Legal Ethics
Mock Trial Competition Produces Real-Life Claim of Religious Bias
Posted May 6, 2009, 10:24 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The parents of high school students who won a mock trial competition in Massachusetts are claiming the organizers are discriminating against the Jewish faith by holding the national finals on a Saturday.
Lawyer Nathan Lewin has filed a discrimination claim on behalf of the parents with the U.S. Justice Department, the New York Times reports. The parents, who acted after tournament organizers refused their request to change the date, have also expressed their concerns to the State Bar of Georgia, which is hosting the competition, and the Georgia Attorney General’s office.
The student winners attend the Maimonides School, an Orthodox Jewish school in Brookline, Mass. Leah Sarna, one of the team captains, was ready for the battle. “The idea of a mock trial being in the middle of a real legal battle is pretty cool,” she told the Times.
John Wheeler, board chairman of the National High School Mock Trial Championship, told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his group would not give an early slot to the Jewish school because it would create an unfair advantage.
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