DeFunis v. Odegaard, 416 U.S. 312 (1974) was a United States Supreme Court case which determined that a case was moot, and therefore could no go forward where a student who had been denied admission to law school, and had then been provisionally admitted during the pendancy of the case, was slated to graduate within a few months at the time the decision was rendered. Court citation is a standard system used in common law countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada to uniquely identify the location of past court cases in special series of books called reporters. ... 1974 is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C. The Supreme Court Building, Washington, D.C., (large image) The Supreme Court of the United States, located in Washington, D.C., is the highest court (see supreme court) in the United States; that is, it has ultimate judicial authority within the United States... In law, a matter is moot if further legal proceedings with regard to it can have no effect, or events have placed it beyond the reach of the law. ... In the United States, the institution where future lawyers obtain a legal degree is called a law school. ...

The Court rejected the assertion that the case fell into either of two exceptions to the mootness doctrine that were raised by the plaintiff. The case did not constitute "voluntary cessation" on the part of the defendant law school, because the plaintiff was now in his final semester, and the law school could take no action to deny him the ability to graduate. Nor was this a question that was "capable of repetition, yet evading review" because the plaintiff would never again face this situation, and others who might raise the same complaint in the future might be able to receive full review in the courts. The plaintiff, claimant, or complainant is the party initiating a lawsuit, (also known as an action). ... In Common law, a defendant is any person who is required to answer the complaint of a plaintiff in a civil suit or any person who has been named in a criminal information or criminal complaint and stands accused of violating a criminal statute. ...