Sotomayor to meet NMI congressional mock trial champs

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Maria Sotomayor will make a short visit to the island this month and has included in her busy schedule an hourlong dialogue with select Commonwealth students.

Education Commissioner Rita A. Sablan disclosed yesterday that Sotomayor has invited members of the CNMI congressional mock trial champion team to a personal dialogue on Jan. 29 at the American Memorial Park. Sablan has also been invited to the event and she has confirmed her attendance.

She said the invitation was coursed through the Integrated Bar Association and is being coordinated by Heather Kennedy.

The dialogue between Sotomayor and the students is slated to last from 45 minutes to about an hour.

Saipan Southern High School’s 22-member team was the winner of last year’s congressional mock trial competition and competed for the national title representing the CNMI. Sablan said that Sotomayor had asked to meet with the team’s members in person so they could directly ask her questions.

The congressional mock trial contest forms part of the “We the People” program, which gives students comprehensive instruction on the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights and the principles and values they embody. The program is designed to promote an understanding of the rights and responsibilities of citizens in a constitutional democracy.

Sablan is looking forward to another historic event for PSS. “This will be an excellent experience for our children and I hope they will be inspired by the dialogue that they will have with the visiting [justice]. This is the first time that our students are given this opportunity and we look forward to that,” she said.

This early, the team members are all excited and are preparing specific questions for Sotomayor, Sablan said.

President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court in May 2009 to replace retired Justice David Souter. Her nomination was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in August 2009 by a vote of 68-31.

Sotomayor is expected in the Marianas from Jan. 25 to 30 to attend Guam’s and the Northern Mariana Islands’ 2012 District Conferences. In addition to attending the conferences, she will also be touring Guam and will also hold a question-and-answer session with students at the University of Guam Field House to be attended by elementary through college students.