Columbia Undergraduate Law Review High School Essay Contest
Columbia Undergraduate Law Review High School Essay Contest is a writing competition for high school students interested in exploring legal issues and honing their writing skills. This annual contest provides a platform for young scholars to engage with complex legal topics, express their perspectives, and showcase their analytical abilities.
Interested in the competition?
Competition Overview
Current high school students
Eligibility
Free
Entry fee
June 27, 2025
Submission deadline
First week of August
Results and winners are notified
Competition Details
1. Eligibility
This competition is open internationally to all current high school students (recent graduates not included).
2. Contest Prompt
Due Process and the Limits of Government Power
Due Process, enshrined in the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, is a fundamental safeguard against arbitrary government action, ensuring that individuals are not deprived of life, liberty, or property without fair and lawful procedures. It stands as a cornerstone of American legal protections and has influenced international human rights law. However, in times of national crisis or other moments perceived to be a threat to political order, governments have often made decisions at the expense of individual rights. From internment during World War II to the detention of civilians after 9/11, tensions between due process and claims of governmental necessity have sparked enormous debate. Today, questions surrounding immigration, student rights, and executive power continue to test the limitations of due process protections in the United States and across the world.
Given the importance of due process as a safeguard against governmental overreach, discuss how governments should balance the need for effective governance with the protection of individual rights granted by due process. Do governments ever have a right to limit individual due process? When, if ever, should due process protections yield to government claims of necessity? Reflect on these questions and present a legal argument in response to this prompt. Use legal reasoning and historical or contemporary examples to support your argument.
3. Prompt Requirements
- Your response must make reference to at least one court case or legal document. You are welcome to use the case or legislation mentioned in the prompt.
- No more than 1,500 words with the Chicago citation format
- All essays should be submitted as PDF files.
- Each contestant may only submit one essay for consideration
4. Winners
The winning essay will be published on the CULR website, the winner and runners-up will be invited to a speaker event hosted by CULR.
