NIU College of Law students will debate the Fourth and Fifth Amendment rights of high school students in the 9th annual Prize Moot Court competition.

High school students’ freedom of speech and protection from search and seizure will be debated in the semi-final rounds tonight and Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the moot courtroom in NIU’s Swen Parson Hall.

The semi-final rounds and the final round March 23 at 10:30 a.m. are open to the public.

The voluntary competition for second-year law students is sponsored by the Moot Court Society, an NIU student group, said Teri Berge, the society’s chief justice.

The competition provides two-student teams a chance to develop their appellate advocacy skills, Berge said.

The presiding bench for today’s round will include Lee County Judge Thomas E. Hornsby, DeKalb County State’s Attorney Michael Coghlan and DeKalb County Judge Phil DiMarzio. Wednesday’s bench includes DuPage County Judge John W. Darrah, Ogle County Associate Judge Robin Minnis and Ogle County State’s Attorney Dennis R. Schumacher.

Presiding judges at the final round will be Shirley Abrahamson of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin; Susan Getzendanner, former federal district court judge and now partner with Skaddan and Arps and Albert Alschuler of the University of Chicago Law School.