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“A View From the Bench:” Excessive Sentencing
Transcript of panel from Symposium: State Constitutions and the Limits of Criminal Punishments
Substantive Rights That Limit Prison Terms
Transcript of panel from Symposium: State Constitutions and the Limits of Criminal Punishments
Professor Robert F. Williams Keynote and Introduction: The Perpetual Guardians of the Penitentiary Houses
Transcript of panel from Symposium: State Constitutions and the Limits of Criminal Punishments
Ohio Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Trans Rights Case
Transgender children and their parents are challenging the state’s ban on gender-affirming care.
Pennsylvania “Cruel Punishments” Decision Nods Toward International Human Rights Law
In striking down mandatory life-without-parole sentences for felony murder, the Pennsylvania justices differed on the appropriateness of looking to international law.
In the Matter of Request for Opinion of the Justices
Maine Supreme Court will consider legislature's request for an advisory opinion on the state constitutionality of extending ranked-choice voting to the general elections for governor and the state legislature
Williams v. Board of Elections of the State of New York
New York trial court held that the state’s 11th congressional district violated a 2014 state constitutional amendment barring racial vote dilution and ordered the state’s congressional map redrawn. The U.S. Supreme Court stayed the trial court’s order pending the disposition of the appeal in the New York state courts and any petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court. The state case was subsequently dismissed on the agreement of the parties.
Koski v. RNC
Virginia Supreme Court permitted legislature’s proposed amendment to redraw the state’s congressional map to proceed to a vote, staying trial court's temporary restraining order against officials moving forward with the election
State Court Oral Arguments to Watch for in April
Issues on the dockets include ranked-choice voting, de facto life sentences, so-called “shadow” foster care, and defamation against a drag performer.
Luther v. Hoskins
The Missouri Supreme Court rejected voters' challenge to Missouri's new congressional district map, which the plaintiffs said ran afoul of state constitutional prohibitions on mid-decade redistricting. The court said the state constitution contained no express prohibition on mid-decade redistricting and that the map was a "valid exercise" of the "plenary legislative power to establish congressional districts."
