The KYA Supreme Court

Attorneys at KYA are a select group and have a much different task at hand than most delegates. Sixteen delegations are chosen for the Supreme Court program and can put forth up to three attorneys to present their case, either as an appellate or appellee. The appellants are appealing the decision, questioning whether the decision made was lawful. The appellees are defending the decision the court has already made. Whether an attorney is assigned as an appellant or appellee is completely random, but it is still extremely important that they are educated on both sides of the argument. This program requires critical thinking, analyzing both sides of the case at hand, as well as being able to think on one’s feet, answering questions through the middle of one’s speech.

The current case at hand is Commonwealth vs. Gaither. John Gaither, the defendant, was charged with possession of a controlled substance. While he was visiting a friend’s auto body shop, a police officer suspected him of drug possession and patted him down, finding cocaine in his pocket. Gaither’s lawyers stated that the police officer was only warranted to search for weapons, and not look in his pockets. The decision was made in favor of Gaither, deciding that the search was unlawful. The commonwealth of Kentucky is appealing this case, fighting for the fact that the the search, in fact, was reasonable. Each team of attorneys is representing one side of this case, Gaither or the commonwealth of Kentucky. Terry Amos and Thomas Webb, two appellees, just finished presenting their case against Sarah Pedersen, “it was fun!” They were on Gaither’s side, sticking with the previous decision of the court, while Pedersen was on the side of the commonwealth of Kentucky.

Besides doing oral arguments, attorneys also check the constitutionality of the bills presented in debate. They are given a (mini) copy of the U.S. Constitution and the Kentucky Constitution in order to decide the constitutionality of the bills. When an attorney has decided whether the bill is constitutional or not, they write it up, along with an explanation of why. I spoke with sophomore Sarah Pedersen who explained that most of the bills they come across are constitutional, with a few bills being a little ambiguous. For the most part, none of the bills are outrageously against Kentucky or U.S. law.

Here are some quick reasons as to why students chose to do Supreme Court:

“Since I’ve been to KYA, which has been since like sixth grade, I’ve always been a bill author every single year and so this year I wanted to try something different…I found that in Supreme Court…the whole idea of getting to argue over a certain case and presenting something new is really interesting and different. It’s kind of a side of KYA that people don’t see that often,” answered Pedersen.

“I didn’t want to be a delegate again!” Thomas Webb stated simply.

KYA certainly has a place for everyone. From being a delegate, to Media Corps, to being an attorney, there is something for everyone. This conference allows youths to expand on their passions and possibly find a career choice or college major. Supreme Court is just one piece of the puzzle that makes KYA complete.