On April 5, a group of students will press send and await judgment. However, the members of this group are not all seniors, and that send button is not on the Common (or Coalition) App. These students partake in SHS’s Moot Court club.

Moot Court is the stimulation of an appellate court hearing, so no witnesses and three to seven attorneys total per team who will be divided between respondent and petitioner.

The activity is similar to another at the school, Mock Trial, which has many of the same participants. However, Mock Trial deals with the original case with witnesses and attorneys, for Moot Court the appeal is heard.

Students will submit their written brief, choosing to write it on behalf of the respondent and petitioner, then prepare for oral arguments for the competition on April 26 in Columbus. Teams must present oral arguments for both sides of the case and for both issues of the case, which are speeches in which the judge asks attorneys questions throughout.

“Moot is so fun because we’re such a small and tight-knit team. The competition is hard, but it’s so satisfying when you’ve prepared an answer to the question the judge has asked, or when one of your teammates delivers a flaming rebuttal. Most of all I’m glad for the opportunity to finish out my senior year with my closest friends by my side,” said Carolyn Zhang, 12, Moot Court member.

The case this year centers on the second amendment, specifically on having a firearm in a motorhome, raising a statutory question on whether a motor home is a home or a motor vehicle (a more stringent statute applies for motor vehicles) as well as the question if second amendment rights were violated.

For more on moot court, click here.