| |
Instructions
for Moot Court
|
| |
- Select
a case that raises a constitutional issue. Adapt the case
information to suit your class.
When selecting a case you may wish to consider the following
factors:
- Is
the content of the case relevant to your course, to
a specific school outcome (e.g., civic literacy or
citizenship), or worth knowing?
- Is
it interesting to students?
- Is
it a topic of current interest in your community?
- Are
community resource people available to assist with
the lesson?
- Is
there an underlying value conflict that is important
for students to examine?
- Read,
review, and clarify the facts of the case. Have pairs
of students ask each other the following
questions:
- What
happened in this case?
- Who
are the people/organizations/companies involved?
- How
did the lower court rule on this case?
- Who
is the petitioner, the respondent?
- Review
these terms with the students:
- Petitioner/Appellant:
The person/organization/company who appeals the lower
court decision to a higher court.
- Respondent/Appellee:
The person/organization/company who argues that the
lower court decisions were correct.
- Ask
the class to identify the issue(s) involved in the case.
An issue should be posed in the form of a question. Ask
the students to phrase the issue as a question by thinking
about these questions:Example: Did the Virginia Military
Institute (the actor) violate the Fourteenth Amendment's
right to equal protection (part of the Bill of Rights)
of women (affected by the action) by not allowing them
to attend VMI (cause of the controversy)?
- Who
was the actor(s)?
- What
is the specific part of the Constitution involved?
- Who
was affected by the action(s)?
- What
caused the controversy?
- Select an odd number of students (7 or 9) to be the
justices of the court.
- Divide
the remaining students into two teams. One team will represent
the person or group appealing the lower court decision
(the petitioner or appellant). The other team will represent
the party that won in the lower court (the respondent
or appellee).
- To
increase student participation, several students can be
selected to play the role of journalists.
- Each
team of litigants should meet to prepare arguments for
its side of the case. The team should select one or two
students to present the arguments to the court.When discussing
the arguments, students should consider:
- What
does each side (party) want?
- What
are the arguments in favor of and against each side?
- Which
arguments are the most persuasive? Why?
- What
are the legal precedents and how do they influence
this case? (A precedent is a previously decided case
recognized as the authority for future cases on that
issue. Using precedents allows for the development
of more sophisticated arguments.)
- What
might be the consequences of each possible decision?
To each side? To society?
- Are
there any alternatives besides what each side is demanding?
- The
justices should meet to discuss the issue involved and
any case precedents. They should prepare at least 5 questions
for each side that they need answered in order to reach
a decision. The justices should select one student to
serve as chief justice. The chief justice will preside
over the hearing. He or she will call for each side to
present its case as well as recognize other justices to
ask questions.
- Participants
should consider all of the facts that have been established
at the trial. Teams may not argue the accuracy of the
facts.
- Arguments
do not need to be rooted in legal technicalities. Any
argument that is persuasive from a philosophical, theoretical,
conceptual or practical standpoint can be made. Teams
should rely on principles found or implied in the United
States Constitution.
- Seat
the justices at the front of the room. The attorneys for
each side should sit on opposite sides of the room facing
the justices. The other team members should sit behind
their respective attorneys.
- The
chief justice should ask each side to present its arguments
in the following order. The justices may ask questions
at any time.
- Each
side should have three to five minutes for its initial
argument and two minutes for rebuttal. (This time may
need to be lengthened if the justices ask a lot of questions.
The teacher should decide on a time limit based on the
students' verbal skills.)
- During
and/or after each presentation, the justices can and should
question the attorney in an effort to clarify the arguments.
Attorneys may ask for time to consult with other members
of their team before answering questions. (This time is
included in the total time allowed for the presentation.)
- After
all arguments have been presented, the justices should
organize into a circle to deliberate on a decision. The
rest of the class can sit around the outside of the circle
and listen, but they cannot talk or interrupt the deliberations
of the court.
-
In the circle, the justices should discuss all of the
arguments and vote on a decision. Each justice should
give reasons for his or her decision.
- The
chief justice should then tally the votes and announce
the decision of the court and the most compelling arguments
for that decision.. A decision is reached by a majority
of votes. A dissenting opinion may be given.
- Conclude
with a class discussion of the decision and the proceedings.
If you are using an actual case, share the court's decision
with the students after the student court has reached
a decision. In the event the student's decision and the
Court's are different, it is helpful for the students
to understand the reasoning in the dissenting opinions
as well as the majority. The students are not wrong, but
the majority of the real Court was influenced by different
compelling arguments. Ask the students to evaluate the
reasoning the Court used in the majority and dissenting
opinions and compare these to their reasoning. (They think
just like some of the justices...). Continue to debrief
the activity by discussing what the decision means for
the both sides and for society.
|
|
|
 |
Moot
Court Activity
