In
today's tech-driven world of twitter, blogs, Facebook, etc., the amount of time
people commit toward reading and in-depth analysis continues to shrink. The
other day I had an extra half-hour of down time while at work and decided to
brush up on the latest news articles, only to find myself struggling to read
the article in its entirety. At first, I didn't even notice that I had gone
from skimming articles, to skimming the opening few paragraphs, to finally
only glancing at certain headlines. It wasn't that the subject matter lost my interest, rather I simply wanted to finish and move to the next article. That
got me wondering, how many times during a day do Millennials cut short reading
an article online or elsewhere? Then I began to wonder, if more and more people
skim or cut short readings about topics that interest them, how does one
capture the "online" attention of someone for a topic that they
normally would not find interesting, like a Supreme Court case ruling for
example? News articles about case rulings only offer the most basic
implications of the Court's opinion, but I'll admit, even those can be
difficult to wade through to the end for individuals not interested in the
Judicial System. Fear not! There is one resource I found that truly stands out
in simplifying court cases, the constitutional question, and what the ruling
means: Oyez.org
So
why do I find this website to be a "go-to" resource when I want to
look up a case, read more in depth, or simply find the basic facts about a
Supreme Court case? The answer is in the simplicity and the breadth of
available information. Court cases like Brown v. Board of Education are
important for everyone to have some understanding of, but the details and
constitutional implications are extensive. Sure Wikipedia can be a simple few
clicks away, but they often do not have articles about the hundreds of lesser-known
Supreme Court cases heard each year and the constitutional questions raised by
each case likely will not be found on Wikipedia in any substantive depth. If
you wanted the basic question posed in the Brown v. Board case or the simple
legal provision, finding those in the full length Wikipedia
page or a textbook case brief could prove to be a daunting task.
Oyez.org covers essentially every Supreme Court case ever argued, breaks down
each case in simple structure while maintaining the importance of
constitutional question and equips readers with interactive tools vastly beyond
most other resources.
Lets take a look at a screen shot from the
Brown v. Board of Education on
Oyez.org:
As
you can see by clicking on the link or from this screen shot, Oyez breaks down
the essential facts, the constitutional question before the court, the ruling
(9-0), the legal provision, and a basic conclusion. Oyez provides the most
critical and essential takeaways from the Supreme Court case and provides it in
a simple, yet remarkably informative manner. However, it is the extra tools
provided that truly sets Oyez apart as a resource. At the bottom, you see the
list of Justices (which can be viewed in different settings), how they voted,
and who delivered the majority opinion (outlined in red). But, click on any of
the justices and you get a full bio, time on the court, analysis of rulings and
more! If you want to cite something for a paper or class, the links at the very
bottom organize your citation seamlessly. On the left (not shown in the screen
shot) you see the dates the case was argued, who the attorney's were, when the
opinion was handed down and you can click on other links to view alternative
cases decided under whoever the Chief Justice was. BUT arguably the greatest
tool offered by Oyez is an audio of every oral argument heard
before the Court since the 1960s! While there are nearly limitless
resources pertaining to U.S. court cases, Oyez.org has set the bar for Supreme Court analysis, case by case breakdown, and the presentation of key constitutional questions raised.
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