Calling All Law Students! 2024 Writing Prize Submissions Are Now Open.
If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice invite submissions for the 18th annual Writing Prize for New Student Scholarship in Reproductive Rights & Justice.
More information on how to apply, the length and type of accepted submissions, and on the suggested theme for this year’s prize are available here. The submission deadline is 5:00 pm PT on Monday, November 18, 2024.
Winning authors will receive cash prizes: $750 (1st place), $500 (2nd place), or $250 (3rd place), and a copy of the textbook, Cases on Reproductive Rights and Justice (Murray & Luker). The first-place winning submission will also be granted a “presumption of publishability” and receive expedited review by the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice.
The theme for this year is “How Can Reproductive Justice End Family Policing.” The post-Roe landscape has amplified the connection between attacks on reproductive autonomy and family integrity. More so than ever, people are being forced to remain pregnant and subsequently punished by the family policing system–or the so-called “child welfare” system– for raising children without the necessary support or resources. Rather than providing support, the family policing system acts as a site of reproductive coercion and control, particularly for Black, Latine, and Indigenous families, and other marginalized communities. We encourage students to envision creative and expansive approaches to ending family policing and securing the right to parent the children we have in safe communities, a fundamental tenant of the Reproductive Justice framework. Submissions might explore topics such as mandatory reporting, pre- or post-natal drug testing, other legal and policy approaches to curtailing the reach of the family policing system, and/or highlight critical intersections between reproductive justice and family regulation.
For reference, 2023 Writing Prize winners are available here.
Reproductive Justice Project
The Reproductive Justice Project advocates for bodily autonomy and the right to choose whether and under what circumstances people have and raise children by supporting reproductive rights groups around the globe.
This year, RJP will be partnering with several organizations committed to advancing reproductive justice. With the continuing state and national attacks on abortion rights and access, we will be assisting organizations that are committed to protecting people’s right and ability to choose. RJP may be partnering with organizations in other areas as well, potentially including workplace protections for pregnant employees, international human rights law, and gender-based violence. Once accepted into the SLP, students will have the opportunity to rank their preferences for which organization and which project they want to work on. Due to the sensitive nature of RJP’s partner organizations’ work, the exact details of each project are highly confidential unless indicated otherwise.
Most projects take the form of proactive policy or education work on the national or state-level. On occasion, there may be opportunities to work on litigation as well. Regardless of the topic, students will engage in research related to policy initiatives, cases, existing regulations, and real-world impacts. Depending on each partner organization’s needs, students will create deliverables such as research spreadsheets, policy recommendations, memoranda, and/or briefs.
Supervision: Students in the Reproductive Justice Project will receive training and supervision from attorneys associated with their individual research projects.
Time Commitment: 15+ hours per semester (minimum 15 hours, option to extend if applicants are interested in long-term projects). Each project has a different cadence, but teams generally have considerable discretion in planning out their work. There are usually three check-in meetings and three deliverable deadlines during the semester, which we do our best to arrange so that they don’t interfere with any big 1L assignments or midterms.
For more information, please contact the student leaders at reproductivejusticeproject@berkeley.edu.