You’ve Heard of SCOTUS, but Have You Heard of SCOTKYA?
By: Ella Abney
Most KYA delegates are aware of the candidates, the bill authors, and the media corps. However, one of the most overlooked programs of KYA is the Supreme Court. The structure of the KYA Supreme Court involves a Chief Justice, Attorney General, and 5 other justices. The elected Chief Justice is currently Sarah Pedersen and she attends the Gatton Academy. Pedersen’s main responsibility is to handle the Supreme Court debate and protocol. Her counterpart is the elected Attorney General, Emily Hale of the Christian Academy of Louisville.
Each year, the Supreme Court of the Kentucky Youth Assembly (SOKYA) assigns the attorneys a Kentucky Court Case to study and argue. This year the case is Massey County Board of Education v. Joseph Rogers and Meredith Story. This case involves two students, Meredith Story and Joseph Rogers, who were involved in a randomized urine-based drug test. The drug tests were conducted following a survey presenting that 16% of Massey County High School Students had been impaired by either drugs or alcohol while on school property. The Kentucky Circuit Court declared the Board’s actions constitutional, however, Story and Rogers appealed the case to the Kentucky Supreme Court.
This is where the KYA attorneys come into play. On Thursday evening, the first day of the conference, the attorneys exchanged briefs with their opposing sides. Following this, the attorneys were given the unique opportunity to consult with a lawyer local to Louisville, who provides insight and advice to the competitors.
I followed Frankfort High School and the Gatton Academy. Attorneys Pauli Hancock and Gabriel Langley met with prosecutor Alex Oliva. Langley picked Oliva’s bran asking “To what degree is the power of loco parentis?” (Loco Parentis was a commonly used term throughout this case as it entitles the school administration to act as a parental substitute). Oliva encouraged Langley and Hancock as he told them, “Your job is to advocate as hard and as well as you can to get your client the best outcome.” I also followed the Gatton Academy who consulted with Chad Hardin from Stoll Kennan Ogden who advised the attorneys “ to fight the temptation to be married to what you have written.” Amadis Davis, an attorney from Gatton, valued her consultation and told us that “validation is great.” The opportunity for young KYA attorneys to meet with real experts is one of the most unique offered by the YMCA. As a result, the delegates were able to prepare for their Court presentations much more adequately, which occurred throughout the day on Friday.
Early Friday morning, the SCOTKYA attorneys met to present their cases to a set of attorneys from Louisville who provided feedback and advice to Capitol presentations. I followed the Frankfort High v. Murray County presentation. FHS students, Langley and Hancock, acted as the appellee, advocating that Murray County’s actions were constitutional due to loco parentis and probable cause. Murray County, representing Story and Rogers, argued that students do not shed their Constitutional rights at the school door. Putz, a Senior from Murray County, stated, “What a student does in their free time is their own business. If the school board were to enforce this, they would be overstepping their boundaries.” Following the presentation, the two justices, Jennifer Pruitt and Cassandra Kennedy, gave the attorneys encouraging feedback. Kennedy stated, “I thought you all did phenomenal.”
As a red tag delegate, I travelled to the Capitol in the afternoon to watch other red tag attorneys compete. When we first arrived, the attorneys met in room 327 to discuss the constitutionality of several Commonwealth bills including CW 21 which discussed lowering the voting age. I interviewed Attorney General Emily Hale and asked her favourite part of being an AG. “I like being able to look at the bills in a politically isolated manner, and I find that I am more concerned if the bills protect the rights of Kentuckians.”
Following the constitutionality room, attorney teams headed to the Supreme Court of Kentucky room. Each team presented in front of Chief Justice Sarah Pederson and five other justices who asked a series of in-depth questions relevant to the Massey County case. Each brave attorney team represented either the School Board or the students exceptionally well, leaving the justices very impressed.
Tomorrow, Saturday, there will be a showcase of the best two appellees an appellate who will compete in front of all KYA participants. The contenders are determined by the justice’s rubrics, who will also decide the most outstanding attorney.
After following SCOTKYA over the past two days, I can conclude two things. First of all, the preparation work completed by all attorneys and judges was exceptional. The Second is that the SCOTKYA is one of the most overlooked and, debatably, most interesting program of the entire conference. My hope is that this exclusive content will draw a greater range of participants and will inspire KYA delegates to engage in programs out of their comfort zone. Ultimately, the SCOTKYA program of High School 2 2019 was phenomenal thanks to a wonderful Attorney General, Chief Justice, the bench of justices, and all attorneys.
