After receiving numerous excellent submissions, the HULR is excited to announce our Fall 2025 Essay Contest Winners. We thank all applicants for their enthusiasm and commitment to participating in our contest, as well as all the teachers who helped spread the word about us and encouraged their students to apply.

Award winners are offered a book of their choice as well as a diploma. All winning submissions can be viewed below.

1st Place

Rory Baskin, Formal Freedom, Functional Silence: Literacy and the Boundaries of Expression

2nd Place

Nathaniel Nadler, Free Speech, Not Free Amplification

3rd Place

Cherry Zhang, Digital Doppelgängers: Rewriting Free Speech for the Age of AI

2025 Essay Contest Theme

The theme for the HULR’s Fall 2025 Essay Contest is “The Boundaries of Expression.” Free speech is recognized as fundamental to a healthy democratic society; however, its scope has been constantly debated throughout history — from social media regulation to campus speech policies to journalistic freedom. How should legal systems balance free speech with competing interests that include (but are not limited to) public safety, national security, and democratic participation? Analyze how one (or more) jurisdictions approach free speech legal challenges and explain if/where boundaries should be drawn. Please be sure your legal argument is clear and sophisticated, incorporating specific examples to support your claims.