Marbury v. Madison the Sequel (sort of) in Stone Moot Court Final

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Marbury v. Madison the Sequel (sort of) in Stone Moot Court Final

 

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New York, April 5, 2010--They are two of the most storied litigants in American constitutional law. Now Marbury and Madison are back for another round in the Harlan Fiske Stone Moot Court Competition at Columbia Law School.
 
Sort of.
 
This is actually not a do-over of the landmark 1803 case of Marbury v. Madison that established the concept of judicial review, which allows courts nullify the actions of another branch of government. But the stakes are still high in the Stone Moot Court, one of the nation’s top appellate advocacy competitions at a law school.
 
The Moot Court version, to be argued during the final round on April 12, concerns the fictional case of Madison v. Marbury Public School District.
 
At issue is whether high school student James Madison–conveniently the name of the secretary of state and future president in the original case--had his right to free expression violated and was a victim of sex discrimination when he was suspended for wearing a pink dress to class in support of anti-Proposition 8 rallies. Proposition 8 is the ballot measure passed in California that banned gay marriage in that state. A lower court ruled in favor of the school district, and, in this case, Marbury has appealed to a federal court of appeals.
 
Representing Madison will be Geoffrey Cajigas ’11 and Mina Nasseri ’10, while Evie Spanos ’11 and Philip Gary ’10 represent Marbury. The four survived two elimination rounds to reach the final.
 
The students will present arguments in front of an eminent panel of judges. They include Lord Collins (Lawrence Collins) of Mapesbury ’65, LL.M., The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom; Judge Sandra Lynch, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; and Judge Robert Sack, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
 
The award is named after Stone (Class of 1898), a Law School dean who would go on to become Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, a post he held when he died in 1946.
 
The Moot Court final will take place April 12 in Room 104-106, Jerome Greene Hall; from 4:20-6:20 p.m. More information can be found here. 
 
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