BUPD Law Clerk Nicholas Bartzen was awarded the Fay Clayton award for Best Oral Argument as part of the 2013 Illana Diamond Rover Competition at Chicago-Kent College of Law. The award ceremony took place on Tuesday, November 12th, 2013 and was hosted by Judge Ilana Kara Diamond Rovner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Judge Rovner, for whom the competition is named, was nominated by President George H.W. Bush on July 2, 1992 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 12, 1992 to become the first woman appointed to the Seventh Circuit.
As part of the competition, Nick argued on the side of both Petitioner and Respondent in the case from the Fourth Circuit of Woollard v. Gallagher, which dealt with the Second Amendment and whether it protects the right to carry handguns outside the home. The State of Maryland prohibits the open or concealed carry of handguns without a state-issued permit. The permits are issued under the discretion of the Maryland State Police, based upon a finding that the applicant has good and substantial reason to wear or carry a handgun. Mr. Woollard, who suffered an attack within his home in 2002, was denied a handgun carry permit renewal in 2009 and subsequently brought suit against the state of Maryland for abridging his Second Amendment right to bear arms for self-defense.
Nick argued the case for a panel that included Michael Scodro, the Illinois Solicitor General, acting as the panel’s Chief Justice.
Nick will represent the Chicago-Kent Moot Court Honor Society in February, 2014 at the William E. McGee National Civil Rights Moot Court Competition in Minneapolis.