REXBURG—Experience the court system in real time with the Idaho State Supreme Court. On Wednesday, the court will hold three case hearings at BYU-Idaho in the Manwaring Center Special Events room 387.
Idaho State Supreme Court is the highest state court system. The state constitution requires the court to travel around and hold hearings in other parts of the state. While the public can watch court hearings streamed online through Idaho Public Television, the opportunity to watch in person helps the public learn about the court in a personal way.
“[The Idaho Supreme Court visits] helps make this level of court more accessible to Idahoans and hopefully helps them understand a little piece of why we have these things,” said Nate Poppino, the court communications manager of the Idaho Judicial branch.
The first case, State v. Crombie, is at 8:45 a.m. The second case, Bowen v. Penrod, is at 10 a.m. The final case, Smith v. Penny Manning in Her Official Capacity, is at 11:15 a.m. A Q&A will be held at 12:30 p.m.
Poppino said the courts are a way to dissolve disputes in an unbiased independent way. Each county in Idaho has a courthouse where judges hear different cases.
After any court decision, the person charged has a certain amount of time to appeal. An appeal often is assigned to the Idaho State Supreme Court. The Supreme Court views the case differently; the judges are examining why it was appealed, and not redoing the whole case.
“These appeals are all based around some specific rule of law that people think wasn't followed and revisiting how the case was done originally,” Poppino said.
The process of the appeals begins with understanding the original case. Then both sides can send in written arguments. Once that is completed, the hearings are scheduled. At the hearings both sides argue “the merits of the appeal,” Poppino said. Each side has about 30 minutes to address the court.
The appeal focuses on the areas of law, and the justices examine if it was followed properly. After the hearings are finished the court makes a decision.
“It's very thoughtfully and carefully done because this court, again, is Idaho's highest state court. Their opinions, their decisions, essentially set how Idaho interprets the rule of law on certain things,” Poppino said.
To read about the court cases on Wednesday before attending the hearing go to the court calendar.
The decision on Wednesday’s cases will come out at a later date. To learn about the cases and the results go to isc.idaho.gov.