March 26, 2018


More than 150 competitors, coaches, jurists and lawyers took part in the 2018 Seigenthaler-Sutherland National Moot Court Competition at The Catholic Univerity of America Columbus School of Law (CUA Law) and the Newseum on March 23rd and 24th. The twenty-four teams participating in the competition argued a First Amendment problem based on an idea posed by Moot Court Chancellor Ashley Greaf and written by CUA Law students David Brzoszwski and Callan Smith with the guidance of Professor Sarah Duggin. The problem focused on the constitutionality of public officials' exclusion of constituents and deletion of adverse comments from social media accounts discussing public policy issues. The particular hypothetical involved a state governor who announced a new immigration law enforcement policy on a purportedly private social media account, invited constituent input, and then deleted an adverse comment and banned the commenter from making further posts on her page. The pivotal issues involved whether the governor was engaged in state action and whether her actions violated her constituent's First Amendment rights.

Competitors argued the first two rounds at the Columbus School of Law on Friday afternoon before panels comprised of distinguished members of the bench, bar, and legal academy. Judges commented that the advocacy was of a very high caliber, and that the problem focused attention on questions that are increasingly important as our nation strives to determine how the First Amendment protects individual rights and liberties in cyberspace.

The Newseum hosted the quarter-final, semi-final, and final rounds on Saturday as participants in the March for Our Lives exercised First Amendment freedoms just outside the doors on Pennsylvania Avenue. Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit presided over the final argument. John Garvey, president of The Catholic University of America joined Judge Daughtrey on the bench, along with Judge Bernice Donald of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; James Duff, Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts; Judge Rodney Sippel, Chief Judge of the U.S. District for the Eastern District of Missouri; and Judge Jane Stranch of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

Judge Marian Harrison of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee presided over the semi-final rounds. Judge Harrison was joined by Daniel Attridge, Dean of the Columbus School of Law; Judge Joseph Leeson Jr. '80 of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; Gene Policinski, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Newseum Institute; and Senior Judge Susan Webber Wright of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Judge Ron Jarashow '75, formerly of the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County, Maryland; and Judge Thurman Rhodes Jr. '75 of the Maryland District Court for Prince George's County presided over the quarter-final rounds. Judges Jarashow and Rhodes were joined by First Amendment Freedom Forum Chief Executive Officer and Newseum trustee Jan Neuharth; CUA Law Professor Sarah Duggin; First Amendment Center Ombudsman and Vanderbilt University Law School professor David Hudson; and First Amendment Center Executive Director Lata Nott.

Brenda Czekanski and Jenna Von See of the Florida State University College of Law won the competition. Second place went to Helen Le and Koby Lyons of the South Texas College of Law Houston. The other semi-finalists were Dominic Corrolla and Samuel Nolan of Duquesne University School of Law, and Brian Gibbons and Jacqueline Kofoot of Loyola University Chicago School of Law.

Doori Sung, Justin Lewis and Jake Kramer of the University of Notre Dame Law School won the "Best Brief" award; Quemars Ahmed and Bianka Barraza of the University of California Los Angeles Law School were the runners-up for "Best Brief."

Dominic Corrolla and Samuel Nolan of Duquesne University School of Law tied for award for "Best Oralist." Evan Berlanti of the Columbus School of Law won the runner-up award for "Best Oralist." Evan Berlanti and Chris Snowden, with the guidance of their coach Daniel Kane '15, did an excellent job on behalf of our law school.

The competition is the product of the merger of CUA Law's Sutherland Cup, the oldest continuous private moot court competition in the nation, and the Newseum's Seigenthaler Cup, now in its twenty-eighth year. CUA's competition is named for Supreme Court Justice George B. Sutherland; the Seigenthaler Cup is named for John Seigenthaler, founder of the Newseum Institute's First Amendment Center.

CUA Law congratulates Chancellor Ashley Greaf, Vice-Chancellors David Brzozowski and Callan Smith, and the Columbus School of Law Moot Court Board; CUA Law team members Evan Berlanti and Chris Snowden; the many students who pitched in to make the competition a success; Moot Court Faculty Advisors A.G. Harmon and Frederick Woods; and Seigenthaler-Sutherland Faculty Advisor Sarah Duggin. Special thanks to Rachel Porter, Assistant Director of Student Life and Special events and Emily Sobieski who managed complex logistics in the midst of a major snowstorm with the unfailing guidance of Special Events Director Joan Vorrasi.

We are grateful to our Newseum colleagues for their tireless work to uphold the First Amendment, their extraordinary efforts in support of the competition, and their gracious hospitality. Our deepest thanks to First Amendment Freedom Forum Chief Executive Officer and Newseum Trustee Jan Neuharth; Newseum Institute and First Amendment Center President and Chief Executive Officer Gene Policinski, First Amendment Center Executive Director Lata Nott, Newseum Event Manager Meagan Bowers, and the many distinguished jurists, alumni, faculty and students who judged, competed in, prepared, and supported the 2018 Seigenthaler-Sutherland National Moot Court Competition!