Vision for Liberty Award 
Official Rules

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Terms and Conditions

**Overview**

Cato Institute (“Sponsor”) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation dedicated to the mission, vision, and principles set forth at www.[cato​.org](https://www.cato.org/). To promote its mission, particularly on the occasion of Sponsor’s 50th anniversary, Sponsor is holding a V*ision for Liberty Award Contest* (the “Contest”). The Contest, and all individuals’ participation therein, is subject to these Vision for Liberty Article Contest Terms and Conditions (“Official Rules”) set forth herein. Additional information about the Contest contained on the [Contest homepage](https://www.cato.org/vision-for-liberty-award) (the “Homepage”) is incorporated into these Official Rules by reference.

**Eligibility**

This Contest is open to legal residents of the 50 US states and Washington, D.C. (excluding Puerto Rico, Guam, US territories, possessions, protectorates and foreign US military bases). To qualify as a participant in the Contest (a “Participant”), the individual submitting an entry must satisfy the following:

1. Are at least age 18 years old at the time of entry.
2. Employees, officers, directors, and agents of the Sponsor, or of any of their respective affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising and promotion agencies, suppliers, or individuals subject to Section 4958 of the Internal Revenue Code (“Contest Entities”), and the immediate family members of each are not eligible to participate in the Contest.
3. Contest is void where prohibited and subject to all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations.

In addition, should Sponsor determine, in its sole discretion, that any Participant has become involved in any occurrence which could or does (a) tend to degrade Participant in society, (b) bring Participant into public disrepute, (c) or cause embarrassment to Sponsor or would harm Sponsor’s reputation, Sponsor in its sole discretion, may disqualify the Participant and rescind any Prize awarded (and in the case of an entry submitted on behalf of multiple Participants, disqualify/​rescind a Prize from all Participants). In connection herewith, the Sponsor may conduct searches of publicly available information, digital profiles, or engage in any other search it deems reasonable as a condition of awarding a Prize.

**Agreement to Official Rules and Indemnity**

Anyone who attempts to enter the Contest is considered a Participant and is covered by these Official Rules. By attempting to enter or participating in the Contest, each Participant agrees to comply with and abide by these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor. Participant represents and warrants that the Participant meets the eligibility requirements and that their submissions and entry comply with all applicable requirements and limitations. In addition, Participant agrees to accept the Sponsor’s decisions as final and binding as it relates to the conduct of this Contest, to indemnify the Released Parties for the Participant’s content and conduct in the Contest as described below, and to the use of the Participant’s information and submission/​entry as described in these Official Rules.

**Entry Period**

The Contest begins at 12:00 a.m. Eastern Time (“ET”) on March 1, 2027, and ends at 11:59 p.m. ET on July 4, 2027 (the “Entry Period”). Sponsor’s computer systems will be the official timekeeping devices for the Contest.

**How to Enter**

To be entered and have their submission considered, each Participant must navigate to the Homepage and:

1. Timely and accurately complete all information requested on the submission portal, including but not limited to an answer to the question “What thinkers, authors, or people have influenced you the most?”
2. Timely submit an originally-created, compelling article of no more than 1,500 words in length that meets the themes and requirements contained in the prompt on the Homepage. All articles must be created in accordance with all requirements and guidance set forth on the Homepage, as may be updated from time to time.
1. i. To qualify as “originally-created,” the article (1) must have been created solely by the Participant(s), and been previously unpublished; and (2) must not plagiarize, or otherwise infringe on the intellectual property or reputational and privacy rights, of any other person or entity. Although artificial intelligence (AI) may be used to help organize, draft, review, and revise an article, all work must still be originally-created and owned wholly by the Participant(s) that submit the article.
3. The article must be written in English and submitted as a PDF or in a Microsoft Word format.
4. **There is no limit as to the number of entries any Participant may submit, but no Participant may be awarded more than one Prize**. Additionally, an entry may be created and submitted by multiple Participants, in which case the Participant submitting the entry must have permission from all Participants to submit the entry on, and agree to these Rules, on their behalf.

**Judging**

All judging (including both selection of finalists and Winners) shall be based on objective criteria, with the Winners being those entries that scored the highest based on the criteria.

**Winner Notification and Announcement**

After the conclusion of the Entry Period and all judging is completed, the Participants who submitted the entries earning the winning scores will be notified via the contact information contained in the submission form that they have been selected as a Potential Winner. Participant(s) identified as a “Potential Winner,” will be required to complete, sign, and return to Sponsor an affidavit and/​or other documentation attesting to facts relating to that person’s identity, including Social Security number for tax reporting purposes, and eligibility to participate in the Contest and/​or receive a Prize, as well as a publicity and liability release.

Upon receiving written acceptance of the Prize and satisfactory completion of the required documents (upon which being declared a Winner and receiving a Prize is contingent) in the time specified in the winner notification, the Potential Winners will be declared “Winners” of the Prize they qualified for. If a Participant identified as a Potential Winner fails to comply with these requirements within the time period specified in the winner notification communications, the Prize will be forfeited. The Sponsor shall have no liability for a Participant’s failure to receive notices due to spam, junk email, disconnected or non-functioning phone number, other security settings, or for a Participant’s provision of incorrect or otherwise non-functioning contact information, or the Winner’s refusal to furnish any requested documentation and agreements.

If the Potential Winner cannot be contacted within the time period specified in the winner notification, or is otherwise found to be ineligible by Sponsor, the Prize will be forfeited and the Potential Winner shall have no claim to any Prize or other remuneration. Receipt of the Prize offered in the Contest by a Participant identified as a Potential Winner is conditioned upon compliance with any and all federal, state, and local laws and/​or regulations. Any violation of these Official Rules by a Participant identified as a Potential Winner will result in the Participant’s disqualification as a Winner, and all privileges as a Winner will be immediately terminated.

The winners of the Contest will be announced and contacted on or before September 30, 2027. A list of winners will be posted online at [www​.cato​.org](https://www.cato.org/).

**Prizes**

1. The prizes (each a “Prize”) in this Contest are as follows:

- One (1) first place prize (the Thomas Jefferson Award) of $50,000.00 USD.
- One (1) second place prize (the David Boaz Award) of $25,000.00 USD.
- One (1) third place prize (the Trenchard and Gordon Award) of $12,500.00 USD.

2. If a winning entry was submitted by multiple Participants, the Prize amount shall be divided equally between the Participants (for example, if the first place prize of $50,000.00 USD is won by an entry that was submitted by two (2) Participants, then each Participant will receive $25,000.00 USD). Only Participants listed on an entry will be entitled to receive the Prize, and Sponsor will not award a Prize to any individual that is not listed on an entry.
3. All Prizes shall be paid in the form of a check mailed to the Winner. All Prizes shall be issued within three (3) weeks of Winner’s approval of the submission of all required information and documentation.
4. If, prior to issuance of the Prize, a Winner or Potential Winner (1) is deemed ineligible, (2) has their entry or article disqualified, or (3) waives their Prize, Sponsor shall be under no obligation to issue the Prize to them and their claim to a Prize shall be null and void. In such a case, Sponsor at its sole discretion may choose a replacement Winner(s), or may choose not to issue the Prize to another Participant.

**Tax Liability and Limitations on Use**

The Prize may be taxable, depending on the tax laws of the Winner’s jurisdiction. Winners are solely responsible for payment of all applicable taxes resulting from earning and receiving a Prize. The Winners agree to defend (including but not limited to paying legal costs and attorneys’ fees), indemnify, and hold harmless to the fullest extent of the law the Released Parties (as defined below) from any claim or other legal action concerning the payment of taxes relating to the Prize or for their use or misuse of a Prize once received.

**Rights Granted by Participants**

By participating in this Contest, Participant understands and agrees that it is assigning all rights of ownership to the entry, article, submission responses, and all parts thereof to Sponsor. Each Participant is also granting Sponsor a right to use certain personal and identifying info of the Participant. The scope of this assignment and permissions is set forth more fully below in the General Conditions sections.

**Limitations of Liability/​Releases**

1. By participating in the Contest, the Participant hereby releases the Sponsor and the Contest Entities, including but not limited to Cato Institute and its current and past directors, officers, employees, and representatives and any of their representatives, agents, successors, assigns, employees, officers, and directors (the “Released Parties”) for and from any liability, illness, injury, death, loss, tax liability, litigation, claim, or damage that may occur, directly or indirectly, whether caused by negligence or not, from (i) such Participant’s participation in the Contest, submission of an entry, the content of the entry, and/​or his/​her acceptance, possession, use, or misuse of any Prize or any portion thereof; (ii) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the Contest; (iii) electronic or human error in the administration of the Contest or the processing of entries or announcement of Winners; (iv) technical errors of any kind, including but not limited to the malfunction of any computer, cable, network, hardware, software, or other mechanical equipment; (v) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any transmissions, telephone, Internet service or website, app, or platform; (vi) printing errors; (vii) lost, late, misdirected, or garbled submissions, articles, electronic communications, or mail, postage, or undeliverable mail.
2. For clarity, Released Parties are not responsible for: (i) electronic or digital transmissions or entries that are lost, late, stolen, incomplete, illegible, damaged, garbled, destroyed, or misdirected; (ii) any problems or technical malfunctions, errors, omissions, interruptions, deletions, defects, delays in operation of transmission, communication failures (including but not limited to failures or malfunctions of phone lines, telephone systems, or other communications systems), destruction of or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, entries or articles; (iii) failed or unavailable hardware, network, software, or other transmissions; (iv) damage to any individual’s computer; (v) causes beyond Released Parties’ reasonable control that jeopardize the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest; (vi) incorrect or inaccurate entry information whether caused by Participants or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest; (vii) cheating or fraud by any individual; and/​or (viii) the actions of any social media site or other non-Sponsor controlled site, app, website, or other platform. By entering this Contest (or attempting to enter the Contest), the individual expressly waives any claim against Released Parties arising from any of these conditions.

**General Conditions**

1. Any (a) Participant that does not meet the eligibility requirements; (b) entry (or part thereof) that does not meet the requirements for entry; and (c) any Participant or entry (or any part thereof) that otherwise violates any of the Official Rules or any applicable law or regulation, will be disqualified, the entry deemed null and void, will not be declared a Winner, and will not qualify for a Prize (and may rescind any declaration of winning or award of Prize). If any Participant of an entry submitted by more than one Participant violates the foregoing, then none of the Participants that submitted the disqualified entry will be deemed a Winner or be eligible for a Prize, even if only one Participant violated the foregoing (and the entry will be deemed null and void). All determinations and decisions, including as to the foregoing, made by the Sponsor in connection with the operation of this Contest shall be final.
2. BY ENTERING INTO OR ATTEMPTING TO ENTER THIS CONTEST, THE PARTICIPANT (ON THEIR OWN BEHALF AND ON BEHALF OF THEIR REPRESENTATIVES AND HEIRS), IRREVOCABLY GRANTS TO THE SPONSOR AND CONTEST ENTITIES THE UNRESTRICTED, ABSOLUTE, PERPETUAL, PAYMENT- AND ROYALTY-FREE, WORLDWIDE RIGHT, AUTHORITY AND LICENSE TO USE THE PARTICIPANT’S NAME, CITY/STATE, PHOTOGRAPH, LIKENESS, VOICE, BIOGRAPHICAL AND PERSONAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION, PRIZE WON, STATEMENTS, AND CONTEST ENTRY/ARTICLE OR ANY PART THEREOF, AND, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY NOTES, VISUALS, CHARTS, DATA, PHOTOGRAPH, FILM, OR VIDEO OR AUDIO TAPE THAT MAY BE TAKEN OF THE PARTICIPANT OR OF SUCH MATERIALS OR INCORPORATED INTO THE ENTRY, WITHOUT FURTHER COMPENSATION, CONSIDERATION, NOTICE OR PERMISSION, EXCEPT WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW, AND TO REPRODUCE, COPY, MODIFY, CREATE DERIVATIVE WORKS AND TRANSLATIONS OF, DISPLAY, PERFORM, EXHIBIT, DISTRIBUTE, TRANSMIT OR BROADCAST, PUBLICLY OR IN COMBINATION WITH OTHER MATERIALS, IN ANY MEDIA OR EMBODIMENT NOW KNOWN OR HEREAFTER DEVELOPED (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY FORMAT OF ANY COMPUTER-BASED, INTERNET-BASED, ELECTRONIC, MAGNETIC, DIGITAL, LASER OR OPTICAL-BASED MEDIA), FOR ANY LAWFUL PURPOSE INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IN CONNECTION WITH SPONSOR’S ADVERTISING, PROMOTION, PUBLICITY, TRADE, SWEEPSTAKES OR CONTEST PROMOTIONS, ACTIVITIES, OR MATERIALS AND ACKNOWLEDGES AND AGREES THAT SPONSOR OR SPONSOR ENTITIES SHALL BE THE SOLE OWNER OF THE SAME. IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, THE PARTICIPANT HEREBY RELEASES THE RELEASED PARTIES FROM ALL LIABILITY. THE PARTICIPANT FURTHER AGREES TO EXECUTE ANY DOCUMENT AS SPONSOR MAY REASONABLY BELIEVE IS NECESSARY TO EFFECTUATE THE RIGHTS GRANTED HEREIN, AND TO COOPERATE WITH SPONSOR OR CONTEST ENTITIES IN PROVIDING ANY OF THE FOREGOING INFORMATION OR MATERIALS UPON REQUEST.
3. These Official Rules constitute a binding agreement between Participants and the Sponsor. No individuals may participate in the Contest if they do not agree to these Official Rules in their entirety. These Official Rules represent the entire agreement between the Sponsor and all Participants in the Contest. Sponsor reserves the right to suspend or cancel this Contest, at any time without notice, to the greatest extent permitted by law. This Contest is subject to and governed by the laws of Washington, D.C. Any individual participating in or attempting to participate in this Contest (whether or not they are deemed eligible to do so) agrees that any dispute arising out of or relating to the Contest, their entry or article, and these Official Rules shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, exclusively before a court in Washington, D.C. having jurisdiction, and agrees to submit to the jurisdiction and venue thereof. The prevailing party in any dispute may recover its reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees. THIS CONTEST IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. Sponsor is the sole owner of all intellectual property, including any copyrights and trademarks, associated with Sponsor and/​or this Contest (including all information contained in any entry or article). In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between these Official Rules and the Homepage or any other documentation, the documents shall be interpreted to give effect to the intent of the Sponsor in holding this Contest. If the conflict or inconsistency cannot be eliminated, the terms of these Official Rules shall prevail and control.
4. If for any reason this Contest cannot be executed as planned, including but not limited to infection by virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, malfeasance by judges, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of Sponsor that corrupt or affect the security, administration, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Contest, or if this Contest is compromised or becomes corrupted in any way, electronically or otherwise, Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to suspend or terminate this Contest and no Prizes shall be awarded. ANY ATTEMPT BY ANY PERSON OR ENTITY TO DELIBERATELY CORRUPT OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS. SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DISQUALIFY THE PARTICIPANT AND VOID THEIR ENTRY AND ARTICLE AND PROSECUTE AND SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL OR ENTITY TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.
5. **Contact Information**

For any questions or further information regarding the Contest, please contact [visionforliberty@​cato.​org](mailto:visionforliberty@cato.org). Sponsor’s address is 1000 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001, c/​o Vision for Liberty Campaign.