Religious conflict at mock trial

A group of high school lawyer wannabes is learning that not all fights take place in a courtroom.

The National High School Mock Trial Championship is bringing teenagers from across the U.S. to try cases in Atlanta this week, but the Massachusetts champions won’t be able to compete in the final trials Saturday.

They go to an Orthodox Jewish high school. Their faith says they must avoid work on the Sabbath —- for them, Saturday. The mock trial organization refuses to accommodate them with an early mock trial, as North Carolina did in 2005 when it was the host and a Jewish team competed.

John Wheeler, board chairman of the mock trial championship, said an early slot would give the Jewish school an unfair advantage. The school would enter its second trial while the others were entering their first trial, and scheduling other trials, including the finals, would be difficult.

The Young Lawyers Division of the State Bar of Georgia is this year’s host agency. “The national organization sets the rules. We are just the host committee,” said Cliff Brashier, the executive director of the State Bar.

Jonathan Sarna, father of Leah Sarna, a team captain from Massachusetts, said, “This little school has never won a state championship in anything, not in basketball, not in chess. And now they are being told they will have to forfeit because the team is Sabbath-observant.”

Sarna and other parents hired attorneys and filed a complaint of religious discrimination with the U.S. Justice Department.