November 04, 2015
Media Advisory – National Health Law Moot Court
SIU Carbondale will host the National Health Law Moot Court Competition on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6-7, in the Hiram H. Lesar Law Building. Twenty-nine teams from 23 law schools will participate.
This year’s fictitious lawsuit before the U.S. Supreme Court centers on whether a state that mandates vaccinations for schoolchildren can eliminate a personal belief exemption while retaining an exemption based upon a religious belief. This is the 24th year for the event.
Reporters, photographers and camera crews are welcome to cover the moot court finals on Saturday. Organizers ask that reporters and cameras be unobtrusive and in place before the finals begin at 4 p.m. For more information before the event contact Professor Cheryl L. Anderson at 618/453-5634, Assistant Professor Jennifer A. Brobst at 618/453-8702, or Alicia Ruiz, the law school’s director of communication and outreach, at 618/453-8700.
“The School of Law is proud of the fact that we have, for 24 years, hosted one of the most highly regarded most court events in the country, and that we once again have a case involving challenging, cutting-edge health law-related issues for the students to argue,” Anderson said.
Law school students will also present arguments that examine whether a school district that showed unvaccinated schoolchildren a pro-vaccination documentary film violated the children’s parents rights to the care, custody and control of their children under the 14th Amendment.
Preliminary rounds begin at 11 a.m. Friday with 16 teams advancing to compete Saturday. Competition resumes at 9:30 a.m. with quarterfinals at 11:30 a.m., semifinals at 2 p.m., and the finals at 4 p.m. About 125 attorneys and five sitting judges will serve as judges over the two-day event.
The final round judges are: Raymond W. Gruender, federal judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit; Dr. Thomas R. McLean, president of the American College of Legal Medicine, and Steve Macias, assistant professor at the SIU School of Law.
Participating law schools are: American University Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C.; Barry University, Orlando, Fla.; Belmont University College of Law, Franklin Tenn.; Chicago-Kent College of Law; Faulkner University School of Law, Montgomery, Ala.; Georgia State University College of Law, Atlanta; Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minn.; Liberty University School of Law, Lynchburg, Va.; Loyola University Chicago School of Law; Marquette University Law School, Milwaukee, Wis.; Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, Mass.; Saint. Louis University School of Law; Seton Hall School of Law, Newark N.J.; South Texas College of Law, Houston; Suffolk University Law School, Boston; Texas Tech University School of Law, Lubbock, Texas; University of Houston Law Center; University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, Pa.; University of Tulsa College of Law; UC Hastings College of Law, San Francisco, Calif.; University of Washington School of Law, Seattle, Wash.; Western Michigan University Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Grand Rapids, Mich., and William and Mary Law School, Williamsburg, Va.
Additional information on the event is available on the competition website.
The law school’s Center for Health Law and Policy, the School of Medicine’s Department of Medical Humanities, the American College of Legal Medicine (ACLM), and the American College of Legal Medicine Foundation co-sponsor the event.