South Dakota Supreme Court Hosts Cases at USD

All five justices from The South Dakota Supreme Court participated in a series of oral debates presented by the USD Knudson School of Law. 

These cases took place on both Oct. 4 and Oct. 5 from 9:00 a.m. until 11:15 a.m. in the Knudson School of Law courtroom.

There were a total of eight cases presented in the form of oral arguments at these specific hearings with four cases taking place on each day the Justices were at USD. 

Each case had a set aside ten minute break in between the case being appealed and the upcoming case.

Neil Fulton, the Dean of the Knudson School of Law, said the idea of the Supreme Court justices attending student created cases originally came about.

“The SD Supreme Court coming to the law school was a joint idea, in which the Chief Justice had mentioned a couple of years ago, that they would be interested in participating in cases held at the law school while doing a panel one Wednesday afternoon,” Fulton said. “In which I moderate a panel where the Supreme Court talks about their work, and then later we have a reception with the state bar that is focused on rural practice initiatives.”

The tradition of inviting The South Dakota Supreme Court to sit in on student presented hearings is one that the Knudson School of Law plans to continue for many years to come.

Fulton said hosting these cases poses a rare educational opportunity for USD law students to further learn about their future legal careers as well as to practice their debating skills.

“The Supreme Court is generally coming to USD every year now; they used to come every other year, but that has now changed and they are here every year which is great,” Fulton said.

Fulton went into further detail about the importance of unique opportunities such as the Supreme Court’s attendance at these hearings because it allows students an insight into their own futures.

“It’s important for students to see hands-on lawyering, as it’s incredibly valuable to their education,” Fulton said. “It is tremendous for them to actually be able to hear from the perspectives of judges themselves, and to learn about what their work is like, as well as to process how they got to their positions, as these things are inspirational.”

Fulton said he is optimistic and excited about these debates whenever they take place.

“I tell people all the time when it comes to this time of the semester, that it’s kind of a law school Christmas to me because it’s really fun getting to see all the students in professional dress.” Fulton said.

Fulton said that he also encourages younger students to go to these events to show that they could be in those same shoes. 

“The first year and second year students who get to experience this and think ‘hey, maybe someday that could be me,’” Fulton said.