The Ames Brief Archive
Briefs from past Ames competitions, collected as a resource for competitors and for students interested in appellate advocacy. Each entry lists the questions presented, the topics at issue, and the facts of the case.
2026
Semi-Final Round
United States v. July
Criminal Procedure · Venue · Miranda
Questions Presented
1.
Whether venue for a charge of international parental kidnapping lies in the Eastern District of Ames.
2.
Whether statements made to a state social worker without Miranda warnings must be suppressed.
United States v. Davis
Fourth Amendment · Sentencing
Questions Presented
1.
Whether a person retains a reasonable expectation of privacy in a tent on public land.
2.
Whether a prior conviction qualifies as a crime of violence for a sentencing enhancement under U.S.S.G. § 4B1.2(a).
2025
Final Round
State of Ames v. Welles
Fifth Amendment · Takings · Sovereign Immunity
Questions Presented
1.
Whether the Fifth Amendment creates a self-executing cause of action to redress an alleged taking.
2.
Whether the Eleventh Amendment bars plaintiffs from seeking “just compensation” directly under the Fifth Amendment from a State in federal court absent a waiver of sovereign immunity.
2024
Semi-Final Round
Jax v. Wildwood
Civil Procedure · Appellate Jurisdiction · § 1983
Questions Presented
1.
Whether a plaintiff may appeal the dismissal of one claim after voluntarily dismissing all remaining claims without prejudice.
2.
Whether a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 malicious-prosecution claim must be dismissed where the officer had probable cause to arrest for a separate offense.
United States v. Vance
Fourth Amendment · Sentencing Guidelines · Deference
Questions Presented
1.
Whether a suppression-hearing record must be reviewed in the light most favorable to the government, and whether the district court erred in denying the motion to suppress evidence from the protective sweep.
2.
Whether the district court erred in treating the United States Sentencing Commission’s commentary as controlling when applying a sentencing enhancement.
Final Round
Welles v. Doe
Second Amendment · Immigration
Questions Presented
1.
Whether a noncitizen unlawfully present in the United States but with substantial ties to the country is part of “the people” with Second Amendment rights.
2.
Whether the government can disarm noncitizens unlawfully present in the United States but with substantial ties to the country, consistent with the history of the Second Amendment.
Briefs coming soon
2023
Final Round
OSHA v. Federici Contracting, LLC
Administrative Law · APA · Article III
Questions Presented
1.
Whether 5 U.S.C. § 706(2) of the Administrative Procedure Act requires courts to vacate agency rulemakings found to violate the Act.
2.
Whether, if so, 5 U.S.C. § 706(2) violates Article III of the U.S. Constitution by requiring federal courts to exceed their judicial power.
2022
Final Round
Energon, U.S.A. v. Ames County Board of Commissioners
Federal Common Law · Climate Change · Jurisdiction
Questions Presented
1.
Whether federal common law exclusively governs claims seeking redress for injuries allegedly caused by the effect of interstate greenhouse gas emissions.
2.
Whether a federal district court has jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1331 over claims seeking redress for injuries allegedly caused by the effect of interstate greenhouse gas emissions even if they are pleaded under state law.
Briefs coming soon
2021
Final Round
Artiss v. Westlake Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Civil Procedure · Personal Jurisdiction
Questions Presented
1.
Whether a court may exercise specific personal jurisdiction over a brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturer that promotes and sells a drug in the forum State when the plaintiff was injured by a generic version of the same drug–which was required by law to copy the branded drug’s key features.
2.
Whether Ames Stat. § 5101 comports with due process to the extent it conditions registration to do business in the State on consent to general personal jurisdiction in the State’s courts.
2020
Final Round
Tanner v. State of Ames
First Amendment · Fifth Amendment · Self-Incrimination
Questions Presented
1.
Whether the Ames Nonconsensual Pornography Act, Ames Crim. Stat. 545, violates the First Amendment.
2.
Whether the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination allows a defendant to refuse to disclose the password to her computer and phone, when the government has a warrant to search those devices.
Briefs coming soon
2019
Final Round
Department of the Interior v. Caldwell
Equal Protection · Tenth Amendment · Indian Law
Questions Presented
1.
Whether the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq., and the final rule implementing the statute violate equal protection.
2.
Whether the Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C. § 1901 et seq., and the final rule implementing the statute violate the anti-commandeering component of the Tenth Amendment.
Briefs coming soon
2018
Final Round
Groves v. Gallant
Second Amendment · First Amendment · Free Speech
Questions Presented
1.
Whether Ames Rev. Stat. § 18-133(a) violates the Second Amendment as applied to Groves.
2.
Whether Ames Rev. Stat. § 18-726(a) violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment.
Briefs coming soon
2017
Final Round
Bloom v. United States
Equal Protection · Gender Discrimination · Criminal Procedure
Questions Presented
1.
Whether the Court should overrule Rostker and hold that Bloom’s conviction must be vacated because the Selective Service registration requirement unconstitutionally discriminates on the basis of gender.
2.
Whether Bloom is entitled to withdraw his felony guilty plea as a matter of right because the magistrate judge lacked statutory or constitutional authority to accept the plea.
Briefs coming soon
2016
Final Round
United States v. Papaya Cellular
Fourth Amendment · Stored Communications Act · Digital Privacy
Questions Presented
1.
Whether the court of appeals erred in concluding that it would cause an “undue burden” on Papaya Cellular, within the meaning of 18 U.S.C. § 2703(d), to require it to write software to override its encryption technology and disaggregate a particular subscriber’s historical cell site information to assist in an ongoing terrorism investigation.
2.
Whether the court of appeals erred in concluding that disclosure of the historical cell site information would violate the Fourth Amendment.
Briefs coming soon
Additional briefs will be added as they become available.
Questions about the archive?
Email the Ames Committee at [email protected].