The American Mock Trial Invitational (AMTI) is a national mock trial competition for high schools in the United States, created and administered by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation and the North Carolina Advocates for Justice. [1]
A mock trial is an act or imitation trial. It is similar to a moot court, but mock trials simulate lower-court trials, while moot court simulates appellate court hearings. Attorneys preparing for a real trial might use a mock trial consisting of volunteers as role players to test theories or experiment with each other. Mock trial is also the name of an extracurricular program in which students participate in rehearsed trials to learn about the legal system in a competitive manner. Interscholastic mock trials take place on all levels including primary school, middle school, high school, college, and law school. Mock trial is often taught in conjunction with a course in trial advocacy or takes place as an after school enrichment activity. Some gifted and talented programs may also take place in one.
In most jurisdictions, secondary education in the United States refers to the last four years of statutory formal education either at high school or split between a final year of 'junior high school' and three in high school.
The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country composed of 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the largest city by population is New York City. Forty-eight states and the capital's federal district are contiguous in North America between Canada and Mexico. The State of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east and across the Bering Strait from Russia to the west. The State of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U.S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, stretching across nine official time zones. The extremely diverse geography, climate, and wildlife of the United States make it one of the world's 17 megadiverse countries.
The competition was created in 2006 to provide an alternative for state champions with weekend religious obligations to compete on a national basis. [2] The Torah Academy of Bergen County from Teaneck, New Jersey had won its state's 2005 competition, but faced difficulties in its ultimately successful effort to gain accommodations to participate in the National High School Mock Trial Championship in Charlotte, North Carolina without being required to compete during the Jewish Sabbath. [2] While this competition continues to grow, it is still significantly smaller than the more established National High School Mock Trial Championship.
Torah Academy of Bergen County is a four-year yeshiva high school located in Teaneck, in Bergen County, New Jersey. It utilizes a split-schedule day offering both Jewish studies and college preparatory courses. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Secondary Schools since 2005.
Teaneck is a township of Bergen County in New Jersey, United States, and a suburb in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 39,776, reflecting an increase of 516 (+1.3%) from the 39,260 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in turn increased by 1,435 (+3.8%) from the 37,825 counted in the 1990 Census. As of 2010 it was the second-most populous among the 70 municipalities in Bergen County, behind Hackensack, which had a population of 43,010.
Charlotte is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2017, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the population was 859,035, making it the 17th-most populous city in the United States. The Charlotte metropolitan area's population ranks 22nd in the U.S., and had a 2016 population of 2,474,314. The Charlotte metropolitan area is part of a sixteen-county market region or combined statistical area with a 2016 census-estimated population of 2,632,249.
The inaugural event, in 2006, was held at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on weekdays. Redlands High School of Redlands, California narrowly edged Middle Township High School from Middle Township, New Jersey by a score of 5-4 in the finals to win the event. [3]
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), also known as UNC-Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, or simply Carolina is a public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It is the flagship of the 17 campuses of the University of North Carolina system. After being chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolling students in 1795, which also allows it to be one of three schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States. Among the claimants, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is the only one to have held classes and graduated students as a public university in the eighteenth century.
Redlands High School is located in Redlands, California, United States. Founded in 1891, it is the oldest public high school in the State of California still functioning on its original site and the first "unified high school" formed from three elementary school districts. Its campus includes the historic Clock Auditorium built in 1928.
Redlands is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. It is a part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 68,747, up from 63,591 at the 2000 census. The population was estimated at 69,999 in 2013. The city is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of downtown San Bernardino.
The 2007 competition took place at the New Jersey Law Center of Rutgers University at its Douglass/Cook campus in New Brunswick, New Jersey, on Wednesday, May 2, through Friday, May 4. The dates had been chosen to avoid conflicts with Saturday or Sunday religious observance, proms and Advanced Placement Program (AP) exams.
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, commonly referred to as Rutgers University, Rutgers, or RU, is a public research university in New Jersey. It is the largest institution of higher education in New Jersey.
New Brunswick is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, in the New York City metropolitan area. The city is the county seat of Middlesex County, and the home of Rutgers University. New Brunswick is on the Northeast Corridor rail line, 27 miles (43 km) southwest of Manhattan, on the southern bank of the Raritan River. As of 2016, New Brunswick had a Census-estimated population of 56,910, representing a 3.1% increase from the 55,181 people enumerated at the 2010 United States Census, which in turn had reflected an increase of 6,608 (+13.6%) from the 48,573 counted in the 2000 Census. Due to the concentration of medical facilities in the area, including Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Saint Peter's University Hospital, as well as Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey's Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick is known as both the Hub City and the Healthcare City. The corporate headquarters and production facilities of several global pharmaceutical companies are situated in the city, including Johnson & Johnson and Bristol-Myers Squibb.
The 2007 American Mock Trial Invitational winners were a group of home-schooled students representing Family Christian Academy-Tennessee (FCA) from Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Chattanooga is a city located in southeastern Tennessee along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia. With an estimated population of 179,139 in 2017, it is the fourth-largest city in Tennessee and one of the two principal cities of East Tennessee, along with Knoxville. Served by multiple railroads and Interstate highways, Chattanooga is a transit hub. Chattanooga lies 118 miles (190 km) northwest of Atlanta, Georgia, 112 miles (180 km) southwest of Knoxville, Tennessee, 134 miles (216 km) southeast of Nashville, Tennessee, 102 miles (164 km) east-northeast of Huntsville, Alabama, and 147 miles (237 km) northeast of Birmingham, Alabama.
The 2008 AMTI winners represented David H. Hickman High School, a public high school in Columbia, Missouri.
David Henry Hickman High School is a public secondary school in Columbia, Missouri, United States, serving students in grades 9–12. The school is the oldest of four high schools in the Columbia Public Schools. with admission based primarily on the locations of students' homes. Hickman is one of the largest high schools in Missouri and has perennially strong academic and athletic and arts programs.
Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth most-populous and fastest growing city, with an estimated 121,717 residents in 2017.
The 2009 AMTI winners were Menlo School, a college preparatory school from Atherton, California.
