The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia will hear arguments in three cases and judge the annual George C. Baker Cup Moot Court Competition on Tuesday, March 6, at the West Virginia University College of Law.

The justices will hear arguments beginning at 10:30 a.m. in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom. They will judge the competition beginning at 1:30 p.m. at the same location. Both events are open to the public.

Finalists for the 2012 George C. Baker Cup competition are second year law students Caitlin Bailey and Adam LoCascio, They will argue in front of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, which includes WVU College of Law graduates Chief Justice Robin J. Davis, Justice Margaret Workman, Justice Menis E. Ketchum II, and Justice Thomas E. McHugh. Justice Brent D. Benjamin has undergraduate and law degrees from Ohio State University.

This year’s topic examines the constitutional rights of an individual who is arrested, focusing on the Fourth Amendment, which assures freedom from unreasonable seizures, and the 14th Amendment, which guarantees the right to due legal process. Set in a fictional circuit, the case revolves around an arrested man who claims police used excessive force and caused him injury after his arrest. The justices will rule on the appellate advocacy skills of the two students. Since 1982, the competition has been open to all second-year students, who must write an appellate brief and present oral arguments on both sides of the issue.

In 1926, George Coleman Baker, a graduate of the class of 1886, presented a silver-plated loving cup to the College of Law. The purpose was to promote excellence in appellate advocacy. The cup was awarded each year to the club court winning the interclub competition. The club court teams eventually disbanded.
In 1968, then dean Paul Selby discovered the silver cup in the basement of the old law school and reinstated the competition. In 1980, the Baker Cup Endowment was created to provide cash prizes and commemorative plaques for winners.

A webcast of the arguments before the court and the Baker Cup Competition can be viewed at http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/Webcast.htm.

This will be the Court’s twenty-second visit to the College of Law.

-WVU-

03/02/12
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CONTACT: Kristin Brumley. WVU College of Law
304-293-7220; kristin.brumley@mail.wvu.edu