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Civil Rights
State constitutions guarantee equality, freedom from discrimination, fair treatment under the law, and a broad range of other civil rights. Issues that regularly crop up in state court include discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation or identity, age, or disability, abuses of power by government actors, as well as the availability of monetary damages for such state constitutional violations.
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How Will Federal Funding Cuts Impact State Budgets?
Fiscal provisions found in every state constitution constrain states’ ability to work around budget shortfalls.
The Arizona Constitution: Deeply Skeptical of Power
Arizona’s governing document is easy to amend. While Arizonans have approved changes on issues like abortion and immigration, they use the right relatively sparingly.
Mount Laurel at 50: New Jersey’s Blueprint for Dismantling Residential Segregation
Fifty years ago, the New Jersey Supreme Court created a groundbreaking affordable housing framework. A new law gives it real teeth.
It’s Time to Revitalize California’s Constitutional Right to Privacy
Recently filed cases challenging AI surveillance provide an opportunity for California courts to properly apply the state’s privacy right.
The New Jersey Constitution: A Tool of Good Governance, Not Partisan Politics
A 1947 constitution offered a needed update for a state saddled with a weak executive and a court system “out of Dickens.”
American Indians and Indigenous Peoples in State Constitutions
In the shadow of federal law, some state constitutions address American Indian land, taxation, gaming permissions, voting rights, cultural protection, and governance.
Disability Rights Under State Constitutions
Thirty-five years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, state constitutional anti-discrimination clauses, voting rights, and educational guarantees can expand protections for people with disabilities.
How State Courts Pushed Back on an Infamous U.S. Supreme Court Case
Dred Scott, widely considered a stain on the U.S. Supreme Court’s history, denied citizenship to Black Americans in 1857. Many state supreme courts refused to follow it.