Constance Baker Motley National Student Writing Competition

The Constance Baker Motley Writing Competition honors the legacy of Constance Baker Motley, a civil rights leader, elected official, and the first African-American woman appointed to the federal bench. Papers will be judged on their effective use, analysis and/or expansion of legal scholarship. The judging committee includes federal judges and leading academics.

The student authors of the top three papers will receive special recognition at the ACS National Convention in the summer of 2019 and a cash prize for their work. The winner will be awarded $3,000 and each of the two runners-up will receive $1,000. The top paper may also receive an offer of publication in the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law.

2019 Judges: Hon. Ketanji Brown Jackson, Hon. Jacqueline Nguyen, Hon. Carlton W. Reeves, Victoria Rodriguez Roldan, Kermit Roosevelt, Brian Soucek, and Ciara Torres-Spelliscy

The competition is open to law students. Deadline Feb. 10. To learn more, click here.