KEYSER, W.Va. – The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia will host 300 Mineral and Hampshire County high school students on Tuesday, March 31, when it convenes at Keyser High School to hear arguments as part of its Legal Advancement for West Virginia Students (LAWS) civics education program.

The event begins at 10 a.m. in the Keyser High School auditorium and will feature oral arguments in three cases currently before the Court. Approximately 300 students from three of the region’s high schools – up to 100 each from Keyser High School, Frankfurt High School and Hampshire County High School – have been invited to participate in Tuesday’s event. 

“The LAWS program is one of our absolute favorite events as Supreme Court justices,” said Chief Justice C. Haley Bunn. “It’s one thing to learn about government and civics in the classroom, the LAWS program provides students a front-row seat to witness the judicial system in practice. This is especially important for students like those in Mineral and Hampshire counties, who may not have the opportunity to come to Charleston and visit the Capitol to learn about their state government.”

The Court conducts these LAWS program visits with schools around the state twice a year. Prior to the oral arguments, local attorneys and judicial officers visit the schools involved to explain the appellate process and to help students study the cases.

“My fellow justices and I want to express our sincere appreciation to Twenty-Fifth Judicial Circuit Judge James W. Courrier, Jr. and Twenty-Sixth Judicial Circuit Judge H. Charles Carl III, along with Mineral County Director of Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Matthew Ravenscroft and Keyser High School Principal Matthew Altobello, for going above and beyond to help coordinate this event and prepare the students for what we believe will be a deeply enriching educational experience,” Chief Justice Bunn said. 

After each argument on Wednesday, the lawyers representing each side will take a few minutes to debrief the students on what they just witnessed and respond to questions. At the conclusion of the event, the justices will return to the auditorium and have a general question-and-answer session with the students followed by lunch with them in the cafeteria.

“What makes the LAWS program so special is that it gives the Court an opportunity to interact directly with the students, to answer their questions and have a dialogue about how their government and the law work,” Chief Justice Bunn said. “We hope this experience can inspire some of them to pursue a career in the law or public service.”

Since the LAWS program was established in 1999, more than 8,000 students from 40 counties have participated. Mineral County will become the 41^st county to have students participate in the program with Tuesday’s event.

The cases scheduled for argument Tuesday are:

• 10:00 a.m., Case No. 23-565: Raze International, Inc. v. Wheeling Hospital, Inc., City of Wheeling, and Wheeling Municipal Building Commission
• 10:55 a.m., Case No. 23-513: State of West Virginia v. Tina Marie Frymyer
• 11:30 a.m., Case No. 23-546: State of West Virginia v. Rida Shahid Hendershot

Additional information and briefs associated with the cases can be found on the arguments calendar page of the Supreme Court’s website located here: https://www.courtswv.gov/appellate-courts/supreme-court-of-appeals/current-docket/march.

In addition to being open to the public, the arguments will be live streamed on the Supreme Court’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@wvsupremecourt. 

Keyser High School is located at 328 One Tornado Way in Keyser, W.Va. 

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