Students in the Courtroom

AP United States Government and Politics Students hold mock Trials

Photo by wp paarz / CC BY-SA 2.0

Seniors in Stephanie Amidon’s AP United States Government and Politics (AP Gov) class imitated the roles of lawyers and justices in a mock trial, petitioning, defending and ruling over landmark Supreme Court cases. The simulation, designed for students to explore the content and arguments of each landmark case, allowed students to practice public speaking and engage with legal scenarios.

Students in AP Gov were given a chance to vote on which stimulus activity they would like to participate in. Between a mock trial of landmark cases and a mock interest group to plan political actions, students chose the mock trial option. Leading up to the trial, students signed up for their roles, researched their assigned cases and planned their oral arguments.

On Monday, Oct. 28, the mock trial began. Throughout the week, students who took on the roles of the petitioner’s lawyers defended their client by stating their oral arguments. The students with the role of the respondents, or defendant’s lawyers, then responded with their arguments. Three students participated as the judges, where they were given opportunities to ask the petitioners and respondents questions. The judges then made their ruling on the case, sometimes disagreeing or all voting unanimously.

“The most challenging part of the mock trial was definitely seeing the cases free from bias,” senior Blair Brooks said. “As a judge I wanted to see each case blindly and have the petitioner and respondents arguments be only what I was aware of instead of the previous dissent, and this helped us overturn two of the cases.”

The content of these landmark cases revolved around the constitutionality of the First Amendment. From cases about freedom of speech to freedom of religion, various points and arguments were made by both sides, as students had to thoroughly research their cases.

“I think they really learn the details of the cases more, really getting into the nitty gritty and looking at what has influenced the cases and how these cases could potentially have influenced future cases,” AP Gov teacher Mrs. Amidon said, “I think they’ve also learned self-confidence in themselves by getting up and having to speak in front of their classmates, too.”

Moving forward to cover the units of AP Gov, seniors are participating in another round of mock trials. This time, they are interacting with more landmark Supreme Court cases that delve into the constitutionality of various amendments.

“I think it was a great learning experience as I was able to see different arguments being made that I would not have thought of had I just done research on my own,” senior Austin Koleman said.