Locate a recent criminal matter from local and/or national news and post a summary of it in the Discussion Forum. Additionally, post the URL for the news story. Choose some of your classmates' news stories and determine relevant case law. Explain how the case law is relevant.
https://mohavedailynews.com/news/143572/city-responds-to-video-awaits-copy-of-lawsuit/
This is a follow-up article to a local criminal matter. The City of Bullhead city council voted on and passed
a law that makes it a criminal offense to feed the homeless in a city park without proper permitting. A woman, Norma Thornton, violated the law shortly after it took effect when she fed a group of homeless people in Community Park in Bullhead City. The charge was dismissed by the Prosecutor’s office but, allegedly, now a justice group is filing a lawsuit in federal court stating that the law is unconstitutional. Consider the IRAC method. For a legal practitioner, which portion of IRAC do you think is likely
the most important? Support your argument with justification and be prepared to discuss and
consider other student answers.
IRAC stands for Issue, Rule, Analysis, and Conclusion. I think the I in IRAC is the most important portion of this writing method. Figuring out the legal issue that is to be argued would
be the most critical as everything after that confirms or denies the issue. A lawyer, paralegal, or
the like need to be able to spot the issues so that they can state the rules, analyze them, and come to a conclusion. Thus, issue-spotting is a crucial skill to develop if someone wants to do well in the legal field. The best method to do this is to carefully read the fact pattern after you have written your draft answer to see if there are any issues you missed. Asking two simple questions when you go through the fact pattern, “Which fact is in the fact pattern that I have not discussed?” and “Can that fact be turned into an issue?”
