National First Amendment Moot Court Competition to be held in March

The Seigenthaler-Sutherland Cup National First Amendment Moot Court Competition will debut in March 2016, the Newseum Institute and the Columbus School of Law at The Catholic University of America have announced.

The annual competition will be sponsored by the Newseum Institute's First Amendment Center and the Columbus School of Law. The innovative combined program will feature a competition problem linked to a cutting-edge contemporary First Amendment issue. Open to the 206 law schools currently approved by the American Bar Association, the first moot court competition will take place March 18 and 19, 2016, with first-day rounds at the Columbus School of Law and second-day final rounds at the Newseum.

"Our law school is thrilled to be joining forces with the Newseum Institute to host this National First Amendment Moot Court Competition," said Daniel F. Attridge, dean of the Columbus School of Law. "For 66 years, our Sutherland Cup has been one of the leading competitions focusing on constitutional law issues, and we are privileged to welcome the Institute, with its strong First Amendment expertise, as our co-sponsor."

The Columbus School of Law has hosted the Sutherland Cup competition since its inception in 1950, with the purpose of exposing students interested in constitutional law to appellate advocacy. The Sutherland Cup is the oldest continuous private moot court competition in the nation.  The Newseum Institute's First Amendment Center for 25 years had sponsored a national First Amendment moot court competition with the Vanderbilt University Law School.  The final event in that series was held in February.

"We hope that this competition will continue long-standing efforts by both institutions to expose generations of law students to issues involving our core freedoms, and in the process foster an even greater appreciation for those freedoms within the legal profession and the judiciary," said Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute.

In its inaugural year, the national competition will be limited to 16 teams, and will include scoring both for written briefs and oral arguments. 

The competition is named for John Seigenthaler, the founder of the Newseum Institute's First Amendment Center, and for Supreme Court Justice George B. Sutherland, an ardent defender of the U.S. Constitution who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1922 to 1938.