@Roberta,
I was too quick. You're right about the first reference. Tamara has correctly capitalized it.
In my humble opinion I'd rate the paragraph as well written. I feel your choice of the phrase
'substantively meritorious' a bit of a reach; however,
I don't know the level of your audience. If it's college level or graduate school or above it's fine; however, if the reading level is a general audience it could be a reach. If it were me, and it was a meant for A general audience, I'd use a simpler phrase. It's not a wrong choice but it might lose some folks in a general audience.