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Judicial Interpretation
In considering state constitutional questions, judges may apply an array of methodologies, including originalism and other uses of history, textualism, purposivism, comparativism (including studying other state courts), and common law or precedent.
State constitutions also raise unique interpretation questions. For example, one common issue is whether a state constitutional provision should be interpreted in “lockstep” with the federal constitution.
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State Court Takeaways from Dobbs
State courts should reassert their role as primary guarantors of liberty.
The Promise of State Constitutions in Restoring Jury Trials
How to bring back the “inviolate” right to a jury trial.
Remote Court Three Years Later
State courts have largely sidestepped state constitutional questions about remote criminal proceedings.
What’s Next in Wisconsin
Republican state legislators threaten to upset long-standing norms of judicial independence.
Washington Supreme Court Changes the Balance of Power Between Passengers and Police on Public Transit
In assessing policing tactics, the court considered racial disparities in the justice system.
Scholarship Roundup: Reimagining Constitutions for the People
Scholars offer new ideas for boosting public participation in the construction and interpretation of state constitutions.
Stare Decisis in the Spotlight
North Carolina’s reconfigured supreme court will hear two recently decided democracy cases.
The Oldest State Court Makes a Case for Embracing Change
Massachusetts’s high court rejected the U.S. Supreme Court’s narrow approach to determining fundamental rights in favor of a comprehensive analysis that considers evolving equality norms.