Each year, NCVLI hosts a Law Student Victims’ Rights Writing Competition. Open to law students and recent graduates the competition recognizes excellence in written analysis of the legal rights of crime victims.
Congratulations to the 2026 Student Writing Competition winners.
First Prize: Jordan Stevenson, American University Washington College of Law, “No One Can Hear You Scream”: Intimate Partner Violence and Family Justice Centers in Rural America
Second Prize: Hannah Beaulieu, Lewis & Clark Law School, The Prison Mandated Sentence: Sexual Abuse in Oregon’s Women’s Prison & Procedural Inadequacies
Third Prize: Sasha Burdsal, The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law, Stalking After Counterman: A State Comparative Analysis of True Threat
Keep reading to learn more about each prize winner.
Jordan Stevenson:
1. What inspired you to study and write on this topic?
Two things led me to this topic. First, I grew up in suburban Vancouver, Washington, but I went to college in rural Cheney, WA on the East side of the state. When peering out my window, it was farmland as far as the eye could see–the rolling Palouse hills and expansive star-studded sky. I loved living in a rural area more than I ever imagined I would. Second, before law school I was a paralegal at a family law firm, and we worked with many survivors of domestic abuse. Helping them through the civil system was really disempowering, which brought me to law school to be an SVU prosecutor. Now, I work for a prosecutors’ office whose Special Victims’ Unit is co-located within a Family Justice Center! When writing a paper for my Domestic Violence course, I combined my personal experience in Cheney with my professional passions to write about an under-studied issue, rural intimate partner violence.
2. What was the most surprising thing you learned while drafting your paper?
The biggest shock to me comes in the second sentence of my paper, which points out that intimate partner violence is disproportionately common and severe in rural areas compared to urban and suburban places. I knew that there were unique issues for domestic violence in rural areas, but I had no idea that the scale of the issue was statistically more acute.
3. What do you hope readers or the broader victims’ rights field take away from your paper?
I want the broader field to keep in mind that rural survivors of intimate partner violence are partners in their own liberation. People in rural areas need advocates that can work with creativity and alacrity to solve the unique challenges they face while respecting the culture of rural regions! There are a lot of great ideas about how to serve rural victims of crime, and many of them are coming from people living in those regions. But rural folks also deserve advocates from suburban and urban regions who are capable of meeting them where they’re at physically and culturally.
4. What is next for you in your career? (and if relevant how does this paper fit into that)
Following law school, I’m thrilled to begin my career in public service by clerking for Judge Anne K. Albright on the Appellate Court of Maryland, and I hope to do a trial court clerkship after that. After clerking, I will be a Special Victims prosecutor — I went to law school to become an SVU prosecutor and my work in law school has been oriented toward that goal. I am excited to work on improving the communities I serve through both prosecuting domestic and sexual abuse, and also working to ameliorate the root issues of crime and collateral consequences that are harmful to the communities I serve.
5. Anything else you want to share?
I am so thankful for the National Crime Victim Law Institute for sponsoring this competition and lending a platform for early professionals to share their research. Law students work diligently to research and toy around with new ideas to solve wicked legal and policy issues in society. It is vital that institutions with reach and impact consider new voices, reward their hard work, and give them an opportunity to build relationships with other advocates.
Hannah Beaulieu
1. What inspired you to study and write on this topic?
First, I was inspired to write this paper after touring Coffee Creek Correctional Facility and learning about the complicated complaint procedures adults in custody have to navigate. Second, I was motivated to research this topic more after Professor Meg Garvin spoke about sexual violence in prisons in my prison law and policy class. These two moments led me to dive deep into the issues Coffee Creek has faced in regard to sexual violence in prison, and what procedural barriers victims face while incarcerated.
2. What was the most surprising thing you learned while drafting your paper?
The most surprising thing I learned while writing this paper is how rampant sexual violence is in Oregon’s prison system, how little it is talked about, and how many procedural barriers to justice victims who are incarcerated face. Learning how accepted sexual violence is in Coffee Creek and other Oregon prisons was eye-opening. It demonstrated to me that the broader community accepts sexual violence in prison as part of the punishment for sentencing for crimes.
3. What do you hope readers or the broader victims’ rights field take away from your paper?
I hope that readers and the broader victims’ rights field learn from my paper that victims’ rights advocacy should extend to all crime victims, particularly those who are incarcerated and face extra barriers to justice. I hope that my paper shines a light on the epidemic of sexual violence that has occurred in Oregon’s women’s prison, and that advocates and policymakers reform the prison complaint system to allow sexual violence victims to have a voice without fear of retaliation.
4. What is next for you in your career? (and if relevant how does this paper fit into that)?
After graduation, my goal is to continue to work in the field of victims’ rights enforcement. I am passionate about criminal justice reform that removes barriers to justice for crime victims, whether they are incarcerated or not.
5. Anything else you want to share?
I want to thank NCVLI for giving students this opportunity to share their passion for victims’ rights advocacy through this competition. I want to thank Professor Aliza Kaplin for teaching her prison law and policy class and dedicating a day to focusing on sexual violence in prisons, and Professor Meg Garvin for teaching the topic from a place of empathy, passion, and knowledgeable legal insight.
Sasha Burdsal:
1. What inspired you to study and write on this topic?
Mine and others lived experiences inspired me to research this topic. Many women, including myself, have blocked someone on social media only to realize they created a new account to continue communications. In talking to a friend, he recommended I use my experiences to start my research. Through my research, I recognized “stalking” can be minimized and there are victims who question if they will run into their perpetrator on a daily basis. This research is an ode to many women’s experiences.
2. What was the most surprising thing you learned while drafting your paper?
First, the lack of proactive safeguards surprised me. A lot of what I found in my first round of research was news stories in which victims, primarily women, were terrified of their perpetrator and law enforcement took no action because they had to wait for physical harm. This type of reactive action from law enforcement emphasized the need for this note.
3. What do you hope readers or the broader victims' rights field take away from your paper?
The victim’s rights field should push for the recklessness mens rea standard to be adopted in all state criminal stalking statutes. When states do not follow a recklessness standard, victims will have continued experiences because states have to meet a higher level of recklessness. In urging a lower mens rea recklessness standard I hope more victims are protected by the criminal justice system.
4. What is next for you in your career? (and if relevant how does this paper fit into that)
I will graduate with my J.D. in May 2027 and hope to work as an associate attorney at my current firm, Johnson & Bennett, PLLC to represent plaintiffs who have experienced discrimination in the workplace. Although we do not assist in criminal matters, our area of law is extremely important to me to ensure everyone has proper legal protections in all aspects of their lives.
5. Anything else you want to share?
I could not have completed this paper without the support of The Memphis Law Review Volume 56. I want to thank Professor Jennifer Brobst for her guidance on the subject matter, Kathryn Davis and Hailey Polisano for their support and edits throughout the process. This has been an experience I will never forget, and I am abundantly grateful to share my research through NCVLI.