December 5, 2023
By If/When/How

If/When/How, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice at UC Berkeley School of Law are pleased to announce the winners of the eighteenth annual Writing Prize for New Student Scholarship in Reproductive Rights & Justice. Congratulations!

  • First place: “Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization: A Critical Race Perspective” by Sophie Brill, 2023 J.D. Candidate at St. John’s University School of Law
  • Second place: “Fruit of the Poisonous Tree:  Potential Protections for Inmates Subject to Sexual Victimization in the Post-Dobbs World” by Elena LeVan, 2024 J.D. Candidate at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law.
  • Third place: “Prison Abortion and Prison Abolition: Access to Abortions for People Involved in the United States Criminal Legal System” by Mira Lerner, 2024 J.D. Candidate at Harvard Law School.
  • Honorable mention: “Breaking the Colonial Cycle: Indigenous Reproductive Health and Freedom from Relationship Violence as Post-Dobbs Health Law and Policy Priorities” by Emma Ratzman, 2024 J.D. Candidate at Georgetown University Law Center.

The first place winning submission has a presumption of publish-ability and will receive expedited review by the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice. Winning authors will also receive cash prizes of $750, $500, or $250 and a copy of Cases on Reproductive Rights and Justice.If/When/How thanks everyone who submitted an entry this year. There were many wonderful articles that exhibited exceptional writing and research and profound understanding and analysis of reproductive rights and justice. If/When/How is also grateful to the Center for Reproductive Rights and the Center on Reproductive Rights and Justice for co-sponsoring the writing prize, the preliminary readers and academic judges for their hard work and thoughtful evaluation, and the Berkeley Journal of Gender, Law & Justice for promoting student scholarship.

The Writing Prize asks students to think expansively about reproductive rights and justice and to analyze issues using an intersectional lens. We encourage writing that amplifies lesser-heard voices, suggests innovative solutions, and takes into account the realities and the lived experiences of the people most affected by reproductive oppression. The suggested theme for 2023 was “A Different World Is Possible: Repro Health, Rights, and Justice Post-Dobbs.”

For questions or further information, contact Cammie Dodson, Professional Development Manager, at [email protected].