Michael Murray ’09 and Lindsay Eyler ’09 Win Top Prize in Moot Court Finals

The finals of the Morris Tyler Moot Court of Appeals at Yale Law School were held Thursday afternoon, December 11, in the Law School auditorium. The Potter Stewart Prize for best overall written and oral argument went to Michael Murray ’09 and Lindsay Eyler ’09, who successfully argued for the respondent, Summum, in the case, Pleasant Grove City v. Summum.

Joseph Minta ’09, who argued for the petitioner, Pleasant Grove City, received the Harlan Fiske Stone Prize for best oralist, and the judges specifically praised the argument of Sabria McElroy ’10, who also argued for the petitioner.   

Pleasant Grove City v. Summum, a real case argued before the U.S. Supreme Court this term, considered whether Pleasant Grove City, which displays monuments donated by civic groups in a municipal park, must also, in keeping with the First Amendment, erect and display a monument proposed by the group Summum.

Chief Judge Sandra L. Lynch of the 1st Circuit, Judge Thomas B. Griffith of the D.C. Circuit, and Judge Peter Hall of the 2nd Circuit “comprised a most thoughtful bench,” said Yale Law School Dean Harold Hongju Koh.

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.