The Academy for Justice and Arizona State Law Journal Present:
2024 National Student Writing Competition on Criminal Justice Reform: CLOSED
Past call for submissions:
The Academy for Justice at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and Arizona State Law Journal are seeking applicants for the 2024 Criminal Justice Reform National Writing Competition to promote legal scholarship of criminal justice reform.
- Applicants must be enrolled full-time at an ABA-accredited law school at the time of submission.
- Applicants may write on any criminal justice topic, but all submissions should offer recommendation(s) or solution(s) to the problem(s) being highlighted.
- Articles must be no longer than 10,000 words, including footnotes. Shorter articles are also encouraged.
- Article selection criteria will include clarity, accessibility of arguments, practical relevance, measured tone, and discussion of nonpartisan recommendation(s) or solution(s).
To apply, please email article submissions to AJ.ASLJ.crimlawwritingcomp@gmail.com by July 10, 2024 at 11:59 PM. In your submission, please include a cover page indicating your school and anticipated year of graduation.
The contest winner will be notified in August 2024. The winner will receive $1,000 in prize money, and the winner’s article will be considered for publication in the Arizona State Law Journal.
This Year’s Winner:
We are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2024 National Student Writing Competition on Criminal Justice Reform is Rachel Kaplan, a third year law student at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.
Rachel is originally from Carlsbad, CA. Prior to law school, she earned her B.A. from the University of Arizona W. A. Franke Honors College, where she triple-majored in Political Science (Law and Public Policy emphasis), Judaic Studies, and Law. While in law school, Rachel has served as an extern for the ACLU of Arizona, Co-President of the Jewish Law Students Association, Co-Captain of the Jessup International Moot Court Team, and a Note & Comment Editor for Jurimetrics. She is currently a Rule 39 Certified Limited Practice Student with ASU’s Public Defender Clinic and will be joining Jones, Skelton & Hochuli as an associate following graduation.
Rachel’s winning submission examines the legal and scientific challenges posed by Arizona’s cannabis legalization in the context of the state’s zero-tolerance DUI statute. Despite the legalization of recreational cannabis, Arizona maintains strict DUI laws that criminalize drivers with any detectable amount of cannabis or its metabolites in their system, irrespective of actual impairment. This creates a significant legal dilemma, as current scientific methods struggle to accurately measure cannabis impairment, unlike well-established metrics for alcohol. The paper delves into the complexities of determining cannabis-induced impairment, highlighting the absence of a reliable, science-based standard that can differentiate between recent use and impairment. This ambiguity can result in unjust DUI convictions, where individuals are penalized based solely on the presence of cannabis metabolites, which can remain in the body long after the effects have worn off. The paper argues for legal reforms and advocates for more advanced scientific research to develop accurate impairment testing methods. Such reforms are essential to ensure that DUI laws are fair and reflective of actual driver impairment, rather than the mere presence of legally consumed substances in a driver’s system.
