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Montana Trout Unlimited v. Montana Department of Natural Resources & Conservation
Held that the exemption of dewatering from the Montana Water Use Act's permitting requirements did not violate the water rights section of the state's constitution
Hicks v. State
Will consider whether Wyoming's "cruel or unusual" punishment clause provides greater protections against mandatory life-without-parole sentences for late adolescents (those who were under 21 at the time of the crime) than the federal Eighth Amendment does. Will also consider whether such sentences violate state constitutional clauses providing the "penal code shall be framed on the humane principles of reformation and prevention" and for equal protection.
Mary E. Adkins
Mary E. Adkins is a professor emerita at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. She has written extensively on the Florida Constitution and is the author of Making Modern Florida: How...
The Florida Constitution: For the People?
Citizen support for constitutional amendments has been undermined by the legislature’s interpretation of those initiatives.
People v. Jennings
Will consider what standard Michigan courts should adopt to determine whether prosecutorial misconduct bars retrial under the state’s double jeopardy clause. The defendant argues that the federal constitutional standard -- which requires proof that a prosecutor specifically intended to cause a mistrial -- inadequately protects the principles of double jeopardy and insufficiently deters egregious conduct, so an objective standard should apply under the Michigan Constitution.
State v. Nelson
Held that community custody conditions requiring the criminal defendant submit to breath analysis and urinalysis testing to monitor compliance with conditions prohibiting use of alcohol and unprescribed drugs were supported by authority of law, and thus were constitutional under art. 1 sec. 7 of the Washington Constitution, regardless of whether they were related to his specific crimes
Gotay v. Creen
Held that, given the nature of the state’s custody of children, a “special relationship” exists between foster children and the state that imposes an affirmative duty on the state to ensure a reasonably safe foster home environment. But found the state defendants were entitled to qualified immunity on the plaintiff parent and guardian's substantive due process claim because the state employees did not proximately cause the affected children's injuries.
ICE’s New Courthouse Arrest Policy Set Them on a Collision Course with State Courts
The arrest of a Wisconsin judge comes after ICE walked back policies designed to ensure communities wouldn’t be afraid to access courts
Bailey v. McKintosh County, Webster v. McIntosh County, McIntosh County v. Webster
Will consider whether to uphold a lower court order stopping a special election, after early voting had already begun, on a local referendum to repeal zoning changes that would increase permissible house sizes in a historic community of slave descendants. The lower court ruled that a state constitutional provision allowing citizens to petition to repeal or amend county ordinances by referendum does not extend to zoning ordinances.
