Almost 50 teams representing colleges from Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey and Virginia will come to Fitchburg State College this week for the regional finals of the American Collegiate Moot Court National Tournament.
The regional tournament will be held Friday, Nov. 20, and Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Hammond Campus Center on the Fitchburg State campus.
The competition will consist of students giving 20-minute arguments on a legal issue that will be evaluated by a panel including lawyers, professors and judges. Among the members of the local bar serving are former state Sen. Robert A. Antonioni, Registrar of Deeds Kathleen Reynolds Daigneault, Fitchburg State College Trustee Carol T. Vittorioso and District Court Judges Elliott Zide, Mark E. Noonan, Patrick A. Fox, John J. Curran Jr. and Luis G. Perez.
Competitors will present arguments on a hypothetical criminal case, specifically taking sides on whether using a visual enhancement device without a warrant and a sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of parole violated the U.S. Constitution.
Winners of the regional competition will advance to the National Tournament being held Jan. 15 and 16, 2010, at Florida International University College of Law in Miami, Fla.
Fitchburg State College’s Moot Court team has made a strong showing at the regional event held at the college, advancing for national moot court competition nine times. The college has consistently advanced to the second day of national competition since 2000 and remains the only school in the nation to make the break in every national tournament. |
