Oct. 3, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in three cases at the UALR William H. Bowen School of Law.
Appeals court officials included Chief Judge William Jay Riley, Judge James B. Loken and Judge Duane Benton.
“It was a great honor for the school to host the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit,” said Interim Dean Paula Casey. “Our students had an opportunity to view arguments concerning real cases and issues that affect real people.”
The decisions from all three cases should be reported within the next two weeks and will be posted on the agency’s website, according to Court officials.
The first case, Brown V. City of Jacksonville et al, involved the firing of a city employee named June Brown, who maintains that her termination was carried out due to discrimination. Both sides were allowed 15-minute arguments to be heard by the panel.
The next case, Sutton V. Bailey et al, involved the firing of former Funeral Science Director Toby Sutton from Arkansas State University at Mountain Home on grounds of academic fraud and maintains there was a lack of legal due process. Both sides were allowed 20-minute arguments to be heard by the panel.
The last case to be heard by the appeals judges was United States V. Henriques, an appeals case pertaining to Osbourne Henriques, who was indicted for possession and intent to distribute marijuana in 2008. Henriques was released on bond soon after his indictment and has yet to be tried because parties argue that he is not competent to stand trial.
“Students were able to see how the court operates, how attorneys construct arguments and how they respond to questioning by the judges,” Casey said. “It also provided a chance for students to meet the judges on the panel as well as district court judges, magistrates, and bankruptcy judges who attended the arguments and the social events associated with it.”
