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Ninth Circuit Civics Contest

2025 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest

Prompt: When Duty Calls: Why Exercising the Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship is Important to Me

The 2025 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest is open to high school students residing in Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington state, the U.S. Territory of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Students in the 9th through 12th grades attending public, private, parochial and charter schools, and home-schooled students of equivalent grade status, are invited to participate. Children of federal judges, chambers staff and employees of federal court offices are not eligible to participate.

What is the thing you prize the most? The possession you would never give away? Never put someplace you couldn’t find it? Maybe you are thinking computer, phone, fancy jewelry, favorite childhood stuffie or something like that.

But how about your rights? As a U.S. citizen, you are guaranteed fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution and the laws of the United States. Hand in hand with those rights come serious responsibilities to our nation and our society.

The 2025 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest prompt challenges you to dive into the rights and responsibilities of being a U.S. citizen and explore deeply how they affect you and how you can affect them. There is no one correct way to answer the prompt and no specific rights you are expected to highlight. Here are a few questions that may help ignite your investigation. It is up to you to express your thoughts on this civics journey. Dive in!
- Which right or rights are you most excited to exercise when you reach the age of majority—18—or become an adult citizen through naturalization? Why?
- What constitutional rights can you exercise now? Have you exercised any of these, and what has it meant to you? Do you have plans to exercise any others?
- What constitutional rights can you exercise now? Have you exercised any of these, and what has it meant to you? Do you have plans to exercise any others?
- Why does the contest pair “rights” with “responsibilities” and state they go hand in hand?
Students may submit an essay or video or both beginning January 8th, 2025. Deadline for entries is March 14, 2025. The winners of the Southern District of California contest will have their essays or video’s submitted to the circuit-wide contest, as well as wining the following prizes:
- 1st Place: $1,000
- 2nd Place: $500
- 3rd Place: $250
All students who participate will be invited to attend a reception held at the Judith N. Keep and James M. Carter United States Federal Courthouse, where the submissions and winners will be recognized.
Click here for 2025 Circuit Civics Contest rules and details.

View 2025 Civics Contest Finalist Official News Release

Past Civic Contest Winners

2024 Essay and Video Contest

Arizona, California, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington state high school students won top prizes in the 2024 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest. In our ongoing efforts to promote civics education, the Ninth Circuit’s Public Information and Community Outreach (PICO) Committee, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the 15 judicial districts within the circuit sponsor an annual essay and video competition. The theme of the 2024 contest was “70 Years Later—The Legacy of Brown v. Board of Education.” In addressing the theme, students were asked to discuss the impact the decision had on law and society in an essay of 500-1,000 words or a 3-5 minute video.

2024 CIRCUIT & DISTRICT Winners:

Read the Winning Essays
Watch the Winning Videos

2023 Essay and Video Contest

High school students from California, Hawaii, Idaho, and Washington state are the winners of the 2023 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest, an essay and video contest sponsored by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and its 15 judicial districts, and the Ninth Circuit’s Public Information and Community Outreach (PICO) committee in an effort to promote civics education throughout the circuit. The theme was “The 28th Amendment—What Should Our Next Amendment Be?” and students were challenged to think about what amendment they would propose and why, and how they would get their amendment ratified.

2023 CIRCUIT & DISTRICT Winners:

Read the Winning Essays
Watch the Winning Videos

2022 Essay and Video Contest

Alaska, California, Montana and Washington state high school students are the winners of the 2022 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest, an educational outreach effort sponsored by the United States Courts for the Ninth Circuit and the Public Information and Community Outreach (PICO) Committee. This year’s theme was “The First Amendment and the Schoolhouse Gate: Students’ Free Speech Rights.” Students were asked to address “What are students’ free speech rights – and responsibilities – on and off campus?”

2022 CIRCUIT & DISTRICT Winners:

Read the Winning Essays
Watch the Winning Videos

2021 Essay and Video Contest

The 2021 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest is a circuit-wide essay and video competition for high school students. The contest focused on the question, “What Does Our American Community Ask of Us?” The goal is to help students discuss how a society strikes the appropriate balances within the framework of our Constitution between safeguarding our rights and fulfilling our responsibilities to each other. They can express themselves in a creative manner by writing an essay and/or producing a video.

Now in its sixth year, the contest is organized by the Ninth Circuit’s Public Information and Community Outreach Committee in collaboration with all the federal courts in the circuit.

2021 CIRCUIT Winners:

Read the Circuit Winning Essays |
Watch the Circuit Winning Videos

2021 DISTRICT Winners:

Read the District Winning Essays

2020 Essay and Video Contest

The 2020 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest is a circuit-wide essay and video competition for high school students. The contest focused on the 150th anniversary of the 15th Amendment, which granted voting rights to persons of color, and the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which accorded those same rights to women. The goal is to inform young people about their constitutional rights in order to help them become knowledgeable citizens while giving them a chance to express themselves in a creative manner by writing an essay and/or producing a video.

Now in its fifth year, the contest is organized by the Ninth Circuit’s Public Information and Community Outreach (PICO) Committee in collaboration with all of the federal courts in the circuit.

2020 CIRCUIT Winners:

Read the Circuit Winning Essays |
Watch the Circuit Winning Videos

2020 DISTRICT Winners:

Read the District Winning Essays

2019 Essay and Video Contest

The 2019 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest is a circuitwide essay and video competition for high school students. The contest focused on the role of the judicial branch in preserving our constitutional rights. The goal is to help young people to become knowledgeable citizens who are better able to participate in our democracy. Now in its fourth year, the contest is organized by the Ninth Circuit Courts and Community Committee in collaboration with all of the federal courts in the circuit.

The theme of the 2019 contest was “The 4th Amendment in the 21st Century—What is an ‘Unreasonable Search and Seizure’ in the Digital Age?” Students were challenged to write an essay or produce a short video focusing on how the federal courts have applied 4th Amendment protections to electronic data devices, particularly the cellphones upon which almost everyone relies.

2019 CIRCUIT Winners:

Read the Circuit Winning Essays |
Watch the Circuit Winning Videos

2019 DISTRICT Winners:

Read the District Winning Essays

2018 Essay and Video Contest

The 2018 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest is a circuitwide essay and video competition for high school students. The contest focuses on the individual rights and governmental limitations ensconced in the Constitution. The goal is helping young people to become knowledgeable citizens who are better able to participate in our democracy. Now in its third year as a circuit-wide event, the contest is organized by the Ninth Circuit Courts and Community Committee in collaboration with all of the federal courts in the circuit.

The theme of the 2018 contest was “The 14th Amendment 150 Years After Ratification: What Does Equal Protection Mean to Students?” Students were asked to write an essay or produce a short video explaining how Congress and the federal courts have applied the Equal Protection Clause to public education, whether in admissions, classrooms or on athletic fields

2018 CIRCUIT Winners:

Read the Winning Essays |
Watch the Winning Videos

2018 DISTRICT Winners:

Read the District Winning Essays

2017 Essay and Video Contest

Young people from Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada and Washington have been selected the winners of the 2017 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest, an educational outreach effort sponsored by the federal courts.

“Not to Be Forgotten: Legal Lessons of the Japanese Internment” was the theme of the contest, which focused on the incarceration of Japanese-American citizens at the outset of World War II and its relevance today as our government seeks to protect the nation from terrorism. Students were challenged to write an essay or produce a short video focusing on legal decisions which sought to strike a balance between national security and civil rights at a time of great uncertainty.

More than 1,000 young people entered the contest, which offered cash prizes, an opportunity for travel, and a chance to meet some of the nation’s preeminent jurists and legal practitioners.

2017 CIRCUIT Winners:

Read the Winning Essays |
Watch the Winning Videos

2017 DISTRICT Winners:

Read the District Winning Essays

2016 Essay and Video Contest

Young people from Arizona, California and the United States Territory of Guam have been selected the winners of the 2016 Ninth Circuit Civics Contest, an educational outreach effort organized by the federal courts of the western states.

The contest, which was open to high school students in nine western states and two Pacific Island jurisdictions, focused on the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Miranda v. Arizona. The 1966 ruling requires that persons in the custody of law enforcement officers be informed prior to questioning of their constitutional rights to remain silent and to have an attorney present during interrogation.

Students were challenged to write an essay or produce a short video on the topic. Teams of up to three students were allowed for video production. All told, more than 700 students entered the contest, which offered cash prizes and a chance to meet some of the nation’s preeminent jurists and legal practitioners.

2016 CIRCUIT Winners:

Read the Winning Essays |
Watch the Winning Videos

2015 Essay and Video Contest

All told, 303 students from 45 high schools in the greater San Diego area participated in the contest. Essays and videos were reviewed by panels of federal judges, attorneys, law clerks, staff attorneys and educators recruited from the Southern District and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Final judging panels picked 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in both contests plus two honorable mentions in the writing competition. The winners will receive generous cash prizes while all participating students will receive a commendation recognizing their efforts.

We are extremely pleased with the success of this effort to better inform young people about our democracy, particularly the judicial branch. Our thanks to the federal bench and bar, court and circuit staff, the San Diego educational community and the many others who contributed to this very worthwhile endeavor.

2015 CIRCUIT Winners:

Read the Winning Essays |
Watch the Winning Videos