The Wabash College Moot Court Competition, in its ninth year, is a chance for college students to engage in legal argumentation before panels of attorneys and alumni. Each year the students are given a legal case that has been adapted from a real legal controversy. In pairs, the students prepare to argue both sides of the case in the preliminary rounds of the competition. The quality of student presentations is consistently praised by alumni-attorneys and in subsequent years the Moot Court participants often achieve much success in Moot Court competitions at law school.
This year's Moot Court problem deals with the constitutionality of a state law prohibiting cross burning done with the intent to intimidate a person or group of persons. More specifically, B.E. Manowar has been convicted of violating the cross burning prohibition during a Ku Klux Klan meeting. The Court must decide whether the statute is permissible or if it is an unconstitutional infringement upon freedom of expression.
The competition will begin with opening rounds on Saturday morning, October 26 at 8 a.m. in Baxter and Center Halls, with the final round scheduled for Tuesday evening, October 29. The day will consist of dinner at 6 p.m. with final rounds starting at 7:30 p.m. in Salter Hall in the Fine Arts Center.
In this year's competition there will be approximately 28 competitors, 17 alumni judges, and four faculty judges. After the preliminary competition on Saturday, top competitors are selected for the semi-finals on Monday evening. From there four students are selected for the final round, to be held on Tuesday evening. The final competitors will be judged by a distinguished finals round panel of David F. Hamilton, United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana; Nancy H. Vaidik, Indiana Court of Appeals; James R. Williams, Union Circuit Court and 1988 graduate of Wabash College; and David A. Phillips, professor of chemistry at Wabash College.
The public is invited to sit in on the Moot Court rounds.