After 10 teams argued Thursday and Friday in Territorial Court about the constitutionality of mandatory community service for high school graduation, students from Charlotte Amalie High School and All Saints Cathedral School were named winners of the fifth annual V.I. High School Appellate Moot Court Competition.
The premise was that the Territorial Court had ruled unconstitutional a Board of Education policy requiring students to complete 45 hours of community service every school term.
Half the teams appealed the ruling, while the other half argued it should stand.
The competition went beyond the expectations of the sponsors, according to the V.I. Independent.
"It just keeps getting better and better every year," said Frank Schulterbrandt, president-elect of the V.I. Bar Association. The Bar Association co-sponsored the event along with the Territorial Court.
The level of quality of the presentations made judging the competition challenging for the three judges, Ive Swan, Soraya Diase and Alphonso Andrews, according to the media.
CAHS students were the appellee attorneys while the All Saints team represented the appellants, who for the purpose of the moot court were a student and her parents who challenged the mandate.
Radio One broadcast the entire proceedings.
