Ames Contest Finds Another Justice

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Thurgood Marshall will replace Chief Justice Warren Burger as one of three prominent jurists presiding over Thursday's Ames Moot Court Final Argument competition at the Law School, but law students organizing a series of anti-Burger court activities this week said yesterday they will proceed with a planned demonstration and teach-in.

A memo released yesterday by Albert M. Sacks, dean of the Law School, said that Burger had "experienced a recurrence of a serious back condition" and entered a Virginia hospital yesterday morning for treatment, where he is expected to remain for at least a week.

Stuart T. Rossman, a third-year law student and spokesman for the Board of Student Advisers sponsoring the Ames competition, said yesterday the board and the Law School arranged to have Marshall as Burger's replacement yesterday afternoon shortly after learning of the chief justice's ailment.

Cases, Not Faces

A coalition of 16 law school student organizations will still conduct a teach-in at Langdell Hall tonight that was announced earlier this month, and two spokesmen for the coalition said yesterday they decided not to cancel the symposium because it will be focused "on the court more than on personality."

`Repressive'

The Harvard Law Guild and the Chicano Law Students' Association also plan to proceed with a demonstration "to protest repressive Burger Court decisions" tomorrow night prior to the beginning of the Ames arguments outside of Austin Hall, where the contest will take place.

An 11-page leaflet containing statements from each of the 16 participating student organizations criticizing various decisions of the Burger court will be distributed at the teach-in and at the demonstration, despite the fact that Marshall has dissented from a majority of the rulings cited.

Stating Their Case

Mark H. Greenberg '75, a third-year law student and a member of the guild sponsoring the demonstration, said yesterday the law students are not involved in any "plan to disrupt the competition," adding that it is important to have a clear statement from concerned students on the directions of the Burger court.

Greenberg and representatives of the various student associations participating in the symposium met with Sacks last month to inform the dean of the coalition's activities during the week of Burger's scheduled appearance.

Forewarned

Sacks told Burger of the teach-in and demonstration in a November 5 letter, Rossman said, but the chief justice called Sacks on Sunday assuring the dean he would still attend the Ames contest.

The 66-year-old Ames contest pits third-year law school students in arguments over fictional cases based on actual cases involving constitutional issues. This year's Ames competition will address the issue of the guardianship of a minor who has left her family to join a religious sect.