WCBC

April 20th, 2017 by WCBC Radio

Maryland’s top two high school mock trial teams will face off in the historic courtroom of the Maryland Court of Appeals when the state’s highest court hosts the 2017 Mock Trial State Championship on Friday, April 28.  Students will present their cases before Court of Appeals Judge Michele D. Hotten, who will preside over the event.  News media are invited to attend.  Arguments will be shown via live webcast beginning at 10 a.m. on the Judiciary’s website.

Friday’s championship will include the winners of the semifinals, which will be held on Thursday, April 27, at the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, with Court of Special Appeals Judge Timothy E. Meredith and Court of Special Appeals Judge Douglas R.M. Nazarian presiding.  The semifinalists are: Baltimore City College High School (Baltimore City); Bishop Walsh High School (Allegany County); The Park School (Baltimore County); and Winston Churchill High School (Montgomery County).

The success of the mock trial competition depends heavily on the several hundred judges, magistrates, and attorneys who volunteer to coach the teams and score the competitions at the local, regional, semifinal, and final levels, providing high school students throughout Maryland the opportunity to learn about the law and the legal system while developing advocacy skills.  Since the competition began in 1983, more than 54,000 students from nearly all of the counties in Maryland and Baltimore City have participated.

The mock trial competition is sponsored by the Citizenship Law-Related Education Program (CLREP) in cooperation with the Maryland State Bar Association and the Maryland Judiciary.  Every year, high school mock trial teams participate at least four times each in local competitions.  By the time a team has reached the state championship, it will have competed, on average, more than eight times.  Virtually all competitions are held in either District Court or Circuit Court courtrooms throughout the state.