Luther M. Swygert Memorial Moot Court Competition
 

In memory of the late Judge Luther M. Swygert, Mrs. Gertrude Swygert, his wife and Professor Michael I. Swygert, his son, established an endowment at at the Valparaiso School of Law for the creation of an annual moot court competition to celebrate Judge Swygert’s memory and special relationship with Valparaiso University School of Law. 

Judge Swygert graduated from Notre Dame Law School in 1927 and was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana.  President Franklin D. Roosevelt nominated Judge Swygert to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana in 1932.  Judge Swygert served as the Chief District Judge until 1961, when President John F. Kennedy nominated him to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.  Judge Swygert sat on the the Seventh Circuit until 1987.  He was the Chief Circuit judge from 1970-1975 and became a Senior Circuit judge in July of 1981.  Judge Swygert continued to hear appeals until 1987.

Judge Swygert was awarded an honorary doctor of law degree from Valparaiso University during the dedication ceremony of Wesemann Hall, in 1963.  Judge Swygert was the first ever jurist in residence at the School of Law and taught an innovative seminar, “Language and the Law.”  His son, Michael Swygert, graduated from the School of Law in 1967, ranking first in his class.  Additionally, Michael Swygert also was the Editor-in-Chief of the inaugural issue of the Valparaiso University Law Review.  Michael Swygert received his L.L.M. from Yale Law School in 1968 and is currently a professor at Stetson University College of Law, in St. Petersburg, Florida.       

Judge Swygert had a special interest in legal education, particularly in moot court programs, throughout his legal career.  He acted as a judge for moot court competitions at Valparaiso, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Indiana University, New York University, Wisconsin, Illinois, DePaul, Northwestern, Chicago and Yale law schools.  In light of Judge Swygert’s special interest, the Judge Luther M. Swygert Memorial Moot Court Competition was created in 1989.

The competition involves an annual intra-school moot court competition to be held at the School of Law, hosted by the Moot Court Society.  All moot court members, with the exception of the Executive Board, participate by writing a brief and arguing on a topic selected by the Associate Justice of the Swygert Competition.  In previous years, topics have included the following:

• Voting Rights Act of 1965 and whether felons are denied the right to vote under state Felon Disenfranchise Acts
   

• Violent video programming and whether a statute that regulates violent programming when children are not in the audience is constitutional under the First and Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
   

• Campaign finance reform and corporate speech
   

• School sponsored speech and to what extent student and teacher speech can be permissibly regulated by school officials and boards
   

• Video games and whether the First Amendment protects this new media and if so, what constitutional standard of review would apply to a regulation limiting minors’ access to sexually explicit video games

The competition features two preliminary rounds, a quarter-final round, a semi-final round, and a final round.  The preliminary rounds and the quarter-finals are judged by the Executive Board and the semi-final round is judged by three School of Law professors.  The final round features jurists from courts throughout the country.  A Seventh Circuit judge is selected and acts as the Chief Justice.  Past judges have included Hon. Antonin Scalia, United States Supreme Court, Hon. Clarence Thomas, United States Supreme Court; the Hon. Frank Easterbrook, Hon. Diane Wood, Hon. Richard Cudahy, Hon. Diane Sykes, of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and all justices of the Indiana Supreme Court, as well as other notable jurists from across the country.

Prizes are awarded for the Best Team, Best Brief and Best Oralist.  The Moot Court Society is honored to host this annual competition in memory of Judge Swygert and would like to thank the Swygert family for their continued interest and support of the Swygert Competition.

Please direct any questions about the Luther M. Swygert competition to Elizabeth Tosh, Associate Judge of Swygert.