The competition is a student-run program that focuses on written and oral appellate advocacy, according to the Maurer School of Law website. Second-year law students almost exclusively participate in the event, but third-year students may also compete.
The competition began Oct. 15. The final round of arguments will begin at 5 p.m. in the law school’s Moot Court Room, and following the program there will be a reception that is open to the public, according to an IU news release.
The case for this year is Pataki v. Lark Valley School District Board of Education. The case raises questions about the correct constitutional balance between public employees’ First Amendment rights to voice opinions on contentious issues and the interests of elected officials in executing their policies without barriers.
The second-year Maurer students that will argue the case are Ian Bensberg, Morgan Davenport, Riley Floyd and Samuel Hofmeier. They advanced to the finals from a group of 151 competitors.
“This competition has been one of the strongest in recent memory, with more than three-quarters of our second-year class participating,” professor Seth Lahn, the Moot Court faculty advisor, said in the release.
The case involved Marcia Pataki, an employee of the Lake Valley school system, who was fired after writing an editorial in the local newspaper about vaccinating children against contagious diseases. The op-ed was published during a school board election cycle that was particularly combative, and Pataki cited a board candidate who had used religious exemption to get out of vaccinating her children.
Pataki was fired by the school board and subsequently sued the board for violating her right to free speech. Three potential jurors on the trial were taken out of the running based only on their religion, according to the University.
The judges for the finalists are U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Indiana Deborah Lynch, former Monroe County Circuit Judge Viola Taliaferro, Monroe Circuit Judge and Presiding Judge of the Monroe County Drug Treatment Court Mary Ellen Diekhoff and law school Dean Austen Parrish.
“The opportunity to argue a hypothetical case before distinguished advocates and real judges, who hear these types of issues on a daily basis, is an invaluable opportunity for students,” Lahn said in the release. “We couldn’t be more proud of the work our students have put in or more appreciative of the time and resources our alumni and volunteers have dedicated to make this event possible.”
Kathrine Schulze
