Assignment: Right to same-sex marriage

Short Paper: Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
In this Short Paper, you will analyze the case in which the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court held that there is a right to same-sex marriage under the Massachusetts Constitution,Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, 440 Mass. 309 (2003). Go to Westlaw, and click on the “Law” tab. Enter the following citation in the “Find a Document by citation” box and click “Go”:

440 Mass. 309

Read this court opinion, then reread the case of Loving v. Virginia. How are the reasoning and rulings in these two case similar? How are they different? How does the concept of familial relationships relate to these two cases? Include the constitutional arguments made in the cases. Based on what you are learning in this unit, do you agree or disagree with the reasoning based on constitutional principles? As part of your analysis, it is fine to quote select portions of the opinion to make your point in answering the questions, but be sure to use quote marks to show the language you are quoting from the case). Explain the answers in your own words and do not simply copy your answers from the case. Your answers should be detailed and your Short Paper should be at least two pages long, 12-point font and double-spaced.

In addition to fulfilling the specifics of the Assignment, a successful paper must also meet the following criteria:

Length should be at least 2 pages, excluding cover page and references page

Double spaced and 12-point font

Viewpoint and purpose should be clearly establishedand sustained

Assignment should follow the conventions of Standard American English (correct grammar, punctuation, etc.).

Writing should be well ordered, logical and unified, as well as original and insightful

Your work should display superior content, organization, style, and mechanics

Appropriate citation style should be followed

More details can be found in the GEL-1.1 Universal Writing Rubric

Submit your paper to the Unit 2: Assignment Dropbox basket by the end of Unit 2

Your paper is due by the end of Unit 2.

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.