The Minnesota Supreme Court convened in Thief River Falls recently as part of a program that seeks to teach students about the court system. Among the nearly 700 people in attendance, was a contingent of about 30 students from Crookston High School and American Government teacher Robbie Nessler.
The state’s highest court heard oral arguments of an actual case – State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Gerald Robinson, Appellant (Case No. A17-0525) – in front of students from all over northwest Minnesota.
“This was oral arguments for a case that had been appealed from our District Courts to the Court of Appeals, all the way to the Supreme Court,” said Nessler. “As the attorney’s made their arguments, the justices would interrupt them to clarify or ask questions and the attorney’s demonstrated they can think on their feet, they have to know the law like the bad of their hand and do their research. It was a great opportunity to what happens at the highest level.”
Nessler said he hopes that the students gained a better understanding of how the system works and that they were aware of the amount of preparation and the hard work it took for the justices and the case to get to the state’s highest court.
Kaleb Bakken, a senior, commented on witnessing the Supreme Court, “it was pretty cool because we’ve been studying this specific case in class.” He added,” it was kind of cool to see how they operated, not only with the prosecutor and attorney but how the justices put their own thoughts even as the prosecutor and attorney were talking, its nothing like on tv.”
Following the oral arguments, members of the Court held a question and answer session with the students. The Minnesota Supreme Court opinions are generally released about three to five months following the oral arguments. More information about the argument heard in Thief River Falls including the summary of issues and opinion from the Court of Appeals can be found at www.mncourts.gov.
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