The 2024 competition solicited papers that provided analysis or insights on issues at the intersection of technology law and policy. A panel of judges selected the winners in a fully-blind judging process.

The winners are:

  • Evan Chiacchiaro, Georgetown University Law Center. “Generative AI and Electoral Communications.”
  • Sherry Tseng, Georgetown University Law Center. “Making Vulnerability: Platforms and their Affordances.”

Congratulations to our winning authors, and thank you to everyone who submitted excellent papers for this competition!

2023 Winners

First Place

Sean Norick Long, Alejandra Catharia Uria, and Elena Sokoloski

Second Place

Cleo-Symone Scott

Third Place

Johanna Hahn

2023 Writing Competition

The 2023 competition challenged students to explore emerging technologies, new applications of technologies, and their relationships to social justice. A panel of judges selected the three winners in a fully-blind judging process from dozens of submissions to the competition.

1st Place: Sean Norick Long, Georgetown University; Alejandra Catharia Uria, Yale University; and Elena Sokoloski, Yale University. “Digital Access to Justice: Automating Court Fee Waivers in Oklahoma”

2nd Place: Cleo-Symone Scott, University of Richmond. “Biopiracy: Using New Laws and Databases to Protect Indigenous Communities”

3rd Place: Johanna Hahn, Harvard University. “Blame the Human, Not (Just) the Algorithm: Regulating Facial Recognition Technology to Prevent Wrongful Arrests”

2022 Winners

First Place

Alyssa Rose Domino

Second Place

Eric Leis

Third Place

Yinuo Geng

2022 Writing Competition

A panel of judges selected the three winners in a fully-blind judging process from the more than forty submissions to the competition. Thank you to all who submitted papers, as well as our judges who took the time to review and select our winners this year.

1st Place: Alyssa Rose Domino, Georgetown University Law Center, “From Food on a Platter to Food on the Platform: Datafication of the Restaurant Industry”

2nd Place: Eric Leis, The Law School at University of Notre Dame, “Judicial Review of Commissioner HAL 9000”

3rd Place: Yinuo Geng, Georgetown University Law Center, “Comparing ‘Deepfake’ Regulatory Regimes in the United States, the European Union and China”

Honorable Mention: Gabriella Mills, University of Houston Law Center, “The Limitations of Artificial Intelligence in the Sociological Sphere: Pretrial Risk Assessments, Domestic Violence, and the Bias Between”

2021 Winners

First Place

Matthew Leiwant

Second Place

Dana Holmstrand

Third Place

Rachel Anderson

2021 Writing Competition

The competition, conducted with generous support from BSA | The Software Alliance, challenged students to explore the emerging and sustained challenges to legal and political structures created by online platforms, digital services, and other emerging technologies. A panel of judges—comprising representatives from academia, civil society, and industry—selected the three winners in a fully-blind judging process from the more than forty submissions to the competition.

1st Place: Matthew Leiwant, Georgetown University, “Locked Out: How Algorithmic Tenant Screening Exacerbates the Eviction Crisis in the United States”

2nd Place: Dana Holmstrand, Georgetown University, “A Haunted (Smart) House: Smart Home Devices as Tools of Harassment and Abuse”

3rd Place: Rachel Anderson, University of Virginia, “Geo-Targeting Jurisdiction: Online Ads and the Economics of Specific Jurisdiction”