Law Student Cheat Sheet: Understanding State Courts and Constitutions 

State Court Report devotes its coverage to state courts and state constitutions. Each state has its own constitution and state-level judicial branch. At a time when recent federal court rulings have curtailed rights under the U.S. Constitution, state constitutions and courts’ roles as independent protectors of rights mean they are increasingly on the frontlines of many of today’s key issues.

Yet only a small minority of law schools offer a course in state constitutional law. State Court Report is here to help.

We’ve compiled some of the explainers we wish we had in law school. Whether this is your intro to state courts and constitutions or a refresher, we hope you find these pieces — and the many others like them on the site — useful.

How State Constitutions Develop — State Constitutional Amendments

A distinctive feature of state constitutions is they are relatively easy to change. While the U.S. Constitution has only 27 amendments, the 50 state constitutions have been amended around 7,000 times. That ability to be more reactive is reflected in the 10 states where voters have recently approved abortion-rights amendments since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that there is no federal right to an abortion.

The process varies by state, as Wake Forest professor John Dinan explains in this 50 state overview, with state constitutional amendments generated by legislatures, initiated by citizens, adopted in constitutional conventions, or recommended by commissions. Regardless of how they originate, proposed amendments are generally then put to the state’s voters for a final say.

When State Courts Have the Last Say — U.S. Supreme Court Review of State Cases

The jurisdiction of state courts is broad, and state court judges can decide both state and federal law issues. State courts have the final say on questions of state law, but when they interpret federal law the U.S. Constitution and Congress sometimes permit appeals directly to the U.S. Supreme Court to ensure federal law is being applied correctly. The circumstances under which the Supreme Court may review such cases, however, are not always clear cut.

I wrote an article laying out the complex rules that have developed around Supreme Court review of state decisions. Most notably, the Supreme Court will not review state decisions that contain a federal law issue if they rest on an “adequate and independent” state ground. State courts can distinctly interpret and apply their state constitutions to resolve cases, so long as they do so in a way that is at least as protective as the federal constitution and laws. When they do so, I explain, they should have the last word under this rule.

How State Courts Evaluate Laws Restricting Rights — Scrutiny Levels

The courts of all 50 states permit state legislators to pass laws that restrict state constitutional rights, but only to a certain degree. In determining whether a challenged law is too restrictive, state courts apply different tests — often referred to as levels, or tiers, of scrutiny — that generally consider the importance of the affected right, the government’s rationale, and how the restriction relates to that governmental interest.

NYU law student Morgan Munroe and I explain the “strict scrutiny,” “intermediate scrutiny,” and “rational basis” tests commonly used for state rights — and many federal ones — as well as variations among states specific to particular liberties, such as gun rights. Which test a court applies to a challenged law typically dictates how likely the law is to pass constitutional muster.

State Constitutions as Democracy Safeguards — Voting Rights

Voting and elections are a crucial, often-overlooked area where state constitutions provide more comprehensive protection than the U.S. Constitution, which only implies a right to vote. As Cardozo Law professor and Brennan Center fellow Wilfred U. Codrington III writes, 49 of 50 state constitutions expressly and affirmatively confer that right, and more than half contain provisions requiring elections to be “free,” “equal,” or “open.”

State constitutions also generally provide clearer and more specific coverage on a variety of contentious issues implicating voting rights, Codrington explains, including voter registration, election administration, disputes contesting elections, party primaries, campaign finance, and redistricting. They are also the source of voters’ ability in many states to amend their state constitutions directly through citizen initiatives, as mentioned above. 

Enforcement Tool That Draws High-Profile Issues to State Courts — Writs of Mandamus

Mandamus is a centuries-old remedy that is increasingly being used by litigants to bring hotly contested issues directly to state supreme courts, University of Florida law professor Jonathan Marshfield writes. As a general rule, a court may issue a writ of mandamus ordering a public official to perform a non-discretionary function, if such an order is necessary to protect the clear rights of the party seeking it. 

While in the federal system only trial courts, not the U.S. Supreme Court, may generally hear new lawsuits seeking mandamus relief, many state constitutions give state high courts this power. That means, Marshfield writes, in “just a matter of days, litigants can bring an issue before a state high court where a few judges can decide the fate of an election, the candidates on a ballot, or the allocation of state funds.”

Federal Court vs. State Court Composition — Judicial Elections

While federal judges are appointed, 38 states use elections to select, or reselect for additional terms, judges to their high courts. Judicial elections, as State Court Report editor in chief Alicia Bannon sets out in this overview, may affect how state constitutional law develops, including the questions before state courts and their adherence to past decisions. That can put judges — who are asked to play a counter-majoritarian role yet depend on voters’ support to keep their jobs — in an uncomfortable spot.

Particularly since Dobbs made state law the primary focus of abortion-rights disputes, Bannon explains, judicial elections have become major political battlegrounds in much of the country, attracting tens of millions of dollars, special interests, and attack ads. Supreme Court decisions striking down state restrictions on judicial candidates’ sharing their views about disputed issues and allowing unlimited outside expenditures have also contributed to the current environment.

Other Jurisdictions — Territories, Tribes, and Washington, DC

States are not the only jurisdictions within the United States. The five inhabited U.S. territories — American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands — each have their own court system and constitution or, functionally similar, organic act. In this overview, Brennan Center counsel Michael Milov-Cordoba explains that these governing documents operate like state constitutions in many respects and most territorial high courts have the final word on local territorial law akin to state courts. But the federal government’s authority over the territories also causes significant differences.

A similar paradigm exists for Washington, DC, which is neither a state nor a territory, but a federal district subject to Congressional oversight. Milov-Cordoba summarizes in this piece the distinguishing features of DC’s court system and Home Rule Act, which he notes is sometimes referred to as the district’s “de facto constitution.”

American Indian tribes also have their own judiciaries and governing structures, including for many constitutions, which Milov-Cordoba details as well.

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While these articles focus on summarizing the state of play nationwide, State Court Report also has a series explaining the history and quirks of individual state constitutions. You can study your own and gain insight into the important functions performed by state constitutions more broadly.

Sarah Kessler is an advisor and contributing editor to State Court Report.

Suggested Citation: Sarah Kessler, Law Student Cheat Sheet: Understanding State Courts and Constitutions, Sᴛᴀᴛᴇ Cᴏᴜʀᴛ Rᴇᴘᴏʀᴛ (Aug. 26, 2025), https://statecourtreport.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/law-student-cheat-sheet-understanding-state-courts-and-constitutions