TALLAHASSEE —Three Florida State University College of Law students have won the top awards in the 2010 Dean Frank E. Maloney Memorial Writing Contest. Recent graduate Kristy Sweat, of Statesboro, Georgia, won first place in the statewide writing competition for her paper titled “Getting an ‘Act of Congress’ – De Facto Federalization of the ACF River Basin.” The paper analyzes water consumption and supply problems within the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin and provides the states involved possible solutions from an ecosystem perspective. Sweat, who is employed at the Office of the State Attorney in Pensacola, received $500 for placing first in the competition. 

Rising third-year student Melanie Leitman, of Tallahassee, won second place for her paper, “Water Rx.” The paper discusses problems caused by the presence of pharmaceuticals in the water supply and the environment, the relevant regulatory structure, and possible solutions for addressing this growing problem. 

Recent graduate Bonnie Malloy, of Tallahassee, placed third for her paper, “Testing Cooperative Federalism: Water Quality Standards Under The Clean Water Act.” The paper examines whether the Clean Water Act’s structure and implementation are operating as intended and discusses recent litigation between Florida and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regarding numeric criteria as an imperfect but effective example of cooperative federalism. 

The writing competition, which is open to students from all Florida law schools, is sponsored by The Florida Bar Environmental and Land Use Law Section. Students from six law schools submitted a total of 20 papers. All three winners were recognized August 13 at the section’s annual meeting in Ponte Vedra Beach.