March 6, 2009
High School Mock Trial Championship Concludes Saturday
Three days of arguing legal concepts by high school students from across Ohio will conclude on Saturday, March 7, during the 26th Annual High School Mock Trial State Championship. The event begins at 9 a.m. in the Senate Finance room of the Ohio Statehouse.
Established in 1983 by the Ohio Center for Law-Related Education (OCLRE) as a statewide educational program, the Ohio Mock Trial Program is designed to help students become aware of their constitutional rights and responsibilities. Sponsors of the competition include the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, the Ohio State Bar Association and the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio Foundation.
Mock trial teams argue a legally authentic case written by volunteer attorneys that involves a constitutional issue relevant to students’ own personal experiences. For the first time, this year’s case centers on immigration policy. The case concerns a talented high school soccer player who has his/her dream of a Division I scholarship threatened by a new school district resolution that requires students to show proof of U.S. citizenship or legal status in the United States before being allowed to participate in extracurricular activities.
The student is unable to comply with the new resolution, having neither documentation nor personal knowledge of his/her status as a citizen or legal immigrant. The case requires the student attorneys to address the 14th Amendment issue of whether the school district’s resolution is rationally related to a legitimate government interest.
Addie Natalie, program coordinator for OCLRE, said each year OCLRE trains teachers to help them use the constitutional case materials in their classrooms and on the methods of preparing students to present mock trials. Teachers then have the option of entering a team of five to 11 students in the annual statewide academic competition. She said this year’s competition began at the district level on Jan. 30 with 3,500 students from 355 teams. Thirty-four teams advanced to the state finals, following 30 district and nine regional competitions.
Members of this year’s judging panel include: Judge Mike Fain, 2nd District Court of Appeals; Judge Jerry McBride, Clermont County Common Pleas Court; Jeff Ginsburg, Homes County attorney; Gary Daniels, ACLU of Ohio litigation coordinator; Gary Leppla, Esq., OSBA president; and Susan Ashbrook, deputy chief counsel at the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.
The championship round will be broadcast live from 9 a.m. to noon on the Ohio Channel and on the Web. Viewers should access this link 
to find the Ohio Channel in their part of the state or, go to www.ohiochannel.org to access the link for the live stream that will be accessible from the front page of the Ohio Channel Website. The Ohio Channel will rebroadcast the championship round at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, March 18. Information about OCLRE’s programs and activities may be found at www.oclre.org .
OCLRE Contact: Addie Natalie at 614.296.6072.
Supreme Court Contacts: Chris Davey or Bret Crow at 614.387.9250.
EDITOR’S NOTE: A list of the 32 participating high schools in the state finals follows:
Andrews Osborne Academy
Archbishop Hoban High
Ashland High
Athens Home School
Beaumont School
Beaver Local High
Danvile Junior-Senior High
David Anderson Junior/Senior High
Dayton Early College Academy
Eastern Brown High
Georgetown High
Granville High
Hudson High
Indian Hill High (two teams)
Lake Catholic High
Lake Ridge Academy High
Lehman Catholic
Marysville High
Mother of Mercy High
New Richmond High
Oak Hills High
Perry High
Riverside High
Shaw High
Solon High
St. Peter High
St. Xavier (two teams)
Sylvania Southview High
Thomas Worthington High
Upper Arlington High
West Liberty-Salem High
Westerville North High