The Ames Competition is one of the most prestigious competitions for appellate brief writing and advocacy in the country. The students participating in the Semi-Final Round started the competition in fall of this school year, and rose to the final four spots through their strong research abilities and excellent written and oral advocacy.

Semi-Final Round oral arguments will be held in the Ames Courtroom at 7:00pm on March 10th and 11th. Teams competing in the Semi-Final Round are below, as well as the briefs submitted for the Semi-Final Round.

 

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Spring 2025 Semi-Final Round

March 10th, 7:00pm – Pierce v. United States Postal Service

Plaintiff Sylvia Pierce alleges that two postal workers stopped delivering mail to her address for an extended period because of racial discrimination. She sued in federal court alleging that the Postal Service and two of its postal delivery workers marked all mail sent to her address as undeliverable and refused to deliver any mail to her in violation of her civil rights under 42 U.S.C. 1985(3) and the Federal Tort Claims Act. Defendants moved to dismiss, arguing that the civil rights claims were barred because this statute does not apply to federal actors and the intracorporate conspiracy doctrine; Defendants also argued that the Federal Tort Claims Act’s immunity waiver barred the suit under the postal matter exception. The Court agreed and dismissed all claims. Plaintiff has now appealed. The questions presented on this appeal are:

(1) Whether the district court erred in dismissing the claims against the United States Postal Service under the under the postal-matter exception to the Federal Tort Claims Act’s immunity waiver, 28 U.S.C. § 2680(b).

(2) Whether the district court erred in dismissing the claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1985(3) because this statute does not apply to federal officials or because this claim is barred by the intracorporate-conspiracy doctrine.

 

Presiding Judges 

The Honorable Justice Peter Rubin, Massachusetts Court of Appeals

The Honorable Judge Nancy Gertner, U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

 

Appellant: The Charles Fried Memorial Team

  • Nathalie Beauchamps
  • Joe Caplis
  • Joshua Grambow
  • Nicholas Nelson (oralist)
  • Paneez Oliai (oralist)
  • Coy Ozias

Appellees: The Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga Memorial Team

  • Neha Aluwalia
  • Josiah Laney
  • Julia Lynch
  • Christine Shao (oralist)
  • Shayna Solomon
  • Hyunsung Yun (oralist)

 

Appellant Opening Brief

Appellees Brief

Appellant Reply Brief

 

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March 11th,  7:00pm – United States v. Karen

Defendant Henrik Karen was stopped at the Ames City International Airport upon his arrival back into the country after an international flight. Customs agents pulled Karen aside for a random security screening. Customs agents manually searched through Karen’s luggage and his cellphone but found no contraband. After conducting this initial search, Karen’s cellphone was subjected to a deeper forensic search in which a detailed forensic copy of the cellphone was taken. Upon reviewing these materials, police determined that Karen’s cellphone contained child pornography, and Karen was arrested and charged for these crimes. During Karen’s trial, prosecutors used a peremptory challenge to strike a potential juror on the basis of their religious beliefs. Although the defendant raised a timely Batson objection to this peremptory challenge, the court allowed the potential juror to be removed. Karen was convicted and now appeals. The questions presented on this appeal are:

(1) Whether the forensic electronic search of the cellphone at the border required law enforcement to have reasonable suspicion.

(2) Whether the district court erred in denying Defendant’s Batson objection concerning a potential juror’s religious beliefs or affiliation.

 

Presiding Judges 

The Honorable Judge Stephanos Bibas, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

The Honorable Judge Julie Rikelman, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

The Honorable Judge Andrew L. Carter, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

 

Appellant: The J. Skelly Wright Memorial Team

  • Justin Xu (oralist)
  • Justin Curtis (oralist)
  • Sydney Malin
  • Sara Holston
  • Daibik Chakraborty
  • Noah Kest

Appellee: The William Thaddeus Coleman Jr. Memorial Team

  • Lev Cohen
  • Justin Curl
  • Sophie Li (oralist)
  • Sophia Loughlin
  • Sadie Statman
  • Gregory Terrell Seabrooks (oralist)

 

Appellant Opening Brief

Appellee Brief

Appellant Reply Brief

 

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For more information, please email [email protected].