Scales of Justice

Four Columbia Law School students got a taste of the nation's highest court when they argued a case before Justice Samuel Alito in the final round of the annual Harlan Fiske Stone Moot Court competition yesterday.

Also presiding were Susan Graber, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth District, Brett Kavanaugh, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

In the case being presented, Duarte v. Los Alamos County Library, the respondent sued her employer, the library, for discriminating against her on the basis of both race and disability, citing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Each advocate was given a set amount of time to present his arguments and rebuttals, and each was grilled by the judges­, who did not hesitate to interject to raise questions about the foundations of their arguments, allowing for a tense back-and-forth.

"It was definitely a very interested crowd," Lola Ogunmefun, Law '09, said of the atmosphere. "I felt the judges on the bench seemed engaged as well." When the justices left the room to deliberate after nearly an hour and a half of debate, a collective, cathartic sigh came out.

Before announcing the honors recipients, Alito praised the participants. "The quality of the arguments was outstanding," he said. "I have never participated in a college-run moot court that was as well-prepared as the one today."

Andrew Brantingham, Law '09, said that the moot court "went really well. The advocates were all impressive. The bench was engaged and prepared. It was a good learning experience."

The Harlan Fiske Stone Moot Court is a three-round competition. Sixteen competitors were selected on the basis of their arguments during the first round last fall. A later, second round narrowed down the competitors to the four who competed yesterday.

Eric Chesin, who argued on behalf of the respondent, was later awarded "Best Oralist" by the judges. "It was an unbelievable honor to argue before such an intimidating bench," he said.