“Is race conscious affirmative action consistent with the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution?”

High school students around the country will be arguing both sides of this question when they participate in the Harlan Institute’s 11^th annual Virtual Supreme Court Competition, which is focused on Students for Fair Admission v. University of North Carolina. This unique event gives high schoolers the opportunity to form two‐​person teams to research constitutional law, write appellate briefs, argue against other students, and try to persuade a panel of attorneys and judges that their side is correct.

The Harlan Institute and the Virtual Supreme Court Competition were founded by Josh Blackman, professor at South Texas College of Law Houston and a Cato adjunct scholar. “After law school, I started a fantasy league for the U.S. Supreme Court,” he says. “When I learned that high school teachers were using it with their students, I decided to start a high school competition. It’s grown steadily each year.”

The competition is divided into five phases. The first phase involves researching and writing briefs. Teams that register by November 1^st are eligible for a virtual mentoring session with a lawyer in mid‐​November, which marks phase 2. The mentoring sessions help students finalize their briefs and prepare their preliminary round arguments.

Phase 3 is the preliminary round, during which participants prepare a YouTube video answering 10 questions about the case. The videos and briefs, which will be judged based on the competition’s scoring rubrics, must be uploaded by December 16^th. A select group of teams will advance to phase 4, the virtual competitions. In April 2023, the top two teams will travel to Washington, D.C. to argue before three federal judges in the championship round. The Harlan Institute covers travel costs for the teams that make it to the championship.

Each year, Josh chooses a case that is currently making its way through the federal courts. He develops a lesson plan with specific questions students must answer, but they can use any materials they want. The lesson plan includes links to actual court filings, relevant sections of law, and background information. Links to previous competitors’ briefs and videos are also available.

The Harlan Institute’s program is intended to be accessible to students regardless of their financial circumstances. There is no registration fee, the early rounds are completely virtual (and have been since the beginning), and the institute covers travel for the championship round. As such, it also gives students the opportunity to interact with students from a wide range of backgrounds and schooling models.

Josh is thrilled with the enthusiasm of teachers and students who have joined the program. “More than 400 students have participated in the competition, and many of our coaches come back each year,” he notes. “The goal of the Virtual Supreme Court is to deepen students’ understanding of the law as well as their ability to think critically, synthesize complex arguments, and advocate persuasively. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing in our participants.”