TOPEKA—A three-judge panel of the Kansas Court of Appeals will hear seven appeals in the Robinson Courtroom at Washburn University's School of Law, Tuesday, September 18, as part U.S. Constitution Observance Day.
Court will convene in special session in the law school at 9:00 A.M. and 1:30 P.M. to hear appeals from Franklin, Shawnee, Douglas, and Atchison counties. In addition, 14 other appeals will be submitted to the Court for decision without oral arguments.
Judges David E. Bruns, Christel E. Marquardt, and G. Joseph Pierron, Jr. will hear the cases. Judge Bruns has been designated as the presiding judge for the hearing.
In addition to oral arguments, the law school is hosting a speech Monday, September 17, for law students featuring the current president-elect of the American Bar Association, James "Jim" R. Silkenat, partner in Sullivan & Worcester's New York law office. He will be the first ABA president who was born in Kansas since 1933. President Earle W. Evans came from Wichita.
Silkenat also will speak at 7 p.m. Monday evening in the Bradbury Conference Center at Washburn. Drawing on his law practice's primary focus on international joint ventures in developed and developing countries, he will speak on "The Rule of Law at Home and Abroad: Why it Makes a Difference to All Parts of Society."
Regarding the Court of Appeals hearings, Judge Bruns said the appeals demonstrate how the courts interpret and apply the law as adopted by our legislature and the rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. "The constitutional rights we all share are tested daily in cases that appear on our docket throughout the year," Judge Bruns said.
Attorneys for each side will have an opportunity to present argument to the judges, and the judges will have a chance to ask questions. The court will then take each of the cases under consideration and will issue a written decision at a later date, usually within 60 days.
After the hearings have been completed, the judges will be available to talk with students.
Congress has directed by law that federally funded educational institutions host educational events about the United States Constitution on or about September 17 each year. The Constitution was signed by a majority of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787.