A Real-Life Judge Presides Over MS Moot Court

Does the president have the authority to unilaterally stop deportations? That question will soon be before the U.S. Supreme Court, but first it was argued Thursday before the NCS Middle School ... and a real-life judge.

The case, U.S. v. Texas, involves President Obama's executive action to give undocumented immigrants legal standing to stay and work in the United States. The state won an injunction blocking the federal government's plans, and after the Justice Department appealed, Texas triumphed in appellate court as well. Last month, the Supreme Court announced it would consider the case.

The moot court involved an appellate-court setting, with students from the Middle School serving as attorneys for each side and as two of the judges hearing the case. The third and presiding judge was Judge Pamela A. Harris, who sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth District -- the district that includes Virginia and Maryland.

The 10 student attorneys had clearly studied U.S. v. Texas closely, each side citing legal precedents that bolstered their arguments. The U.S. attorneys pointed to a Supreme Court ruling in 2012, Arizona v. U.S., that established a president's purview over immigration matters includes deportations. The Texas attorneys emphasized the burden the president's action would place on state taxpayers, calling the action an unlawful taking, and they highlighted the Youngstown Steel case, a 1952 Supreme Court ruling that limits presidential authority to act where Congress has not.

The judges listened closely and probed the arguments with questions of their own. At the conclusion, the judges took the matter "under advisement" and rendered no ruling. But Judge Harris told the students how delighted she was with their presentation. "You both were really prepared," she said, singling out the mention of the Youngstown case for particular praise. "That was great."

We are very grateful to Judge Harris for coming to campus, and we congratulate the jurists- and barristers-in-training for their impressive presentations.