Appellate Advocacy at the Law School

Congratulations to the students in Appellate Writing and Advocacy, who are turning in their final briefs today.  This moment is a good one to reprint an article that Emily Lonergan, the Chief Justice of the Moot Court Board, wrote for the most recent De Novo newsletter.  De Novo is the publication of the State Bar of Wisconsin’s Appellate Practice Section.  The Appellate Practice Section is active, and De Novo is a good source for news, information, and tips about appellate practice.  This article is reprinted with permission.

Marquette Helps Students Master the Art of Legal Writing, by Emily Lonergan, 3L

Marquette University Law School presents students with the opportunity to master the art of appellate advocacy in both the classroom and the courtroom.

The typical law student hoping to participate in Moot Court starts with an Appellate Writing and Advocacy course, offered to second- and third-year students during the fall semester. While the course is open to everyone, regardless of their interest in the Moot Court program, it is a prerequisite for anyone who hopes to compete in a national competition. The goal of the course is first and foremost to teach appellate advocacy. It teaches students in a traditional lecture format everything from preserving the record to when to file notice of appeal.

But the course also has a hands-on approach as well.

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The Post-Election Education Landscape: Vouchers Up, WEAC Down

Two quick education-related comments on Tuesday’s election outcomes in Wisconsin:

First, this was a banner outcome in the eyes of voucher and charter school leaders. Governor-elect Scott Walker is a long-time ally of those promoting the 20,000-plus-student private school voucher program in the city of Milwaukee, and he is a booster of charter schools both in Milwaukee and statewide. But just as important as Walker’s win was the thumpingly strong victories for Republicans in both the Assembly and State Senate, which will now come under sizable Republican majorities.  

What will result?

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What’s the Difference Between Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Postal 2?

The question about the difference between Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Postal 2 sounds like the set-up to a corny joke.  In fact, it was a subject discussed yesterday at the U.S. Supreme Court, where the justices heard oral argument on a first Amendment challenge to a California statute banning the sale of violent video games to minors.  The New York Times reports on a spirited question and answer exchange between the justices and attorneys for each side in the dispute. 

According to the report, the law imposes a $1,000 fine for selling violent video games to anyone under the age of 18.  Violent video games are defined as those “in which the range of options available to a player includes killing, maiming, dismembering or sexually assaulting an image of a human being” in a “patently offensive way,” or a way that appeals to “deviant or morbid interests” while lacking “serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.” 

Justice Scalia’s comments and questions made it seem like he is leaning against the law, since he pointedly questioned both the definition of a “deviant violent video game,” and queried whether, since Grimm’s Fairy Tales are indeed grim, whether they, too should be banned. 

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