Thank you to our sponsorship partners, ABOTA and the MSBA Civil Litigation Section.

2021-22

First Place:  William Benson | St. Thomas Academy, Class of 2022 | Common Good Environmentalism

Second Place: Aleen Jude | Minnetonka High School, Class of 2023 | Environmental Policy and Our Constitutions: Should They Be Kept Separate? 

Third Place: Lucas Wagner | Eden Prairie High School, Class of 2023 | For Ourselves and Our Posterity: A Constitutional Environmental Right

2019-2020

First place:  Mackenzie Schmidt | Homeschool, Class of 2020 | Felons Should Have the Right to Vote

Second place:  Maddy Breton | St. Paul Academy, Class of 2020 | Second-Class Citizens: The Case Against Felon Disenfranchisement

Third place:  Zachary Dyar | St. Paul Academy, Class of 2020 | The Disenfranchisement of Felons on Probation: A Breach of Fundamental Rights

Since we could not get together for the annual Awards Luncheon, the contest winners were recognized at a virtual ceremony with members of the court.

2018-2019

Gabriel Konar-Steenberg | St. Paul Academy and Summit School | Race is Real: The Equal Protection Implications of Desegregation and Affirmative Action

Lily Nestor | St. Paul Academy and Summit School | Solutions to Segregation: Quotas v. Holistic Review

Gabriela Hernandez | Breck School | Law of Ignorance

2017-2018

This year's essay contest explored hate speech in the context of the 25th Anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in R.A.V. v. St. Paul.  Thank you to our sponsorship partners, ABOTA and the MSBA Civil Litigation Section. Winning essays were selected by a panel of judges to receive a $500 scholarship.  

The winning essays are:

Stephanie Frisch | St Paul Academy and Summit School | A National Dilemma: Hate Speech Censorship
Edmond Laird-Raylor | St. Paul Academy and Summit School | Regulation or Respect
Isabelle Lindahl | Chisago Lakes High School | One Nation, Under the Constitutional Amendments
Georgia Pharris | Southwest High School | Free Speech and its Limits
Amelia Roth | Cook County High School | Hate Speech is Free Speech

2016-2017

Carly Dammann - Chanhassen High School  Essay
John (Campbell) Morrison - The Blake School  Hand It Over:Exploring the Danger Of Power In an Age of Technological Advancement
Marie Nalan - Grand Rapids High School  Reasonable Suspicion in the Digital Age
Grace Seeley - The Blake School  The Fourth Amendment Strikes Back: When Can Student Phones Lawfully Be Searched?
Cole Woerner - The Blake School  The Court Should Clarify, and do so with Care
Elena Stanley - Duluth East High School  Expectation of Privacy

2015-2016

Ken Han – Eden Prairie High School    A Day in the Life of the Magna Carta
Grant Kleiman – Hutchinson High School    Magna Carta Matters Today
Celina Ough – East Ridge High School       Protesting the Patriot Act
Katherine Yan – Eden Prairie High School        Pay Discrimination, the Lilly Ledbetter Act, and the Magna Carta

2014-2015

Aaron Shoemaker - Saint Peter High School   Social Media Ethics: The Rights of the Student in Public Schools
Julia Rock - The Blake School
Edwina King - Park Center Int’l Baccalaureate  The Reality of Students in the Digital Age 
Hannah Magarian - The Blake School
Weston Nelson - Roseau Homeschool  Free Speech Comes With a Cost: Responsibility

2013-2014

Cade Zacharias - Hermantown
Christopher Hofstadter - Blake School
Kate Gross - Hawley Secondary
Andrew Magnuson - Chisago Lakes
Alex Long - Bryon High School in Rochester