Reproductive Rights
In 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, ruling that the U.S. Constitution does not protect a fundamental right to abortion. Following this decision, many state trigger laws banning or restricting abortion went into effect, and several states have passed new abortion bans or restrictions.
Litigants are challenging many of these measures in state courts, pointing to rights to privacy, liberty, gender equality, equal protection, due process, and religious freedom in their state constitutions and other state laws. There are also active state constitutional amendment campaigns in several states. This litigation extends beyond abortion to fertility treatments, contraception, and other issues.
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Pennsylvania’s Radical Constitution: An Experiment in the Making
From an early embrace of popular sovereignty to current voting decisions that make national news, Pennsylvania’s constitution has long reached beyond the state itself.
State Court Oral Arguments to Watch for in October
Issues on the dockets include New York’s Voting Rights Act, investigations of gender-affirming care for minors, and Meta’s challenge to a disclosure law for political ads.
New York Courts Should Reject Texas’s Attempt to Enforce its Abortion Ban Beyond its Borders
Precedent supports the refusal to enforce out-of-state civil judgments that punish an individual in the name of protecting the public.
The Power of State Reproductive Freedom Amendments
A new report analyzes the language and effects of recently adopted amendments protecting reproductive rights and highlights their potential for abortion access and beyond.
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.
Back-to-School Scholarship Roundup: State Courts, Constitutional Law, and Federalism
Recent books and law review articles discuss voter disenfranchisement, separation of church and state, and much more.
State Justices Continue to Challenge Originalism
A lively debate about the value of “history and tradition” in analyzing cases is ongoing in state courts. Some justices are pushing for alternative interpretative methodologies.
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.”