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The five Supreme Court justices heard four cases Wednesday in the Elkview school’s auditorium. Almost 200 students from Hoover, Sissonville, Roane County and Capital high schools watched as arguments were presented.

Afterward, students asked questions of the attorneys involved with the cases. And then, during lunch, they were able to talk with the justices.

Thursday’s event was part of a program called LAWS, Legal Advancement for West Virginia Students. Through the program — which was developed in 1998 — the Supreme Court holds hearings twice a year around the state for students to attend. The last time justices did so in Kanawha County was in 2006.

Students are briefed on the cases before the hearings, and their teachers are sent the court’s decision later in the school year.

Educating the community

Chief Justice Tim Armstead lives in Elkview. He said the hearings allowed the justices to come into the community and also celebrate the new school, which opened last August.

“It’s always important for us to go out into the communities and make sure that people do understand the court system, they understand their constitutional rights, they understand the role that the court system plays in their everyday life,� he said.

The Supreme Court’s clerk chooses the cases to be heard, looking for those with interesting fact patterns, Justice Haley Bunn said. The justices also ask extra questions, to keep the hearings interesting for the students.

Cases the court heard Thursday were:

• A woman suing Kanawha Regional Transit after being hit by a car just down the road from Hoover
• A dispute between neighbors over a road in Harrison County
• A dispute in Mineral County over shale mining
• A Charles Town, Jefferson County, man who claims police used excessive force during his arrest.

At one point, attorney Duane Ruggier II and the justices engaged in a line of questioning related to a rabid, ready-to-maul black bear, eliciting laughter from the students.

Bunn said — as a mother of young children — teaching kids about government is important.

“I think it’s hard to expect kids to respect a system [if] they don’t understand how it works,� she said. “I think seeing it firsthand — seeing it work, seeing how we really take the time with the case and we’re really prepared — helps foster respect in our judicial branch.�

Hoover Principal Mike Kelly said the students seemed attentive and interested. The hearings were one of many firsts that Hoover students have experienced this year in their new building.

“Anytime you get to do something a little bit different for kids and expose them to something different, it’s a good thing,� he said.

ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉäated students

Most of the attending students were not necessarily interested in the legal profession.

Angel Lillard, a senior at Capital in the Honors Civics class, is drawn to psychology and musical theater. But she listened intently to the cases and asked several questions of the attorneys. She said it was humorous that the attorneys kept making the same points in the arguments.

“Sometimes they would avoid [the question] and go right back to the point they made before,� she said. “It’s kind of funny. It’s sad, but it’s funny.�

Capital students had mixed opinions on the first case of the day, which involved the woman who got hit by a car on Frame Road after getting off a KRT bus.

Lillard’s friend Lilla Jordan, also a senior at Capital, said she didn’t think the woman hit by a car should have sued KRT.

Capital student Christa Fisher agreed. She questioned the attorneys about why the woman continued to use the bus service after the incident.

“If she continues to ride the bus, then I don’t think she’s that traumatized by it,� Fisher said.

Katelyn Shaw — who said the arguments were more entertaining than she anticipated — disagreed with Fisher’s position.

“I think that [KRT] should care about people’s safety,� she said. “I feel like they kind of just dropped her off in the middle of the road.�

Mason Hargus, a senior at Roane County High who attended with other members of his history class said he expected a little more arguing from the attorneys.

Future attorneys

Lillard, Fisher and other students questioned the attorneys on specifics of the cases and on general legal topics, like how to become a lawyer and how lawyers get paid.

Clarksburg attorney Trey Simmerman shared with the students that there are many different paths to become an attorney.

“You have a lot of kids here who seem very interested in the legal profession, and [it’s about] giving them a roadmap they can use in their future and, hopefully, something good comes out of it,� he said.

Montana Vannoy, a Hoover senior, said she is interested in becoming a prosecuting attorney — a career path taken by Justices Bunn and William Wooton.

“The best in the state are here,� Vannoy said.