The second-highest federal court in the land is coming to West Virginia University Friday morning (Oct. 29) to hear cases ranging from equal opportunity and trial venue issuesto citizensrights when police officers intentionally or unintentionally overstep their bounds.

Three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals will hear the three cases beginning at 9 a.m. in the Lugar Court Room of the College of Law.

The judges are all representatives of the Courts Fourth Circuit, based in Richmond, Va. The Fourth Circuit is one of 11 such judicial circuits serving regions across the country.

Under mandates of the Court of Appeals, their names wont be available until court convenes Friday morning, Law Dean John Fisher said.

Thats in keeping with the Courts policy, Fisher said. Judges are normally selected at random to hear cases, and their names traditionally arent released until the day arguments are heard.

The morning, Fisher said,will be a real opportunityfor law students and the public to see the process at work up close.

Most of us dont get the chance to see this court at work,Fisher said.The judges hear about 98 percent of the cases in Richmond. So this is a good chance for our students and for all of the community to come out and see how it all works at this level. The only other federal court above the Court of Appeals is the Supreme Court. Were very happy and very grateful that the judges are coming here.

The court was last here in September 2000, Fisher said. Here are brief capsules of the cases:

* United States of America v. Russell Lee Ebersole Was eastern Virginia an improper venue for Ebersole when he stood trial there for 25 counts of wire fraud? Ebersole, who worked there as a businessman, says another venue would have made for a more objective hearing of his case.

* Ernesto Acevedo Guerra v. Montgomery County, Md., and others Guerra was unintentionally shot by a Montgomery County detective while in a stolen car during a surveillance operation. Did that detective act accordingly when he drew his gun? And was he properly trained in the first place?

* Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Seafarers International Union and Paul Hall Center for Maritme Training and Education Forty-four applicants denied admission to the union and training program are alleging that the decision was based on their respective ages. If thats true, then the federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act was violated.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals is steeped in history. Its judges first convened in 1789 to handle legal matters in the Mid-Atlantic of our then-new country. After the Civil War in 1866, the Fourth Circuit was reconfigured to take in West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.