Frisco ISD : Students Named National Champions In Supreme Court Competition

Press release from Frisco Independent School District:

Jul 13, 2021

Congratulations to Reedy High School graduate Anita Ashok and Heritage High School rising senior Kashish Bastola who were named Solicitors General Supreme Court Competition National Champions.

This is the third national title that Career and Technical Education Center students have won in the competition over the last 10 years under the direction of Ben Ewald, the CTEC legal studies instructor.

The competition hosted by the Harlan Institute and Ashbrook offers high school teams from across the country the opportunity to write persuasive appellate briefs, argue against other students through online video chats and persuade a panel of esteemed attorneys during oral argument that their side is correct.

Ashok and Bastola’s competitive journey began in February when they submitted their written Supreme Court brief and preliminary oral arguments for the case Torres v. Madrid. This case raised legal questions about what constitutes a "seizure" in the context of the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

They were one of 24 teams out of over a hundred across the nation to compete in the semifinal round. After an impressive performance at the semifinals, they advanced to the Elite Eight, which is made up of the top eight teams across the nation. 

In this competition, they were named top Respondents and advanced to the Championship Round going against a team from Arizona. Watch the Championship Round.

After a tough competition judged by federal judges and a Supreme Court justice from Ohio, Bastola and Ashok remained victorious and won the national title by a split decision of 2-1. 

Ashok and Bastola are interested in pursuing the legal field and believe that this was a great opportunity to gain experience with federal casework and understand the federal judiciary through deep analysis of case law, precedent and research spanning over hundreds of years.

This press release was produced by Frisco Independent School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.