Arianna Bates-Erlich from the Colorado Chapter won second place in the respondent portion of the 2024 Marshall-Brennan National Moot Court Competition.
donors; and two days of oral arguments judged by Marshall-Brennan Fellow alumni from across the nation.
During the Youth Law Summit, six national competitors from each participating chapter joined students from DC public schools for a day of college admissions training, career planning, and in-depth sessions on the legal fields of their choice, from sports and entertainment law to international business.
Representative Raskin presented high school student, LaShay Wallace, from Scottlandville Magnet High School in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the prestigious 2024 Thomas “Tommy” Bloom Raskin Young Activist Award. This award, dedicated to Raskin’s son, Tommy, recognizes outstanding leadership and community service.
The enthusiasm of high school participants, combined with the mentorship of their law school student instructors, has created a legacy of learning in which advocacy and activism has replaced abstract ideals. “It’s more than just civics. It’s more than just constitutional law,” said Thompson. “It’s about the experiences that these students will have later in life and how they can work through anything that comes their way.”
It is fitting that the Project was named in honor of the late Thurgood Marshall and
(Top) Camille Thompson, adjunct professor and director of the Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project.
(Above) US Representative Jamie Raskin (leſt) presented the prestigious 2024 Thomas “Tommy” Bloom Raskin Young Activist Award to LaShay Wallace (right).
nation’s schools as a Supreme Court justice from 1967 to 1991. Brennan, who was on the Court from 1956 to 1990, advocated for individual rights and fought against discrimination in many forms.
High school students representing chapters from across the nation competed.
William J. Brennan, Jr., both Supreme Court justices who battled for equality in the nation’s highest court.
“I had connections with the justices’ families,” said Wermiel. “So, I was able to secure their blessings for the project.”
A renowned civil rights lawyer, Marshall led the fight against school segregation, ultimately helping to overturn “separate but equal” in Brown v. Board of Education. He continued to champion equality in the
“I wish the Marshall-Brennan Project was in every high school in America,” concluded Raskin. “There is obviously a need for a more sweeping, national effort to upliſt and elevate people’s constitutional knowledge and understanding, but I know that the Marshall- Brennan Project has had a major and dramatic effect on the minds, hearts, and lives of the teens in the high school program and the law students who have taught them.”
Knowledge and know-how can dispel the shadows of confusion and conflict. The Marshall-Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project is instilling in young citizens the belief that they can make a difference—and the skills to advocate for a more just society.
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY WASHINGTON COLLEGE OF LAW 29
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