The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals appeared at the NIU College of Law Wednesday to decide on issues of freedom of speech, criminal appeal and contracts of employment.

The event, which was free and open to all, filled both rooms of the Francis X Riley Courtroom as well as an overflow room in Swen Parson Hall.

Melody Mitchell, director of alumni events and public relations, said she expected the courtrooms to have more than 100 students, which was typical in past years.

Each year, the NIU invites the court to hold hearings; however, its last visit was in 2001.

“It’s a learning experience for students,” Mitchell said. “It’s one of the highest appeal levels. If any case goes beyond this, the next step is the U.S. Supreme Court, so it’s a very rare opportunity for students to sit in on this type of legal procedure.”

Nichole Brown, a sophomore political science major, said she wanted to attend the event to “get a firsthand experience of how the cases are presented.”

The court usually sits in Chicago but occasionally will meet and hold meetings at different law schools in the 7th Circuit, said Charles Condon, assistant professor and reference librarian in the NIU College of Law Library.

Notre Dame, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Wisconsin are some of the other schools where the Court of Appeals meets, College of Law Dean LeRoy Pernell said.

The first case heard was Ralph Ovadal v. City of Madison, Wisconsin. The case dealt with Christian pastor Ralph Ovadal who, on two occasions, along with others, displayed banners voicing their opinions on homosexuality across the pedestrian overpass above Madison’s six-lane Beltline highway. Madison took the issue to court because of the slowdown of traffic reported by Madison police officers.

The second case was United States of America v. Lee A. Wilson, which dealt with a direct appeal of a criminal conviction and sentence. According to the College of Law Web site, “Wilson was indicted on the offense of unlawful possession of ammunition as a convicted felon. … The discharge document stated that the defendant could not use or possess firearms.” Wilson argued the document did not request not owning ammunition. He was issued a discretionary sentence of 120 months, which was then taken to the Court of Appeals.

The final case was the Office & Professional Employees International Union Local 95 v. Wood County Telephone Company. This case was brought to the Court of Appeals because the union claimed the company violated an agreement that was made between the two parties.

After the arguments, the Court of Appeals went into recess.

The decisions of the three cases will be printed in the “Federal Reporter Third Series,” which publishes all official opinions of the court, Pernell said.