The Ruth Bader Ginsburg Scholar Award
About
The American Constitution Society’s Ruth Bader Ginsburg Award recognizes an outstanding scholar in the early stages of their academic career who has demonstrated those qualities exemplified by Justice Ginsburg: scholarly excellence, the ability to imagine how society might be more just and more equal, and the determination to use the law and one’s scholarship to creatively and strategically make the imagined real.
2023 Winner
The American Constitution Society has selected Leah Litman, Professor of Law at the University of Michigan School of Law, to receive the 2023 Ruth Bader Ginsburg Scholar Award.
Professor Litman teaches and writes on constitutional law, federal courts, and federal sentencing. Her research examines unidentified and implicit values that are used to structure the legal system, the federal courts, and the legal profession. Litman’s recent work has appeared or will appear in the California Law Review, Michigan Law Review, Virginia Law Review, Texas Law Review, Duke Law Journal, and Northwestern Law Review, among other journals. Her writing for popular audiences has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and Slate. She also co-founded Women Also Know Law, a media platform designed to promote the work of women and nonbinary academics. Read more »
Selection Committee members:
Abbye Atkinson, Class of 1965 Assistant Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law
Joseph Fishkin, Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law
Dahlia Lithwick, Senior Editor at Slate
Melissa Murray*, Frederick I. and Grace Stokes Professor of Law; Faculty Director, Birnbaum Women’s Leadership Network at NYU School of Law
Micah Schwartzman, Hardy Cross Dillard Professor of Law; Roy L. and Rosamond Woodruff Morgan Professor of Law; Director, Karsh Center for Law and Democracy at University of Virginia School of Law
Julie Suk, Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law
*Recused herself from consideration of Leah Litman’s nomination and selection.
Recognition
The Awardee will be recognized at the ACS National Convention, via media release, and on the ACS website, and will receive a cash prize of $5,000.
Eligibility
Tenure-track or tenured faculty or faculty with similar status who have been full-time law teachers for 10 years or less as of June 30, 2022 are eligible.
Nominations
The period for submitting nominations for the 2023 Ruth Bader Ginsburg Scholar Award is now closed. Please stay tuned for updates on the 2024 Award later this year.
Please contact ACS Vice President of Policy and Program Christopher Wright Durocher at cdurocher@acslaw.org with any questions.