Each human gene is encoded as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), which takes the shape of a “double helix.” Each “cross-bar” in that helix consists of two chemically joined nucleotides. Sequences of DNA nucleotides contain the information necessary to create strings of amino acids used to build proteins in the body. The nucleotides that code for amino acids are “exons,” and those that do not are “introns.” Scientists can extract DNA from cells to isolate specific segments for study. They can also synthetically create exons-only strands of nucleotides known as complementary DNA (cDNA). cDNA contains only the exons that occur in DNA, omitting the intervening introns. Respondent Myriad Genetics, Inc. (Myriad), obtained several patents after discovering the precise location and sequence of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, mutations of which can dramatically increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer. This knowledge allowed Myriad to determine the genes’ typical nucleotide sequence, which, in turn, enabled it to develop medical tests useful for detecting mutations in these genes in a particular patient to assess the patient’s cancer risk. If valid, Myriad’s patents would give it the exclusive right to isolate an individual’s BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, and would give Myriad the exclusive right to synthetically create BRCA cDNA. Petitioners filed suit, seeking a declaration that Myriad’s patents are invalid under 35 U. S. C. §101. As relevant here, the District Court granted summary judgment to petitioners, concluding that Myriad’s claims were invalid because they covered products of nature. The Federal Circuit initially reversed, but on remand in light of Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., 566 U. S.___, the Circuit found both isolated DNA and cDNA patent eligible. Held A naturally occurring DNA segment is a product of nature and not patent eligible merely because it has been isolated, but cDNA is patent eligible because it is not naturally occurring. (a) The Patent Act permits patents to be issued to “[w]hoever invents or discovers any new and useful . . . composition of matter,” §101, but “laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas” “‘are basic tools of scientific and technological work’” that lie beyond the domain of patent protection, Mayo, supra, at ___,. The rule against patents on naturally occurring things has limits, however. Patent protection strikes a delicate balance between creating “incentives that lead to creation, invention, and discovery” and “imped[ing] the flow of information that might permit, indeed spur, invention.” Id., at __. This standard is used to determine whether Myriad’s patents claim a “new and useful . . . composition of matter,” §101, or claim naturally occurring phenomena. (b) Myriad’s DNA claim falls within the law of nature exception. Myriad’s principal contribution was uncovering the precise location and genetic sequence of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes. Diamond v. Chakrabarty, 447 U. S. 303, is central to the patent-eligibility inquiry whether such action was new “with markedly different characteristics from any found in nature,” id., at 310. Myriad did not create or alter either the genetic information encoded in …………………………. Required: 1. What is cDNA? 2. Why is cDNA patentable, while DNA is not?
> What was the Court’s holding in Powell v. Alabama? See the Gideon v. Wainwright case in this chapter.
> Charged in a Florida State Court with a noncapital felony, petitioner appeared without funds and without counsel and asked the Court to appoint counsel for him; but this was denied on the ground that the state law permitted appointment of counsel for ind
> Explain how section 1139 found in Figure 4-2 might be used in the Welsh case.
> Summarize the factual dispute in Lorilland Tobacco Co. v. Reilly. The case syllabus (summary) is found in Appendix VII
> Apply the North Carolina assault statute found in Section 4–5 to the following facts. a. Bobby is angry with his supervisor. He takes a gun to work, intending to scare his supervisor. He waves the gun around while yelling at the supervisor. The police ar
> Assume that Maria works for the public defender’s office. While organizing a file in preparation for trial she comes across the name and telephone number of a witness who positively identified the perpetrator of the crime as the defendant named in the ca
> Matthew works as a paralegal for the prosecutor’s office. While organizing a file in preparation for trial he comes across the name and telephone number of a witness who identified the perpetrator of the crime as someone other than the defendant named in
> Robert is a paralegal. His neighbor and good friend is in an automobile accident. She tells him how the accident happened and asks if she has a good case. What should he tell her?
> In the Case file at the beginning of this chapter, a law firm refused to represent both parties in a divorce case. Why did they do this?
> Consider the following situations and discuss whether a violation of judicial ethics occurred: a. At the end of a trial, a judge refused to allow an attorney to present an argument because he said that he knew what the argument would be and did not agree
> Under federal labor rules found in the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.), employees who work overtime must be compensated for that time unless they are “exempt.” One category of exemption exists for an employee “who customarily and regularly exercises
> Should U.S. district court judges be appointed by the president, or should they be elected by the people in the district where they serve?
> In a marital dissolution proceeding, does the failure of one spouse to disclose the existence of a community property asset constitute extrinsic fraud? I After 22 years of marriage, Marilyn and Zelig Modnick separated in September of 1974. The next mont
> In 1994, a federal law was enacted giving victims of gender-motivated violence (i.e., sexual assault) the right to sue for civil damages. Do you think such a law is constitutional? See the case summary of U.S. v. Morrison in Appendix VII.
> The U.S. Constitution prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. Is it a violation of the U.S. Constitution to sentence someone to death for rape of a child? See Kennedy v. Louisiana, 129 S. Ct. 2641 (2008).
> After the Lopez case, the statute in question was amended to read: It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual knows, or
> Petitioners brought suit against respondent after a catheter ruptured in the patient’s coronary artery during surgery, killing him. The catheter received “premarket” approval from the FDA pursuant to a federal law regulating medical devices. The law proh
> Discuss the relationship between case law and statutory law as illustrated in the case of United States v. Playboy Entertainment Group, Inc., found in Appendix VII.
> A conflict between state and federal criminal law arose in the case of United States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative, found in Appendix VII. Explain how the court resolves the problem.
> Three young men were assaulted because of their race. The assailant was arrested and charged with several offenses, including assault with a firearm, civil rights violations and brandishing a weapon. Was the civil rights violation civil or criminal? Expl
> Harvey Lee Windsor was convicted of capital murder under § 13A-5–40(a) (2), Ala. Code 1975, and was sentenced to death by electrocution. Windsor appealed the conviction and sentence to the Court of Criminal Appeals. That court reversed the conviction and
> Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale” of what happened when David Reuther, while vacationing in the Cayman Islands at the Pirates Point Resort Hotel, decided to go scuba diving—“a fateful trip that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny sh
> Opinion of the Court by Mr. Justice DOUGLAS, announced by Mr. Justice BRENNAN. Petitioner and a companion, Boblit, were found guilty of murder in the first degree and were sentenced to death, their convictions being affirmed by the Court of Appeals of Ma
> Thomas Bowling appeals his convictions in a bench trial [no jury] for capital murder and use of a firearm during the commission of murder. His issues on appeal include (1) whether the trial court erred in prohibiting him from introducing evidence of his
> At petitioner’s bench trial for rape, Sandra Lambatos, a forensic specialist at the Illinois State Police lab, testified that she matched a DNA profile produced by an outside laboratory, Cellmark, to a profile the state lab produced using a sample of pet
> This is a summary of the facts and the holding in the Terry case. A Cleveland detective (McFadden), on a downtown beat which he had been patrolling for many years, observed two strangers (petitioner and another man, Chilton) on a street corner. He saw t
> Appellant stands convicted of knowingly having had in her possession and under her control certain lewd and lascivious books, pictures, and photographs in violation of Ohio statutes. As officially stated in the syllabus to its opinion, the Supreme Court
> In the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), Congress empowered the President “to use all necessary and appropriate force against those . . . he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks . . . on September 11, 20
> After his 2009 arrest on first- and second-degree assault charges, respondent King was processed through a Wicomico County, Maryland, facility, where booking personnel used a cheek swab to take a DNA sample pursuant to the Maryland DNA Collection Act (Ac
> Petitioner was convicted under an indictment charging him with transmitting wagering information by telephone across state lines in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1084. Evidence of petitioner’s end of the conversations, overheard by FBI agents who had attached
> In each of these cases, a 14-year-old was convicted of murder and sentenced to a mandatory term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. In the first case, petitioner Jackson accompanied two other boys to a video store to commit a robbery;
> We granted certiorari to decide whether the prosecution of respondent as an adult, after Juvenile Court proceedings which resulted in a finding that respondent had violated a criminal statute and a subsequent finding that he was unfit for treatment as a
> Gerald Gault, 15 years old, was taken into custody as the result of a complaint that he had made lewd telephone calls. After hearings before a juvenile court judge, Gerald was ordered committed to the State Industrial Schools as a juvenile delinquent unt
> After prevailing against the Government on a claim originating in the Department of Transportation’s Board of Contract Appeals, petitioner (Richlin) filed an application with the Board for reimbursement of attorney’s fees, expenses, and costs, pursuant t
> A jury convicted appellant of aggravated kidnapping and assessed his punishment at confinement for fifteen years in the penitentiary. The conviction was affirmed. We granted discretionary review to determine whether evidence of extraneous offenses and ex
> Facts On September 13, 1981, Kenneth Roy and one Jesse McHargue, while hitchhiking near Gridley, California, met Archie Mannix and James Clark outside a liquor store and began drinking beer with them. A Gridley police officer observed the foursome in a p
> Justice Sotomayor delivered the opinion of the Court When the State of Michigan rested its case at petitioner Lamar Evans’ arson trial, the court entered a directed verdict of acquittal, based upon its view that the State had not provided sufficient evid
> In the late 1980s, petitioner Major League Baseball Players Association (Association) filed grievances against the Major League Baseball Clubs (Clubs), claiming the Clubs had colluded in the market for free-agent services after the 1985, 1986 and 1987 ba
> Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court. We consider whether a contractual waiver of class arbitration is enforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act when the plaintiff ’s cost of individually arbitrating a federal statutory claim exceeds the
> The petitioner is a well-known entertainer in the television industry. The respondent is a “personal manager” in the entertainment profession. On January 16, 1974 they signed a contract whereby the petitioner agreed to employ the respondent as his agent
> Plaintiff, MTV Networks (“MTVN”), brought this action against Defendant, Adam Curry (“Curry”). Plaintiff now moves the Court to dismiss Curry’s counterclaims, pursuant to Rules 9(b) and 12(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, or in the alternat
> Justice Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court. The federal diversity jurisdiction statute provides that “a corporation shall be deemed to be a citizen of any State by which it has been incorporated and of the State where it has its principal place o
> KOZINSKI, Chief Judge: You don’t need a peg leg or an eye patch. When you ram ships; hurl glass containers of acid; drag metal-reinforced ropes in the water to damage propellers and rudders; launch smoke bombs and flares with hooks; and point high-powere
> In August, 1985, Tia Carrere (“Carrere”) entered into a personal services contract with American Broadcasting Company (“ABC”) whereby she agreed to perform in the television series General Hospital from that time until August, 1988 (“ABC Contract”). Unde
> When this case was at issue, we referred it to retired Circuit Judge P. B. Revels of the Seventh Judicial Circuit, one of Florida’s most experienced trial judges, to serve as referee. The referee has filed his report which, in pertinent part, indicates:
> The Oakland Raiders (hereafter, Raiders) football club has sued the National Football League (hereafter, NFL), 16 NFL clubs, and many other NFL-related persons and entities, generally alleging that NFL leadership has been marked by abuse of power, neglec
> Petitioner Erica P. John Fund, Inc. (EPJ Fund), is the lead plaintiff in a securities fraud class action filed against Halliburton Co. and one of its executives (collectively Halliburton). EPJ Fund alleges that Halliburton made various misrepresentations
> Facts and Proceedings Appellant purchased three parcels of agricultural property from Albert La Monte, Jr. and Helen La Monte for approximately $1 million. He later discovered that the property was not as represented. Appellant, a superior court judge, w
> Alan Jardine appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Brother Records, Inc. (“BRI”), on BRI’s Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 1051-1129, trademark infringement action alleging that Jardine infringed BRI’s “The Beach Boys” trademark. Ja
> Coy Koontz, Sr., whose estate is represented here by petitioner, sought permits to develop a section of his property from respondent St. Johns River Water Management District (District), which, consistent with Florida law, requires permit applicants wish
> R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJR) operated a customer rewards program, called Camel Cash, from 1991 to 2007. Under the terms of the program, RJR urged consumers to purchase Camel cigarettes, to save Camel Cash certificates included in packages of Camel
> This action arises out of the production of the musical play A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine by defendants, Day and Night Company, Inc., Alexander Cohen and the Shubert Organization. (Plaintiffs’ claims against the Shubert Organization have now
> The executor of the estate of the famous film actress Marilyn Monroe sues to recover damages for invasion of the “right of publicity” alleged to adhere in the decedent’s name, personality, photographs, etc. Plaintiff claims that this right of publicity i
> After publicly burning an American flag as a means of political protest, Gregory Lee Johnson was convicted of desecrating a flag in violation of Texas law. This case presents the question whether his conviction is consistent with the First Amendment. We
> Plaintiffs, the heir and assignees of the late Agatha Christie, seek an order enjoining the defendant movie producers, Casablanca Records, Filmworks, First Artists and Warner Brothers (hereinafter referred to as the “movie case”) from distributing or sho
> This is an appeal of a final judgment of adoption, under which F.G. became the adoptive father of two boys, X.X.G. and N.R.G. (collectively, “the children”). The trial court found, and all parties agree, that F.G. is a fit parent and that the adoption is
> The State of New York recognizes the marriage of New York residents Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer, who wed in Ontario, Canada, in 2007. When Spyer died in 2009, she left her entire estate to Windsor. Windsor sought to claim the federal estate tax exemptio
> In this post-dissolution of marriage proceeding, David L. McCord (father) appeals the order modifying his child support obligation and awarding Deborah A. McCord (mother) her attorney fees. We dismiss the appeal in part, affirm the trial court’s order, a
> On March 2, 1976, appellant caused to appear in its weekly publication, the National Enquirer, a “gossip column” headlined “Carol Burnett and Henry K. in Row,” wherein a four-sentence item specified in its entirety that: “In a Washington restaurant, a bo
> At the beginning of the trial, this action as against the New York Central Railroad was discontinued and at the conclusion of the entire case a motion to dismiss the complaint as against the Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., was granted, leaving as the
> Plaintiff was standing on a platform of defendant’s railroad after buying a ticket to go to the Rockaway Beach. A train stopped at the station, bound for another place. Two men ran forward to catch it. One of the men reached the platform of the car witho
> Levy, J.—The issue presented by this appeal is whether an author who posts an article on MySpace. com can state a cause of action for invasion of privacy and/or intentional infliction of emotional distress against a person who submits that article to a n
> In the fall of 2000, Andrew W. Koffman, a 13-year old middle school student at a public school in Botetourt County, began participating on the school’s football team. It was Andy’s first season playing organized football, and he was positioned as a third
> At a school-sanctioned and school-supervised event, petitioner Morse, the high school principal, saw students unfurl a banner stating “BONG HiTS 4 JESUS,” which she regarded as promoting illegal drug use. Consistent with established school policy prohibi
> In 2010, Congress enacted the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in order to increase the number of Americans covered by health insurance and decrease the cost of health care. One key provision is the individual mandate, which requires most Ameri
> The Stolen Valor Act makes it a crime to falsely claim receipt of military decorations or medals and provides an enhanced penalty if the Congressional Medal of Honor is involved. 18 U.S.C. §§704 (b), (c). Respondent pleaded guilty to a charge of falsely
> For the past 20 years, the congregation of the Westboro Baptist Church has picketed military funerals to communicate its belief that God hates the United States for its tolerance of homosexuality, particularly in America’s military. Fred Phelps, who foun
> Respondent, an elected official in Montgomery, Alabama, brought suit in a state court alleging that he had been libeled by an advertisement in corporate petitioner’s newspaper, the text of which appeared over the names of the four individual petitioners
> Respondents were convicted separately of violating a Virginia statute that makes it a felony “for any person . . ., with the intent of intimidating any person or group . . ., to burn . . . a cross on the property of another, a highway or other public pla
> Prior to 1995, a student elected as Santa Fe High School’s student council chaplain delivered a prayer over the public address system before each home varsity football game. Respondents, Mormon and Catholic students or alumni and their mothers, filed a s
> CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS delivered the opinion of the Court. The public is currently engaged in an active political debate over whether same-sex couples should be allowed to marry. That question has also given rise to litigation. In this case, petitioners,
> The question, whether an act, repugnant to the constitution, can become the law of the land, is a question deeply interesting to the United States. That the people have an original right to establish, for their future government, such principles as, in t
> Answer the following questions after reading the excerpt from Ropers v. Simmons found in Chapter 1. a. Was this a civil case or a criminal case? b. With which sources of law was the Court most concerned? c. What historical factors did the Court consider
> Consider the following two examples and determine whether each is criminal or civil. Foreman drives a car (somewhat ineffectively) after consuming five martinis in one hour. Foreman is not involved in any accident and no one is injured as a result of the
> At age 17, respondent Simmons planned and committed a capital murder. After he had turned 18, he was sentenced to death. His direct appeal and subsequent petitions for state and federal post-conviction relief were rejected. This Court then held, in Atki
> Review the summary of U.S. v. Morrison in Appendix VII. Is this a civil case or a criminal case? Explain.
> Read the excerpt of the case, Tennessee v. Garner in Appendix VII. Answer the following questions: a. Which constitutional provisions apply to this case and how do they apply? b. What statutory law is the Court interpreting in this case? c. Did the Court
> Locate the following cases. For each, write the correct citation, including the year. You may use an online source such as Findlaw, or you may locate the cases in a print resource in a law library. 491 U.S. 274 372 U.S. 335 367 U.S. 643 384 U.S. 436 474
> Review the Modnick case. As you read, identify the facts, the issues, the rules or laws, the holding, and the conclusion. Notice how the court explains or analyzes in this decision. Refer back to the Welch case at the beginning of the chapter. Identify e
> Peter, Paul, and Mary are 16-year-olds who live in Elmwood, a city with a 10 p.m. curfew for anyone under the age of 18. They think the law is unfair and violates their constitutional rights, and they want it changed. How can they go about doing this? (R
> A group of concerned parents in the City of Elmwood wants to see a curfew imposed on anyone under age eighteen. How can they get such a law imposed? (Review the section in this chapter dealing with the sources of law.)
> A high school hockey game resulted in a scuffle between off-duty police officers and an assistant coach and his wife. As a result of the scuffle, the coach and his wife were arrested for assaulting the police officers. At a trial they were acquitted.
> MR. JUSTICE DOUGLAS delivered the opinion of the Court. Appellant Griswold is Executive Director of the Planned Parenthood League of Connecticut. Appellant Buxton is a licensed physician and a professor at the Yale Medical School who served as Medical Di
> Plaintiff, a lesbian patient, sued defendant clinical physicians, alleging that they discriminated based on sexual orientation, in violation of a states civil rights laws, by refusing to perform an intrauterine insemination. The civil rights laws prohibi
> A landlord owned and leased rental units. Prospective tennants agreed to rent a unit but when the landlord found out they were not married she told them she could not rent to them because it would violate her religious beliefs. The prospective tenants fi
> Write a case brief for the Windsor case. Include the facts, issues, rules, analysis, and conclusion.
> Read the following hypothetical situation after reviewing the Case File at the beginning of this chapter. Focus on the statements that may be hearsay. Tommy Rutherford and his family were staying at the lake for the summer. Tommy’s family has a very smal
> Read the case file at the beginning of this chapter. Compare and contrast the case file facts with the facts of the Mapp case. Look for similar facts, differences and factual gaps.
> Discuss the differences between the complaints in the Simpson and Nichols cases.
> After officers stopped a car to check its registration without reason to believe it was being operated unlawfully, one of them recognized a passenger in the car. Upon verifying that the passenger was a parole violator, the officers formally arrested him
> Reread the case file at the beginning of the chapter. What crimes has the client committed? Explain your answer by discussing the facts and the elements of the crimes.
> Locate the juvenile court rules for your jurisdiction. Choose two statutes. Rewrite them, breaking them into their elements. Review the statutes for assault, battery, and kidnapping in this chapter to review how a statute is broken apart into elements.
> Violet complained to the police as follows: After a domestic dispute, her boyfriend took away the keys to her car, forced her into his car, threatened her, and slapped her. As the boyfriend slowed the car at an intersection, she unlatched her seatbelt. H
> CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS delivered the opinion of the Court. The Voting Rights Act of 1965 employed extraordinary measures to address an extraordinary problem. Section 5 of the Act required States to obtain federal permission before enacting any law related
> Review the section of your automobile policy that deals with uninsured-motorist coverage. Describe these provisions.
> Lawrence hired a law firm to represent him in a legal matter and signed an agreement containing a provision requiring arbitration in the event of any dispute regarding fees, costs, or any other aspect of the attorney-client relationship. Eventually Lawre
> Read the case Good News Club v. Milford Central School found in Appendix VII. What was the nature of the lawsuit filed in the trial court? What happened in the trial court?
> A car dealership in Ohio used the image of a famous celebrity residing California in an Internet web site promoting the car dealership. The dealership did not have permission to use the image. Cars were not sold through the Web site. The celebrity sued t
> Betts, a California resident purchased a classic car from Hanson, a Wisconsin resident. The car was placed for sale on e-bay (a California business). The car was shipped from Wisconsin to California. Betts claimed that the car did not meet the descriptio
> Reread the facts of Kaplan. In this case, the appellate court did not find that Coldwell Banker was an ostensible agent, only that there were sufficient facts to withstand a summary judgment (a declaration by the court that there were no facts to support
