Union University’s Harvey Auditorium turned into a mock courtroom on Tuesday, Feb. 20 to host The Tennessee Court of Appeals Western Section.
The Court of Appeals was created to hear appeals in civil cases across the state. The court has a total of 12 members who sit in panels of three. Present at yesterday’s session were judges J. Steven Stafford, Arnold B. Goldin and Brandon O. Gibson.
This is the court’s second time coming to Union. Judge Steven Stafford gave happy remarks on being back at Union and was anticipating a beneficial day at the start of the proceedings.
“This is our second time being here and we really, really enjoy it,” Stafford said.
By coming onto campus, the judges gave a unique opportunity to the Union community that may not have been a possibility otherwise. The room included current students, professors and other guests. Senior communication studies major Amber Reed was very grateful for the experience.
“I have never had the chance to go to court,” Reed said. “I guess that’s actually a good thing, but I didn’t realize how interesting it could be. By coming onto campus during the week like this, it gave me the perfect opportunity to see firsthand how a courtroom works, just in a more informal way.”
The court was opened by the court clerk, James Hivner, just as a normal courtroom would proceed. Everyone present, confused college students included, stood to their feet with the call of “all rise” as the judges entered. Three cases were presented throughout the morning beginning at 9:30, 10:30 and 11:30. With each hearing, witnesses, juries and testimonies were not included. Instead, each attorney was given the opportunity to present an oral argument. These arguments were limited to 15 minutes.
Those in attendance heard from the attorney representing the appellant, or defendant, first and then the attorney representing the appellee, or plaintiff, second. Throughout these arguments, the judges questioned the attorney’s defense and took notes.
After each individual hearing, the judges left the room and the floor was opened up for specific questions for the attorneys. Students were given the opportunity to learn more about each individual case, the practices each attorney works for or any other specifics they wanted more information on.
Lunch in Brewer Dining Hall was offered to anyone from the audience who wanted to sit down with the judges and speak to them about past experiences in the field of law or really anything they would like know.
The entire experience proved to be very beneficial to students and guests. The Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear a remaining seven cases before the end of the month.