The North Dakota Supreme Court announced it will live-stream the oral argument in State v. Helm on Tuesday morning, June 16 at 10:45 am.  The live webcast will be conducted on a trial basis as part of the Court’s outreach programs for North Dakota schools. Those programs called CourtConnections and Courtrooms2Classrooms are efforts to assist in educating students about the role and function of the judicial branch.

On Tuesday morning several Mandan High School government classes will observe the arguments.  Normally the students would travel to the Capitol building to see arguments in a case but during the COVID-19 pandemic the Court has used an electronic meeting site to conduct all of its oral arguments.

During the electronic arguments, lawyers or individuals present their cases and the Justices ask questions just like any in-person proceeding before the Court. Public access to the State Capitol was restricted in mid-March, and since then the Court has operated at near-normal capacity by conducting more than 50 electronic oral arguments and issuing more than 75 written decisions.

The oral argument on Tuesday is open to the public and available for viewing by clicking on https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCdGGOLvrwBQq1TzPrnJfHOQ