U.S. Court of Appeals visits Moscow

On Wednesday, two University of Idaho law students accomplished something few of their peers get the chance to do.

Rebecca Jensen and Alejandra Cabrales presented oral arguments in front of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Federal judges Richard Tallman, Ryan Nelson and Danielle Forrest visited Moscow to hear arguments for three cases at the UI College of Law building.

It marked the first time since 2018 that the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is one level below the U.S. Supreme Court, visited the Moscow campus. It also marked the culmination of months of work for Cabrales and Jensen.

Jensen and Cabrales are legal interns for the UI’s Immigration Litigation and Appellate Clinic. They work in a pro-bono program and were assigned to represent a Cuban man seeking asylum. They argued in his defense Wednesday.

Their work began last year when they filed a 60-page opening brief with the court. From July until now, Jensen estimates they worked approximately 500 hours on the case.

“That doesn’t include me texting (Cabrales) in the middle of the night, ‘What do you think about this?’ ” Jensen said.

Cabrales called Wednesday’s event nerve-racking but rewarding. Their fellow students sat in the Menard Law Building courtroom to watch the proceedings. Jensen said their client and his family were viewing the hearing on YouTube.

“There is definitely a lot of pressure to kind of put (the client) in the best light and make sure that we give him the best opportunity to have his case heard,” Jensen said.

Cabrales said not many people get the opportunity to argue in front of the Ninth Circuit.

“So, I think it’s really rewarding for us as law students to get this chance and opportunity to do that,” she said.

Geoffrey Heeren, director of the Immigration Litigation and Appellate Clinic and an associate professor of law, helped Cabrales and Jensen with their case. He said this experience is also valuable to the UI students in attendance as they get to observe litigation at a high level.

Jensen, Cabrales and everyone else who made their arguments withstood rapid-fire questioning from Tallman, Nelson and Forrest. Afterward, the judges held a question and answer session with the students in attendance.

Heeren said it will likely be months before the judges make their decision on the case.

He complimented Jensen and Cabrales and said it was “an honor and pleasure” to work with them.

“I think our client was very well-served by their advocacy of him,” Heeren said.

Both students are in their final year at UI. Following graduation, Cabrales hopes to work in public defense in western Washington. Jensen will be a clerk for the Utah Supreme Court and eventually hopes to join a private firm.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.