Wednesday, March 11, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
5
Sisters students engage in mock trial
By Sianna flowers
Correspondent
The judicial system is sup-
posed to make it possible for
the common man to defend
himself. Law sets out defi-
nite checks and balances that
define what it is to be a U.S.
citizen. However, law is some-
what of a jungle and can hurt
more than it helps if some-
one doesn’t understand it.
Thanks to the mock trial class
at Sisters High School, stu-
dents don’t have to fear such
ignorance.
Two teams from Sisters
High School competed in the
regional mock trial competi-
tion on Saturday, February
28, at the Deschutes County
Justice Building in Bend.
The designated “black” team
ended up winning the compe-
tition, defeating a team from
Summit High School in the
final round. The victory quali-
fies the team for the state com-
petition to be held this week-
end at the Mark O. Hatfield
Federal Court Building in
Portland.
In addition to the two
Sisters teams, the competition
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on February 28 was attended
by teams from Bend High,
Mountain View, Summit, and
Cascades Academy.
The SHS mock trail pro-
gram is taught by community
members Jerry Hanford and
Darryl Doke, and supervised
by teacher Paul Patton. Mock
trial is based around a hypo-
thetical case that is created and
distributed by the Classroom
Law Project every year. While
some schools work the case
year-round, SHS pours one tri-
mester into analyzing, under-
standing, and trying the case
before the regional competi-
tion at the trimester’s end. The
first few weeks of the class
are spent learning the many
aspects of law, specifically
trial law. For the rest of the tri-
mester students are split into
two teams, in which they have
roles for both the defense and
plaintiff/prosecution as attor-
neys and witnesses.
This year’s case featured an
issue of mistaken identity and
excessive force by a police
officer, an extremely pertinent
event in light of recent news.
Since students play all kinds
of roles on both sides, they are
C
photo provided
Sisters’ Mock trial team will compete this weekend in Portland.
given a comprehensive view
of what it is like to be involved
in a court case.
The class wouldn’t be pos-
sible without the devotion of
Hanford and Doke. Both are
retired lawyers (criminal and
civil respectively) but every
winter they give their time to
teach a group of teenagers that
are sometimes cheeky — yet
always grateful. They both
enjoy working with the stu-
dents to help them understand
the law and learn how to think
critically — not to mention
the payoff of the team going
to state almost every year.
Most students either have
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considered law or an occupa-
tion that is heavily intertwined
with the law, like police
work. However, as Doke and
Hanford both mentioned,
mock trial doesn’t actually set
you up for law school. The
class is supposed to teach stu-
dents about the U.S. judicial
system, which it does in an
entertaining and challenging
environment.
The class equips them with
the courage to speak in front
of a crowd, the critical think-
ing to win nearly any argu-
ment, and knowledge of their
rights as U.S. citizens.
Mock trial was started as a
club activity by Mary Thomas
several years ago and was
kept alive last year by high
school Principal Joe Hosang,
who supervised the class after
a staffing shortage left no
teacher available to do so.
For more information visit
www.classroomlaw.org.