Utah Supreme Court Heard Two Cases at BYU Law School
The BYU Law School hosted the Utah Supreme Court on November 7. In attendance were Chief Justice Mathew Durrant, Justice Thomas Lee, Justice Jill Parrish, Justice Christine Durham and Justice Ronald Nehring. Students had the opportunity to observe as the justices heard two cases:
State v. Chettero and
State v. Houston.
In the case of
State v. Chettero, Mr. Chettero claimed that a Utah Highway Patrol trooper discriminated against him for having out-of-state license plates and pulled him over to search his vehicle specifically for drugs. The case dealt with the right to travel between states freely and without discrimination.
In
State v. Houston, the defense counsel was appealing a sentence of life in jail with no option of parole for Mr. Houston, a minor accused of murder. The defense argued life without parole is too extreme for a juvenile regardless of the crime.
During the event, the Moot Court Room was completely full as well as several surrounding classes where students anxiously awaited the arguments presented by both sides.
"I really enjoyed witnessing the dialogue between the Justices and the attorneys,” said Haley Jankowski, a second-year law student. “I was grateful for the opportunity to see what Supreme Court Justices are expecting attorneys to know when they come for an oral argument."
Posted:November 16, 2012
