During 2017-2018 six Bentley students participated in undergraduate moot competition sponsored by the American Collegiate Moot Court Association (ACMA).
The team, composed of two seniors and four sophomores, argued two constitutional questions in a case involving the use of brain mapping technology on an individual in custody. The information elicited from the brain mapping exam was used to convict the suspect of murder. Because of the horrendous nature of the crime, the convict was sentenced to 30 years solitary confinement. On appeal, the teams’ arguments were based on two constitutional issues:
1.) Whether the Functional Brain Mapping Exam (FBME) conducted by the State facially violates the right against self-incrimination protected by the Fifth Amendment, as applied to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?
2.) Whether the sentence of solitary confinement, as applied to Petitioner, violates the Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause of the Eighth Amendment, as applied to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?
In regional competition the Bentley team of seniors Michael Clement and Kevin Forbes excelled and qualified for the national competition held at University of Texas Law School Dallas last January. Upon graduation in May, Kevin Forbes was accepted at Northeastern University School of Law. Sophomores Derek Mei and Dana Polihovsky will return to the team in September along with six new team members.