The 2016 Ninth Circuit Civics Scholarship Contest begins January 1, 2016,
and ends on April 15, 2016. It is open to Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors
in public, private and parochial high schools and home-schooled students of
equivalent status.
The contest has two components: 1) Individual students can express their
thoughts and ideas in an essay of 500 to 750 words, and/or 2) Individual
students or teams of up to three students may submit a 2-3 minute video
presentation on the theme. Students may participate in one or both
competitions, but a student may be involved in the production of only one
video. Children of employees of the federal courts are not eligible to
participate.
This year the contest asks high school students to consider how Miranda
Rights came to be defined, how they are safeguarded by the federal courts,
and why they are so important to our system of justice.
The U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska will conduct preliminary
judging for Alaskan student submissions and will award cash prizes for top
Alaskan contestants in both the essay and video categories. District
winners will receive $500 for first place, $300 for second place, and $200
for third place in each of the two categories. Local winners will be
announced in May 2016, and finalists will move on to compete in the Ninth
Circuit contest.
The Ninth Circuit Civics Scholarship contest is open to students in Alaska,
Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington,
Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Cash prizes will also be awarded at
the Ninth Circuit level. The Circuit contest winners will be announced in
June.
More Contest rules, entry instructions and other information will be
available December 1, 2015, at http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/
Download 2016 Civics Contest Poster.
