FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact Sheila Boro
732-937-7519
December 22, 2009
STATE BAR FOUNDATION RETURNING TO NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL MOCK TRIAL CHAMPIONSHIP FOLLOWING ORGANIZATION'S POLICY REVISION ON RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION
NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ-After a four-year absence, the New Jersey State Bar Foundation is returning to the National High School Mock Trial Championship (NHSMTC). The State Bar Foundation's Board of Trustees voted unanimously to rejoin the NHSMTC in light of the latter's decision, long awaited by the Foundation, to adjust its mock trial schedule to meet the needs of students with religious obligations.
As a result, New Jersey's next statewide victor in the Foundation's Vincent J. Apruzzese High School Mock Trial Competition will compete in the NHSMTC's tournament to be held in Philadelphia May 6-8, 2010. The American Mock Trial Invitational, the Foundation's global competition created as an inclusive alternative to the NHSMTC, will not be held.
"The decision of the New Jersey State Bar Foundation's Board," said president Richard Badolato, " to reestablish our relationship with the NHSMTC is a vindication of our position four years ago to withdraw because of its unwillingness to modify its rules so that weekend Sabbath observers could participate fully in the championship rounds. Those rules were unfortunate, unfair and essentially un-American in their disregard of diversity and inclusion. We are delighted that the NHSMTC has finally seen fit to establish a fair and inclusive policy that ultimately benefits all contestants."
Until its about face last month, the 25-year-old national tournament had refused to modify its Friday-Saturday schedule, thereby barring certain religiously observant state champions from taking part in the entire tournament. With the policy change, teams may now request an accommodation for religious reasons. The Foundation had been advocating for a change of policy since 1999 and four years ago created the American Mock Trial Invitational, in conjunction with the North Carolina Advocates for Justice, when no change seemed forthcoming.
Founded in 1958, the New Jersey State Bar Foundation is the educational and philanthropic arm of the New Jersey State Bar Association. The Bar Foundation's mission is to promote public understanding of the law through a free, comprehensive public education program. Among its activities, the Foundation conducts seminars and conflict resolution training, publishes materials, operates a videotape loan library and speakers bureau, and coordinates elementary, middle and high school mock trial competitions. For more information about its programs and publications, visit online at www.njsbf.org or call 1-800-FREE-LAW.
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