EAST GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP/FOX 17) — The Michigan Supreme Court has taken another field trip, visiting a school to hear arguments in a case and expose students to the justice system.
Hundreds of students from Grand Rapids-area schools watched the arguments and later asked questions Wednesday at East Grand Rapids High School.
“I think it’s great when the students actually get to see the Supreme Court in action because the Supreme Court is the branch of government that the people know the least about, and that is because a lot of what we do we do in confidence,” Chief Justice Bridge M. McCormack said.
The case involved a woman who was arrested at her Kent County home for a crash that involved only her car 90 minutes earlier.
“This is an interesting case because it happened here locally, it’s a Fourth Amendment question, a search question, where the police arrived at a defendant’s home, and made an arrest of the defendant at her home, and the question is whether that arrest was constitutional, and its an interesting question on the facts and its an interesting question on the law,” McCormack said.
The Supreme Court is exploring whether the constitution allows police to compel a person to leave their home as part of a warrantless arrest.
Kent County Judge Mark Trusock says having the Supreme Court in town was an “amazing opportunity” for students.
