POS 3675 HONORS MOOT COURT
Prof. Mark Tunick
Wilkes Honors College, Fall 2012

Description: This is a 1 credit graded course designed to help students develop public speaking and analytical skills. Students will prepare for participation in an undergraduate moot court competition. Class will involve discussion of court cases, brainstorming sessions to help develop arguments, sessions addressing public speaking and style, and practice sessions in which students present arguments, respond to questioning, and grill and provide feedback to other students. Students will be able to get pointers on speaking presentation from local attorneys who volunteer to serve as judges for some of the practice sessions.

Summary of the moot court case: Olympus State University, with 15,000 students, is presently 64% female and 36% male and projects that its gender imbalance will increase in the future. Believing that gender balance is essential to its continued success, and with the assumption that men and women bring different experiences to the classroom, it began a program of affirmative action whereby male applicants are admitted despite having lower grades and test scores than their female counterparts.
Samantha Sommerville, a female, applied for Fall 2011 and was rejected though her SAT score was 2100 and her GPA was 3.8 and though many male students were accepted with lower SAT and GPA scores. She files suit, claiming the state violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.
In a related matter, a female student at OSU, Sydney Kirsch, who opposes the new affirmative action policy, founded a student group 'Women for True Equality' (WTE) the purpose of which was to oppose the policy. The group decided to limit membership and leadership in the club to women. Doing so violates university policy against discriminating and so OSU refused to permit the group to be recognized. The Dean of students, noting that groups that discriminate face penalties including expulsion, notified Ms. Kirsch that by leading the group and promoting WTE on campus by distributing flyers etc., she could face disciplinary sanctions. Kirsch continued to hold WTE meetings off campus, and was expelled because she continued to lead a discriminatory group, in violation of the honor code. She sues, claiming that her expulsion violated her First Amendment right of freedom of association.
The complete case and list of precedents that students may draw on is online.

Requirements: Students will form teams of two. One member will read 10 First Amendment cases and prepare arguments on behalf of each side in the dispute on that issue, the other will read 10 Fourteenth Amendment cases, and prepare arguments on behalf of each side in the dispute on that issue. No other cases may be consulted. The cases are listed at the end of the official moot court case.
Students are strongly encouraged to read the cases over the summer or early in the Fall. I can be contacted over the summer or during the Fall semester by emailing tunick@fau.edu and am happy to answer questions you may have about any of the cases.
Students must read and brief cases; submit a written version of either the 1st or the 14th Amendment argument on behalf of either Petitioner (Sommerville and Kirsch) or Respondent (the University)--the brief must be typed, double-spaced according to ACMA requirements and cannot exceed 10 pages; and participate in practice sessions and/or one competition. We will send teams to the regional tournament in Orlando, FL, October 26-27.
Grade will be based on the written argument (20%) and participation in class discussion and practice sessions (80%).

Readings: cases are available at Blackboard or online

Honor Code: Students are expected to adhere to the honor code, http://www.fau.edu/divdept/honcol/academics_honor_code.htm

Online resources:
*American Collegiate Moot Court Association (ACMA) Website (with case, rules)
*Video of a law school moot court final round
*List of tournaments

SUMMARY OF KEY RULES AND GUIDELINES FOR DECORUM

Schedule: Students should prepare briefs (outlines) of cases according to the schedule below. Class will meet Thursdays 4-4:50 to discuss cases and for practice sessions.

8/23 Introductory Meeting.
Review of Case

8/30 1st Amendment Overview

9/6 14th Amendment Overview

9/13 Developing a brief

9/20 Making presentations

9/27 1st Amendment Brainstorming

10/4 14th Amendment Brainstorming

10/11 Practice Session

10/18 Practice Session

10/25 [Week of Orlando Tournament, October 26-27]

11/1 Revising Briefs

11/8 Practice Session

11/15 Practice Session

11/29 Concluding thoughts

Additional notes:
Policy on Accommodations: In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), students who require reasonable accommodations due to a disability to properly execute coursework must register with the Office for Students with Disabilities (OSD) -- SR 110 (561-799-8010) – and follow all OSD procedures.

Academic Integrity Policy:Students at Florida Atlantic University are expected to maintain the highest ethical standards. Academic dishonesty is considered a serious breach of these ethical standards, because it interferes with the university mission to provide a high quality education in which no student enjoys an unfair advantage over any other. Academic dishonesty is also destructive of the university community, which is grounded in a system of mutual trust and places high value on personal integrity and individual responsibility. Harsh penalties are associated with academic dishonesty. For more information, see University Regulation 4.001 and http://www.fau.edu/divdept/honcol/students/honorcode.html

Classroom Etiquette Policy: In order to enhance and maintain a productive atmosphere for education, personal communication devices, such as cellular telephones and pagers, are to be disabled in class sessions.