Members of the Valparaiso University Law School International Moot Court Team competed in the Monroe E. Price Media Law Moot Court Competition in New York City on January 23 – 26. The competition is sponsored by the Programme for Comparative Media Law and Policy at Oxford University, England, and is named for American law professor Monroe E. Price, who created the competition in order to foster an interest in international law governing freedom of expression issues. Since the cases are generally related to current events the competition not only allows teams to practice moot court skills, but also contribute to the debate on highly controversial and important human rights issues, which arise in the ever changing world of global media and communications.
This is the second year the competition has held a regional round for the Americas in New York City at the Cardozo School of Law and featured teams from the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. This year’s case focused on privacy, surveillance, internet data security, and the protections afforded to those practicing within new media forms, such as blogs.
Tori Feddeler, James Hoch, Matthew Nowicki, and Michelle Laux, accompanied by student coach Colette Reinke argued on behalf of Valparaiso University Law School, and successfully advanced to the quarterfinals. The team competed against groups from Cardozo School of Law, Florida International School of Law, and the Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil.
In addition to the competition the team was able to attend a seminar on Edward Snowden, Surveillance, and the Pentagon Papers with Adam Liptak, the Supreme Court correspondent for the New York Times, and David Rudenstine, the Dean of Cardozo School of Law.
