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People v. Kardasz; People v. Martin
Will consider, in two cases argued together, whether mandatory lifetime sex offender registration and electronic monitoring violate the state's “cruel or unusual" punishment clause or the federal 8th Amendment, and whether lifetime electronic monitoring constitutes an unreasonable search under the state or federal constitution. With respect to the sex offender registry law, at issue is whether the court should extend its July 2024 holding in People v. Lymon that application of the registry requirement to non-sexual offenses is “cruel or unusual” punishment, to those convicted of sexual offenses as well.
State v. Amble
Iowa Supreme Court revisited its 2021 decision in State v. Wright that the state's search and seizure clause requires police to obtain a warrant before searching garbage placed curbside for collection, finding that subsequent enactment of a state statute providing such garbage "shall be deemed abandoned property" means a warrant is no longer constitutionally required. The majority reasoned that Wright relied on "positive law" -- a local anti-scavening ordinance prohibiting anyone but licensed trash collectors from picking up trash -- to define private property rights, and the state statute changed that positive law by preempting the local ordinance. A dissent opined that the majority's position allows legislative "end-runs" of constitutional rights and disregards an overarching reasonable-expectation-of-privacy analysis.
Chilutti v. Uber
Pennsylvania Supreme Court will review a lower court's decision to impose a stricter standard than federal courts have applied for when to enforce online arbitration agreements against a user who lacks actual knowledge of the terms, to protect the strong right to a jury trial in the state's constitution.
Book Excerpt: Impermissible Punishments: How Prison Became a Problem for Democracy
The U.S. prison system violates democratic social orders aiming to lessen racist and class hierarchies. Its development was not inevitable.
The Next Round of Partisan Gerrymandering Fights
An unprecedented cycle of mid-decade redistricting highlights a state-by-state legal patchwork, with significant national implications.
Josh Kaul v. Wisconsin State Legislature
Wisconsin Supreme Court held a law giving a legislative committee authority to approve or disprove civil settlements reached by the state justice department violates separation of powers as applied to civil enforcement actions and civil cases brought on behalf of executive agencies. Settling these types of actions is within the core power of the executive branch, as the legislature has failed to demonstrate that doing so implicates an institutional interest giving lawmakers a shared constitutional role.
Erin Van Campen
Erin Van Campen is a Research & Training Attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Detroit, where she provides on-call assistance and training to public defenders and appointed counsel...
Maya Menlo
Maya Menlo is an Assistant Defender at the Michigan State Appellate Defender Office, where she represents children and adults on appeal from juvenile court and criminal court proceedings.
Cathren Cohen
Cathren Cohen is a staff attorney with UCLA Law’s Center on Reproductive Health, Law, and Policy.
