS

This outline assumes a class time of approximately 35-40 minutes. It is structured to

facilitate a presentation in three (3) parts of roughly 7-8 minutes each, with time after each

presentation for discussion with students (so that each topic takes no more than 10-12 minutes to

cover):

I. WHAT TRIAL COURTS DO TO DECIDE CASES

A. How civil cases and criminal charges get filed (explaining the basic ideas of

service of process, notice and an opportunity to be heard).

B. Review basic pre-trial processes (discussing the idea that both sides get to hear

from witnesses and review evidence in advance through discovery).

C. Distinguishing questions of fact from questions of law (explaining that the judge

decides some things in advance so that the case only goes to trial if there are

factual disputes; emphasizing that the jury (or the judge in a bench trial) decides

who to believe but the judge decides if that matters under the law.

D. Break for discussion about how trial courts decide cases, answer questions.

II. WHAT APPELLATE COURTS DO TO DECIDE CASES

A. Appellate courts only decide questions of law (what law applies to the case,

specifically whether the judge applied the correct law).

B. Appellate courts don’t decide questions of fact (who to believe).

C. (Most) everyone has a right to appeal once to the Appellate Court if they think the

judge made a mistake in the trial court.

D. The appellate court reviews the transcript and all the documents, they don’t see

the witnesses which is one reason they don’t consider who to believe.

E. Each side gets to submit a “brief” in support of their position in the appellate

court, telling the court why they should win and what law and documents the

court should review; sometimes they get to present oral argument, where they get

up in front of the judges (usually three) to argue their position and answer

questions from the judges.

F. Break for discussion about how appellate courts decide cases, answer questions.

III. WHAT THE ILLINOIS SUPREME COURT DOES TO DECIDE CASES

A. The Supreme Court only considers cases that are of particular importance, either

because the appellate courts are in disagreement, or because the legal issue is a

new and important one, or because their decision could have important effect on a

lot of people.

B. Everyone has a right to appeal to the appellate court, but the Supreme Court

decides which cases to accept from those that are submitted. In a given year, the

Supreme Court decides approximately 75 cases.

C. Two of the cases this year are being argued at Chicago State University: People v.

Lane and People v. Lozano.

D. Like in the appellate court, in these cases the attorneys submitted legal arguments.

They don’t always get to present “oral argument,” which is when they get a

chance to explain their positions to the judges in person, but in these two cases

they will. They will make presentations and may get interrupted with questions

from the judges.

E. Here’s what the two cases are about: See attached summary, which could be

either summarized by the lawyer/lecturer or distributed to the class (along with a

link to the briefs when appropriate).

F. Break for discussion about how the Supreme Court decides cases, answer

questions.

CASES TO BE DECIDED BY THE SUPREME COURT IN MAY 2023

People v. Lane, 128269

Defendant was convicted of the first-degree murder of the victim and the intentional homicide of

the victim’s unborn child, after fatally shooting the victim in the head. Illinois law provides that

the sentence for first degree murder is natural life imprisonment if the defendant is “found guilty

of murdering more than one victim.” (730 ILCS 5/5-8-1(c)(ii).) On appeal to the Illinois

Supreme Court, the defendant is arguing that this sentencing statute does not apply to him

because (1) a conviction for intentional homicide of an unborn child is not synonymous with a

conviction for first-degree murder, and (2) the unborn child was not a “victim” as the term is

defined under Illinois law.

People v. Lozano, 128609

Under the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Terry v. Ohio, 392 U.S. 1 (1968), a police

officer may briefly detain a person for investigatory purposes if the officer reasonably suspects

the person has committed or is about to commit a crime. Such a detention is commonly referred

to as a Terry stop. The issue in this case is whether police officers had reasonable suspicion to

conduct a Terry stop of the defendant when the officers saw defendant running with his hands

either inside or holding the front pocket of his sweatshirt in the rain. The officers made a U-turn

and saw defendant run up a stairway and try to enter an abandoned apartment building. The

officers detained defendant. One officer believed that defendant’s pocket might contain a

weapon, so he conducted a pat-down of the pocket. The officer reached into the sweatshirt

pocket and recovered a car stereo and two screwdrivers. Defendant was eventually arrested and

convicted of burglary and possession of burglary tools. On appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court,

defendant is arguing that police cannot detain a citizen for the sole reason that he was running in

the rain with his hands in his pocket.

To view the briefs submitted for argument, please the above-named cases at:

https://www.illinoiscourts.gov/courts/supreme-court/docket/