State Case Database

State v. Amble

Iowa Supreme Court revisited its 2021 decision in State v. Wright that the state's search and seizure clause requires police to obtain a warrant before searching garbage placed curbside for collection, finding that subsequent enactment of a state statute providing such garbage "shall be deemed abandoned property" means a warrant is no longer constitutionally required. The majority reasoned that Wright relied on "positive law" -- a local anti-scavening ordinance prohibiting anyone but licensed trash collectors from picking up trash -- to define private property rights, and the state statute changed that positive law by preempting the local ordinance. A dissent opined that the majority's position allows legislative "end-runs" of constitutional rights and disregards an overarching reasonable-expectation-of-privacy analysis.

State v. City of San Antonio

Court of Appeals blocked a city from distributing payments under a $100,000 fund created to cover reproductive healthcare costs, which may include out-of-state travel for abortion care, while a full appeal is pending. Preliminarily held the fund violates the state constitution's gift clause because sending residents to undergo procedures out of state that Texas prohibits within the state does not count as a public purpose. Although the city had not yet disbursed any money and argued it still had the option to choose not to pay for out-of-state abortion travel, the panel found it sufficiently likely such payment would occur for the dispute to be ripe.

Josh Kaul v. Wisconsin State Legislature

Wisconsin Supreme Court held a law giving a legislative committee authority to approve or disprove civil settlements reached by the state justice department violates separation of powers as applied to civil enforcement actions and civil cases brought on behalf of executive agencies. Settling these types of actions is within the core power of the executive branch, as the legislature has failed to demonstrate that doing so implicates an institutional interest giving lawmakers a shared constitutional role.

State v. James Ellis

Will consider whether restitution imposed as part of a criminal sentence is punishment subject to the limits on excessive fines in the federal and state constitutions and, if so, whether those clauses require sentencing courts to analyze the defendant’s ability to pay in setting the amount.

Contoocook Valley School District v. New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed the state's existing education funding law is constitutionally inadequate and $7,356.01 per pupil as a minimum constitutional guidepost for the legislature, but reversed the trial court's injunction directing the state immediately to pay that amount because the court failed to give adequate weight to separation of powers concerns.

State v. Spencer

Illinois Supreme Court held that an aggregate 100-year prison sentence for a defendant who was 20 when the crimes occurred is not a de facto life sentence because a state statute makes first-degree murder defendants under 21 eligible for parole after 20 years and mandates that the reviewing board consider mitigating circumstances related to the defendant’s youth. The court further held that the the fact the sentence is not de facto life does not foreclose the defendant from bringing an as-applied challenge to his sentence under the state constitution’s “proportionate penalties” clause in a post-conviction petition.

Montana Environmental Information Center v. Office of the Governor

State v. Sabra Danielson, State v. Simone Nelson

Will consider the defendants' argument that it violates equal protection to refund fines or fees paid in cash when a conviction is vacated, but not to reimburse defendants who performed community service at the equivalent of minimum wages to satisfy financial obligations they were unable to pay.

Grube v. Trader; State v. Rogan

Will consider whether a state law requiring courts to make a diligent effort to seal all court records when requested by a defendant who receives an expungement order violates the public’s right to access under the First Amendment and the state constitutional equivalent. Will also consider whether the law interferes with the state judiciary’s inherent authority over its own files and procedures.

Schwartz v. Washington County

Will consider whether statutes that establish state tobacco retail licenses and that authorize licensees to sell tobacco products and vaping devices preempt a county ordinance that prohibits the sale of flavored tobacco products and vapes. An intermediate court found the statutes did not preempt the county ordinance.