The 2004 Braxton Craven National Championship Team with Coach Tom Barnico.

3/01/04—The Boston College Law School J. Braxton Craven Constitutional Law Moot Court team has won the National Championship, held at the UNC Law School on Saturday, February 28th. The team of Kelsey Knox, Joshua Walls, Jennifer Bombard, and Manager Sarah Newhall, and coached by Assistant Attorney General Tom Barnico, argued their way to victory over Pepperdine Law School in front of Chief Judge Terence W. Boyle (E.D. North Carolina), Judge Barbara Lynn (N.D. Texas) and North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Mark Martin at the North Carolina Supreme Court building in Raleigh, NC.

Bombard also took home the Best Oralist Award from the competition.

View streaming video from final arguments

“I’m so proud of this team,” said Director of Advocacy Programs Alexis Anderson. “They are so remarkably talented and focused. Not only to win the competition, but to take home the Best Oralist Award as well, is a sign of their dedication and incredible performance.”

The three-judge panel was impressed with the team's calm and poise as well as their conviction, advocacy and well-reasoned answers to the panel's questions, reported Newhall. “They faced excellent competition throughout the tournament, winning well argued rounds against Duke University Law School in the quarterfinals and Fordham Law School in the semi-finals,” she said.

The issues presented in this year's competition centered around a display of the Ten Commandments in a county courthouse, focusing on both Article III Standing as well as the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The team was equally persuasive as advocates for both Petitioner and Respondent, and wrote an exceptional brief for the Petitioner.

The team would like to thank all those that helped them prepare for this competition and contributed to their victory.