On April 16-17, four jurists from Iowa’s highest courts — Justices Brent Appel and Edward Mansfield of the Iowa Supreme Court and Judges Mary Tabor and Anu Vaitheswaran of the Iowa Court of Appeals — served as the “chief justices” for moot court arguments in Advanced Placement Government classes at Hoover, Lincoln and Roosevelt high schools.

The four real jurists were joined by a panel of student justices to hear arguments by student attorneys in two cases currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court. This hands-on exercise was a key lesson in learning about the American judicial system, and is an example of the effort by Des Moines Public Schools expansion of AP courses in all five high schools.

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