SAIPAN — The 26th Annual CNMI High School Mock Trial Competition has been rescheduled to March 5-6 at the United States Courthouse hosted by the U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands in partnership with the NMI Bar Association.
Seven high schools from Saipan, Tinian, and Rota will compete for the chance to represent the Commonwealth at the National High School Mock Trial Championship in Des Moines, Iowa, in May.
This year’s case, Cruz v. Vic’s Vâporium, centers on a lawsuit filed by parents of a high school sophomore who died after using an e-cigarette. The case alleges a local smoke shop unlawfully sold e-cigarette products to their son.
The event was originally scheduled for February 5-6, but the court postponed it due to uncertainty surrounding federal funding for the judiciary. The court cited the federal funding deadline of Jan. 30 and guidance indicating that if no new funding bill is passed, supplemental funding would not last beyond February 4. The court said that without funding, it is bound by federal law not to incur new expenses for non-essential activities, and the mock trial competition does not qualify as an essential activity, meaning it could not be held on the original February dates
