Thursday, July 23, 2009
Thu, 23 Jul 2009
On Monday, June 30, as part of the summer externship program of Liberty Counsel in conjunction with Liberty University School of Law, 18 students traveled to the Nation’s Capital; the last day the U.S. Supreme Court was in session during this Term. On that day, the nine justices released the final opinions of this Term, including the highly watched case of Ricci v. DeSefano.
The students were welcomed with a private tour of the Supreme Court and a lecture by General William Suter, the Clerk of the Supreme Court. Following the tour, they were then led on a private tour of the Library of Congress by James Hutson, the Chief of the Library’s Manuscript Division. As an additional bonus, the students were able to see the Reading Room where a large statue of Moses holding the Ten Commandments overlooks the room – included in this room were many ancient manuscripts, including the original diary of George Washington.
The students ended the day by attending a reception at the U.S. Supreme Court.
Of these students, 15 were from Liberty University School of Law, one is completing his undergraduate degree at Liberty, one is a senior from Patrick Henry College who is interested in law, and one is a senior at Hannibal LaGrange College in Missouri, who is also interested in attending law school at Liberty. Three are doing their externship or internship in the Washington, D.C. office of the Liberty Center for Law and Policy where they work with national policy issues and political leaders. The rest are learning litigation at the Liberty Counsel office on the campus of Liberty University.
For three years now, Liberty Counsel’s summer externs have been able to spend a day in the Capital touring the Supreme Court. In the past, only tours of the Capitol building and the Supreme Court were available; this year marks a first for the Library of Congress.
“Visiting the United States Supreme Court is an awesome experience. The Court’s chambers are spectacular. Liberty University School of Law has the only replica in the nation of the actual nine-member bench of the High Court, which we call The Supreme Courtroom. Those who have visited the law school immediately see the similarity between the two courtrooms. It is truly a unique opportunity for the students to visit the Supreme Court. This year we added the Library of Congress to the tour, which provided the rare opportunity to see the original diary of George Washington,” concluded Mathew Staver, Dean of Liberty University School of Law.