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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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States Can Protect Unhoused People When the U.S. Supreme Court Won’t
The U.S. high court’s ruling allowing anti-camping laws underscores the importance and potential of state constitutional protections.
Pennsylvania Faces a Moment of Truth for Life Without Parole
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is considering whether requiring life in prison without the possibility of parole for so-called felony murder is unconstitutional.
Colorado Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to ‘Felony-Murder’ Rule
The court disagreed that life in prison for a murder committed by an accomplice is an unconstitutionally cruel sentence.
State Justices Speak Out Against Originalism
State supreme courts are increasingly a venue for debate over history’s role in constitutional interpretation.
State Court Oral Arguments to Watch for in October
Issues on the dockets include mail-in voting, line-item vetoes, and life-without-parole sentences.
Pennsylvania High Court Invalidates Attempt to Impeach Reform-Minded Philadelphia Prosecutor
The impeachment effort was part of a troubling trend around the country of increasing attacks on the independence of local prosecutors.
A Michigan Prosecutor on the Importance of State Judicial Elections
State courts, including lower courts, decide issues critical to the communities they serve, but judicial races are too frequently overlooked.
California’s Constitution Is For the People
One of the nation’s most influential constitutions, California’s charter protects direct democracy, limits taxation, and secures individual liberty.