South Texas College of Law Houston (STCL Houston) recently hosted the state’s fourth-annual Marshall-Brennan Moot Court Competition, in which high school students from YES Prep West Campus argued a fictional case involving the First and Fourth Amendments in courtrooms throughout the law school. This is the only competition of its kind in Texas.
Competition judges, comprised of STCL Houston faculty, deans, practitioners, judges, students, and alumni, heard the students’ arguments and provided them with feedback on ways to improve their cases.
The top four competition winners — Tylan Ratcliff, Monica Salcedo, Maggaly Ortiz, and Roberto Pineda — will progress to the national Marshall-Brennan Moot Court Competition in Washington, D.C. in April. These students will compete against high school teams from approximately 20 national Marshall-Brennan chapters, including those coached by students from Yale Law School, Cornell University Law School, and American University Washington College of Law, where the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Program began.
The young students’ journey to this national stage began early last fall, when they chose to enroll in a constitutional law and juvenile justice course taught exclusively by STCL Houston students at their high school.
“The importance of teaching young students constitutional literacy is based on the premise that these high school students will forever benefit from understanding the rights and responsibilities they hold under the U.S. Constitution,” said Sharon Finegan, professor of law at STCL Houston. “Marry that with the belief that law students are an untapped resource whose own skills can be developed by teaching others within their community, and you have an incredible opportunity for all involved.”
The Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Law Clinic — part of the Randall O. Sorrels Legal Clinics at STCL Houston — is designed to tap into those law student resources and develop students’ knowledge about constitutional law principles, while simultaneously teaching high school students about their constitutional rights, civil rights, and responsibilities.
According to Finegan, who established Texas’ first — and only — Marshall-Brennan chapter at STCL Houston in 2015, eight law students were chosen out of a pool of 15 applicants based on their experience, enthusiasm, and dedication to making the significant time commitment required to serve as Marshall-Brennan teaching fellows.
“This clinic is an amazing opportunity to expand the vision of high school students at a critical point in their lives when they are starting to think about college and what types of careers they are interested in,” said Natalie Stanley, second-year law student and Marshall-Brennan teaching fellow at STCL Houston. “It’s impressive how engaged all of the students are in classroom discussions and how they are able to think objectively about issues. I wish that I would have had a class like this in high school to give me a peek into what studying the law feels like, but also so that I could understand current U.S. issues from the framework of the Constitution.”
Further mining the resources of the legal community, the clinic was created in partnership with Tommer Yoked, a former Teach for America participant and associate at the Sidley Austin law firm in Houston. Sidley Austin sponsored the program and purchased all textbooks for the high school students.
Beginning last August, STCL Houston students attended Finegan’s and Yoked’s weekly constitutional law seminar, where they learned key principles and developed pedagogical skills. The teaching fellows then divided into two teams, which each taught the high schoolers twice a week.
Participating South Texas College of Law Houston students — including Stanley, Arlene Gonzalez, Mateo Gonzalez, Stephanie Hillin, Harold Jackson, Kellie Ros, Jonathan Shakarisaz, and Cassidy Williams — gained a mastery of constitutional law while also honing their problem-solving, public-speaking, communication, and organizational skills.
The high school students equally benefited from the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy program.
“This program has honestly taught me a lot,” said Tylan Ratcliff, a senior at YES Prep West Campus. “One of my favorite things that it taught me is that you can do anything through hard work and dedication, because I worked hard on my argument and honestly didn’t expect to win. Winning has truly shown me what solid effort and work can do.”
