2Ls Schlafer, DeHem Win Moot Court Competition
Brian R. DeHem, left, and John T. Schlafer, right, both 2Ls, topped fellow competitors Christina L.
Clark and Francis Granados, to win in the final argument of the 2007–2008 Sherman Minton Moot Court competition.
The spring competition problem, Banta v. Mancini, involves the right of a state prisoner to obtain post-conviction DNA testing through a Section 1983 lawsuit — a question on which the circuits are currently split. It touches on a number of current issues, including the willingness of the law to reexamine closed cases in the face of rapid scientific advances, the interplay of civil rights and habeas statutes, the proper role of federal courts in examining state convictions, and the moral and practical implications for the legal system of the Innocence Project's celebrated success in exonerating prisoners.
"It is always gratifying to see the students perform at a peak level," said Dean Lauren Robel. "All the finalists were strong in the face of an extremely hot bench."
This year's judges include Hon. Paul Niemeyer of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; Hon. Diane P. Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit; Hon. Ronald Reinstein, JD'73, a consultant to the Arizona Supreme Court and member of the National Commission on the Future of DNA Evidence, and formerly of the Maricopa County (Arizona) Superior Court; and Prof. Matt Gutwein, JD'88, president and CEO of the Marion County Health and Hospital Corporation.
The Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition is a student-run program in written and appellate oral advocacy. The majority of the second-year class participates in this annual competition, which is also open to third-year students who have not previously competed. Students gain valuable skills, and a fuller appreciation of the nature of argument, legal representation, and jurisprudence, by researching and writing an appellate brief and engaging in at least three rounds of oral arguments.
Sherman Minton, LLB'15 served as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court Justice from 1949 to 1956. Though his service on the highest court was shortened owing to ill health, his tenure on the Court saw some of our nation's most important post-war cases, including Brown v. Board of Education and Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer.
The Sherman Minton Moot Court Competition is sponsored by Bose McKinney & Evans.
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