A fourteen year old boy commits homicide. He is sentenced to life in prison, without the chance of parole. Is this cruel and unusual punishment, or exactly what the young boy deserves?

Around mid-march, AP Government students will be debating both sides of this argument, in Langley’s annual Case Day. A longstanding tradition, Case Day involves senior students researching a controversial case about to be heard by the Supreme Court. The students put on a mock trial of the case before the Supreme Court does, then visit the Supreme Court on the day of the actual trial to observe and compare experiences.

“The Case Day cases are selected based on several factors— one key component that Government teachers look for in selecting a case is the relevance of the topic to students here at Langley,” said AP government teacher Mr. Micah Herzig.

“We always consult the clerk of the case at the Supreme Court, and choose a topic that would be of interest to our AP Government students,” said AP Government teacher Ms. Allison Cohen.

This year, the theme is the eighth amendment. The two cases being debated are Jackson v. Hobbs and Miller v.Alabama. According to Oyez.org, Jackson v. Hobbs is the case of Kuntrell Jackson, a boy who was involved in an armed robbery of a store when he was fourteen years old (one of the store clerks was killed, but not by Jackson). And Miller v.Alabama is the case of then-fourteen year old Evan Miller, who killed another boy by beating him with a baseball bat and burning his trailer while he was inside. Both defendants were sentenced to life in prison without parole, but have appealed their cases to the Supreme Court.

Case day is a primarily student-run event; the coordinators areAliciaUnderhill, Chaffee Duckers andSunPark. The coordinators plan the event, organize tryouts, and decide the committee chairs. This year’s council members are Shams Haidari, John Studabaker, Sabrina Khan, and Matt Moser. The two justices are Spencer Shabshab and Nathaniel Howe. Despite the taken positions, all AP Government students are able to participate in committees.

“I love watching students take ownership of the day and arguing on a level of law school students. It’s really worthwhile to see that,” said Ms. Cohen.

“I think it’s really exciting to help coordinate this year’s Case Day. We also have a good number of slots to see the Supreme Court trial,” said coordinator Chaffee Duckers. The coordinators want to create more hype around Case Day, and hope for students of all grades to watch this year’s trials. “We’re trying to get all the grades involved,” she said.