Under intense pressure, the National High School Mock Trial Competition yesterday, at the last minute, agreed to a compromise that will accommodate the Sabbath observance needs of the Jewish team members from Maimonides High School of Brookline, Massachusetts in this week end's tournament. (See prior posting.) JTA reported that the team will be permitted to start the competition Thursday afternoon and, if Maimonides reaches the finals, the start of the championship round will be delayed from 5 p.m. until 9:30 p.m., after sundown, on Saturday. Maimonides had originally wanted all of its rounds scheduled on Thursday and Friday-- a change that organizers said was unreasonable.
This year's competition is being held in Atlanta, hosted by the Georgia State Bar. ADL yesterday said the schedule change came only after Judge Doris Downs, Chief Judge of Fulton County (GA) Superior Courts, said the competition could not use Fulton County courtrooms if all schools could not fully participate. Also, ADL Southeast Regional Board Chair Elizabeth Price tendered her resignation as a member of the Georgia State Bar's board of governors when the Association refused to support accommodation for the Jewish school. Adding even further pressure, according to a release from the Orthodox Union, were questions raised by Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue's office and questions raised by the Civil Rights Division of the US Department of Justice as to whether Georgia State Courts could receive federal grant funds if they discriminated. Today's Fulton County (GA) Record also has coverage of Judge Downs' role in obtaining the changed schedule.
UPDATE: Here is the competition organizers' side of the dispute in a press release from NHSMTC. It says that the Maimonides team had earlier accepted a compromise under wihich it would merely not participate in Saturday rounds. The organizers say they also provided other accommodations involving more hotel space and dietary considerations.
