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Skip Navigation LinksCurrent Students > Student Activities > Writing Competitions > 2008 Pacific Legal Foundation's Ninth Annual Program for Judicial Awareness Writing Competition

2008 Pacific Legal Foundation's Ninth Annual Program for Judicial Awareness Writing Competition

DEADLINE: No later than May 30, 2008.

Pacific Legal Foundation's Ninth Annual Program for Judicial Awareness Writing Competition

$9,500 to be awarded for graduate writing excellence.

The Program for Judicial Awareness will award up to three cash prizes for publishable student essays that address one of the following topics. Multiple prizes may be awarded for each topic should entries warrant. Entries should thoroughly address pertinent case law and applicable academic literature.

Topic I

In recent years, the Supreme court has reiterated that its primary test for violations of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment is the multi-factored analysis of Penn Central Transportation Co v. City of New York, 438 U.S. 104 (1978). Using the criteria set out in that case, what sort(s) of land-use regulations do you think are most likely to be struck down as regulatory takings over the coming decade, and why?

Topic II

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination on the basis of national origin. Should this ban be understood to mandate special accommodations (e.g., free translation services) for non-English speakers? Why or why not?

Topic III

Traditionally, courts found that government regulators violated the substantive due process rights of property owners if their actions were found to be arbitrary and capricious. However some jurisdictions have ruled that such violations are only triggered by government action that "shocks the conscience." See, e.g., Mongeau v. City of Marlborough, 2007 WL 1793137 (1st Cir. 2007). Explain why the "shocks the conscience" standard is inappropriate to gauge substantive violations of the Due Process Clause in cases involving property rights.

  • 1st Place: $5,000
  • 1st Runner-Up: $3,000
  • 2nd Runner-Up: $1,500

$10,000 To Be Awarded For Junior Faculty Writing of Distinction

The Program for Judicial Awareness will award $10,000 to one junior faculty member for an original contribution to legal scholarship on the following question:

The Fifth Amendment mandates that government may not take private property for public use without payment of just compensation. Some legal commentators have argued that the law of governmental takings should be balanced by a theory of "givings," such that compensation for the taking of property should be offset by the amount of value attributable to the existence of general governmental programs and services. Explain why the "givings" rationale is inconsistent with the purpose and function of the Takings Clause.

Eligibility Rules:

All submissions must be original works of publishable quality and should comply with the Harvard Law Review Association's Bluebook Uniform System of Citation (18th ed.), or the Chicago Manual of Style (15th ed.). There is no page limit for entries, although a word count of 8,000 to 14,000 words is suggested.

Students must be enrolled in an accredited law school or graduate school in the United States at the time their submission is written. Junior faculty entrants must be employed full time in a non-tenured, non-adjunct faculty position at an accredited law school or university in the United States at the time their submission is written.

The Program for Judicial Awareness welcomes submissions by entrants who have expertise in disciplines other than law, and an interdisciplinary approach is encouraged. Submissions will be evaluated by Pacific Legal Foundation for the purposes of awarding prizes, and the Foundation reserves the right to adjust the number and distribution of awards depending on submissions received. The Program for Judicial Awareness also reserves the right to reproduce and distribute winning entries for purposes in accord with its educational mission. All winning entries will be posted on the Social Science Research Network online database.

Faculty Advisors & Research Guidance:

Students are encouraged to seek the guidance and input of a faculty member of their own choosing.

Submission Guidelines:

Submissions that have been published before May 30, 2008, will be considered ineligible. Winning entries submitted for publication must include the following acknowledgment on the title page or in the Author's Note: This article was the [first/second/third] prize winner in the [student/junior faculty category of] the Ninth Annual Program for Judicial Awareness Writing Competition, sponsored by Pacific Legal Foundation. For more information, visit Pacific Legal Foundation's website at http://www.pacificlegal.org.

All entries must be submitted no later than May 30, 2008. Electronic submissions are preferred, and must be transmitted in pdf format. Entries may be submitted in any of three ways:

  1. Through our website: http://www.pacificlegal.org/?mvcTask=writingCompetition&sub=submissionForm
  2. Email: clt@pacificlegal.org
  3. First Class Mail:
    Judicial Awareness Writing Competition
    Pacific Legal Foundation
    3900 Lennane Drive, Suite 200
    Sacramento, CA 95834

Background Research Materials:

The Program for Judicial Awareness will make available preliminary background research materials for each topic. Interested entrants should submit questions or requests for research packets through our website or by email to Cindy Turpin at clt@pacificlegal.org.

Visit the PJA blog: http://pjanews.typepad.com/program_for_judicial_awar/