The annual Ames Moot Court competition was held at Harvard Law School on Wednesday, October 23 and presided over by Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’56-’58. She was joined on the bench by Judge Merrick B. Garland ’77, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Judge Ilana Diamond Rovner, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit. This year’s case, Jimenez v. Holder, examined the case of Martin Jimenez, who left El Salvador to escape forcible recruitment into the violent street gang Mara Salvatrucha.
The court granted certiorari on two questions: Whether an applicant for asylum claiming fear of persecution on account of his or her membership in a “particular social group” must show that the group has “social visibility,” and Whether an applicant for asylum denied the right to the counsel of his or her choosing in immigration proceedings must show that the denial resulted in actual prejudice in order to obtain relief.
For the written materials of this year’s competition, including the case record and the student briefs, visit the Board of Student Advisors website.