Criminal Law
Criminal justice is administered primarily at the state and county level. The vast majority of incarcerated people in the United States are in county and state custody. Constitutional challenges in state courts usually focus on the rights of defendants and incarcerated people.
These cases can address criminal procedure and due process, search and seizure, the right to counsel and a jury trial, criminal jury rights, the right against self-incrimination, bail and excessive fees and fines, admissibility of evidence, sentencing, the death penalty, police misconduct, prison conditions, and habeas.
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The Spirit of Aloha vs. the Second Amendment
Quoting the TV show The Wire, the Hawaii Supreme Court observed, “The thing about the old days, they the old days.”
State Constitutional Obligations: Access to Courts, Remedies, and Rights in Civil and Criminal Cases
Transcript of panel from Symposium: The Promise and Limits of State Constitutions
South Carolina High Court Hears Challenge to Firing Squads and Electric Chair
States have increasingly turned to antiquated, painful methods of execution in response to shortages of lethal injection drugs.
Massachusetts Breaks New Ground in Limiting Youth Punishments
Massachusetts Looks to International Sources to Inform ‘Evolving Standards of Decency’
Massachusetts Rejects Harmful Federal Standard for Evaluating Whether Punishment Is Unconstitutional
The state supreme court’s decision outlawing life without parole for people aged 18 to 20 is notable for both its outcome and the test it used to get there.
Massachusetts Reminds Youth Defense Attorneys to Consider State Constitutions
Scholarship Roundup: That’s a Wrap on 2023