Morris Tyler Moot Court Finals December 10

The Morris Tyler Moot Court of Appeals at Yale will be called to order at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, December 10, in the Law School Auditorium. Four students will compete in the Harlan Fiske Stone Prize Finals of the competition. Doors open at 4 p.m. A reception in the Alumni Reading Room will follow the competition.

The Honorable Judge Michael McConnell of the 10th Circuit, the Honorable Judge Jerry Edwin Smith of the 5th Circuit, and the Honorable Judge Reena Raggi of the 2nd Circuit will hear Medellin v. Texas, which considers whether the President has the constitutional authority to direct state courts to abide by decisions of the International Court of Justice, and also, whether ICJ decisions in cases to which the United States is a party are binding as federal law.

“This should be a great final round. We have a distinguished panel of federal judges, four impressive student advocates, and a case that combines the contentious issues of capital punishment, the unitary executive, states’ rights, and international treaty obligations,” said Moot Court co-chairperson Bryan Caforio ’08.

Michael Krouse ’08 and Enrique Schaerer ’08 will argue for the petitioner. The respondent will be represented by Zac Hudson ’09 and Gabriel Rauterberg ’09.

The finalists’ briefs are available at www.yale.edu/mootcourt.

The Morris Tyler Moot Court competition takes place each semester at Yale Law School, culminating in the Harlan Fiske Stone Prize Finals in the fall and the Thurman Arnold Prize Finals in the spring. All second- and third-year law students are eligible to participate.