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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr., a Trenton native, speaks at Rutgers-Newark in 2011. Alito will judge a content between Rutgers Law students this month. (Tim Farrell | The Star-Ledger)

NEWARK -- Rutgers School of Law students will argue a hypothetical First Amendment case before Supreme Justice Samuel Alito in a contest later this month.

Alito, a New Jersey native, will lead a panel of federal judges who oversee the new competition between law students at Rutgers-Camden and Rutgers-Newark.

The event, named the Judge Leonard I. Garth Competition, will be held April 11 at Rutgers-Newark.

A team of two law students from the Camden campus will argue against a team two law students from the Newark campus in a hypothetical case. The winners will have their names engraved on a plaque hung at both the Newark and Camden law school campuses.

Garth, who died in September, was a United States Court of Appeals judge for the Third Circuit for more than 40 years. He served as an adjunct professor of appellate advocacy for 20 years at Rutgers Law school and, before his death, came up with the idea for a competition between the two campuses.

"He was a role model for what every judge, lawyer and indeed, person should strive to be: principled, courageous, industrious, and compassionate," said Ronald Chen, Rutgers Law School Co-dean.

Alito clerked for Garth during the 1976-1977 court term

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.