COLUMBUS (May 4, 2023) - The Ohio Center for Law-Related Education (OCLRE) will host its annual high school Moot Court State Competition at the Thomas J. Moyer Judicial Center in Columbus, OH on Friday, May 5. Students will take on the role of appellate attorneys and argue both sides of an original case.
Students representing the following schools from across the state will participate: Belpre High School (Washington County), Danville High School (Knox County), Mason High School (Warren County), Padua Franciscan High School (Cuyahoga County), Springfield High School (Clark County), Upper Arlington High School (Franklin County) and Zanesville High School (Muskingum County).
Each year, OCLRE volunteers create a fictitious case based on issues of constitutional law. This year, students meet Austin Jones who was formerly the high school class president at Honey Badger High School and is now a college student. Jones was asked to plan his five-year class reunion. Notorious for his pranks during his high school career, Jones took the party planning in full stride. His last task in planning was the ultimate party prank: stuffing a pinata full of marijuana-laced chocolate. On his way to the event, Jones was arrested during a routine traffic stop after the smell of marijuana coming from the car prompted a search by the police officer. Jones argued that the search was unreasonable and conducted without probable cause. Students will consider whether the search was constitutional based on Jones’s Fourth Amendment rights and whether the amount of marijuana Jones possessed resulted in the appropriate offense.
Moot Court teams compete in legal brief-writing and oral argument rounds to persuade a simulated Supreme Court on how the case should be decided. The championship round of the competition will be broadcast on The Ohio Channel.
Justice Patrick Fischer of the Supreme Court of Ohio will preside over the championship round of competition. Fellow panelists include Tiffany Carwile, Esq., Arnold & Clifford; Steven Dauterman, Esq., OCLRE Board President and vice president of Fifth Third Bank; Jeanna Jacobus, Esq., Assistant Section Chief, Office of the Ohio Attorney General and OCLRE Board Member; and Ben Tracy, Esq., Judicial Attorney to Justice Jennifer Brunner, Supreme Court of Ohio.
The Ohio Center for Law-Related Education (OCLRE) is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization whose mission is to improve society by developing citizens empowered with an understanding of our democratic system. OCLRE is sponsored by the Supreme Court of Ohio, Ohio Attorney General’s Office, Ohio State Bar Association and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Foundation. The Moot Court program is funded in part by a grant from the Ohio State Bar Foundation. For more information, visit www.oclre.org.
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