December 5, 2013
A team from the St. John’s Law Moot Court Honor Society took second place at the Emory Civil Rights and Liberties Moot Court Competition. The team included David Hommel ’14, Andrew Lee '14, and coaches Elizabeth Shumejda '14 and Donna Aldea ’98. David and Andrew captured the third-best and fifth-best oralist awards, respectively. The team also earned the third-best brief award.
This year's Emory Competition brought together 22 teams from law schools around the country to consider the following issues:
- Whether a police officer properly invoked the public safety exception to Miranda
- Whether the conditions of a paranoid schizophrenic’s confinement violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.
St. John's argued through seven appellate-style rounds before panels composed of practicing attorneys, law professors, and judges. For the competition’s final round, the student advocates argued in front of three distinguished judges:
- Hon. Morris Arnold, United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- Hon. Jane Roth, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- Hon. Dorothy Beasley, Georgia Court of Appeals
“It was extremely rewarding to see all of our hard work pay off,” said David Hommel, the Moot Court Honor Society’s Executive Director. David also acknowledged the help his team received from St. John’s Law alumni. “The Moot Court alumni, including Cristin Connell ’02, Bradley Small ’12, and Jon Strongin ’00, came out in force to help us prepare for the Emory competition. Our achievements there resulted in large from their volunteer efforts.”
Andrew Lee, the Moot Court Honor Society’s Managing Director, looks forward to building on this positive momentum next semester. “We’re making steady gains,” he shared. “Our performance in competition improves each year, and we are aiming to solidify our place as one of the top law student appellate advocacy organizations in the country.”
The Moot Court Honor Society will send its members to nine competitions in spring 2014. David will compete at Vanderbilt’s National First Amendment Moot Court Competition, and Andrew will captain two teams at the William B. Spong Invitational Moot Court Tournament.