Center for Civic Values

An innovative, hands-on experience in the law for New Mexico middle school and high school students of all ages and abilities.

NEWS!

2023 State Final Results

2023 Qualifier Results 

Center for Civic Values

At the Center for Civic Values (CCV), we envision a society in which all people understand, value, and participate in the processes of self-government.

We further our vision by providing education and resources to encourage public participation in the law. Since 1978 CCV has been the administrator and host of various law-related education programs, including Gene Franchini High School Mock Trial program.

Gene Franchini High School Mock Trial

An Innovative, Hands-On Experience in the Law

Mock trial is an innovative, hands-on experience in the law for high school students of all ages and abilities. Every year hundreds of New Mexico teenagers and their teacher advisors and attorney coaches spend the better part of the school year researching, studying and preparing a hypothetical courtroom trial involving issues that are important and interesting to young people.

Latest News

2021 State Competition Results

Congratulations to all the teams who competed this past weekend.

The mock trial competition would be difficult to continue if it were not for the New Mexico State Legislature and their support for the program. Special thanks to Senator Jacob Candelaria who always supports mock trial and makes sure we are included in the yearly budget.

We also recognize our fiscal agent the UNM School of Law. Without their support and willingness to sponsor the mock trial program, we would not be able to access the funds from the legislature.

The mock trial program awarded our first Teacher Coach of the Year Award. This year’s winner is Bill Torres from Cottonwood Classical. His students nominated him and had the following accolades: Despite splitting time between speech and debate obligations as well as a national qualifying We the People class, he still managed to take time to coach our team and help us strive for success in mock trial. He was very helpful in helping us cope with the inherently different environment that social distancing measures have created. Though a lot of people have struggled in the new environment, Mr. Torres has done a lot of work to try to help the students who are struggling the most and make this year that has been so had just a little bit easier. He has done what he can to help he consistently shows that he cares about his students. He also allows students to have the autonomy that they need to learn and grow from their experiences doing mock trial. He does his best to give students the support that they need and push them in the right direction, but he ultimately allows them to explore the content in their own way and to express themselves through it. I am lucky to have the opportunity to work with Mr. Bill Torres and we are glad for the opportunity to represent him. CONGRATULATIONS!

This year’s recipient of the Gene Franchini New Mexico High School Mock Trial Scholarship is Roman Martinez from Albuquerque Academy.

The Michelle Giger Professionalism Award is given to a team that receives the most nominations from their fellow competitors. The team that wins can send a student from their mock trial team to represent students on the CCV Board of Directors. The student will bring a new perspective and ideas from the student’s point of view for the board to hear and consider when making decisions about the mock trial program. Congratulations to Volcano Vista Black for winning the award this year!


2021 Qualifier Results

Congratulations to all of the teams who competed in the 2021 Virtual Qualifier Mock Trial.

Center for Civic Values

CCV was founded originally in 1962 as the New Mexico Bar Foundation and is organized as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable and educational corporation. Our offices are in Albuquerque, New Mexico; we have program activities throughout the state; and, our educational materials are used in classrooms and mock trial programs across the country.

CCV participates in GuideStar©, the online standard for nonprofit accountability; you may review CCV’s GuideStar(c) listing here.