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Washington, DC Needs Stronger ‘Home Rule’
Most state constitutions allow municipal governments autonomy over local matters. Washington, DC’s policies, by contrast, must go to Congress for approval.
Smith v. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
Held that an insurance company’s termination of an at-will employee for petitioning legislators about Covid-19 vaccine requirements did not fall within a “violates clear public policy” exception to at-will employment. Because the right to petition in the TN Constitution only constrains the government, not private parties, a private employer does not violate “public policy” by terminating an employee for exercising that right.
Access Independent Health Services v. Wrigley
Will consider whether trial court erred in striking down near-total abortion ban on bases that the law violates a woman's fundamental right to obtain an abortion pre-viability and the exceptions are unconstitutionally vague. The North Dakota Supreme Court previously refused to stay the trial court ruling, finding at that juncture that the state had not shown it was likely to prevail on appeal.
Cuomo v. New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government
Ruled that state ethics commission does not violate separation of powers principles, finding that the legislature shares with the governor power to appoint and remove state officers under New York's constitution and the commission "provides an additional ethics enforcement mechanism narrowly targeted to the problems inherent in the Executive Branch’s self-regulation."
In re L.E.S.
Will consider whether a "would have been married" test created by an intermediate appellate court to determine whether a woman, who had children with a same-sex partner at a time when the state's same-sex marriage ban was in effect, has parental rights over the children, violates separation of powers principles and the state constitution's ban on retrocative laws by effectively rewriting state statutes that do not recognize common-law marriage and define parenthood in the case of artificial insemination.
A North Carolina Court Decision Could Overturn a 2024 State Supreme Court Election
The decision allows for rewriting election rules after votes have already been counted, moving the losing candidate closer to his goal of having more than 60,000 ballots thrown out.
The History of Dueling and State Constitutions
State constitutions helped end dueling — a deadly way men proved their “honor” — in a way state laws could not.
North Carolina’s Constitution of Contrasts
The state’s 55-year-old constitution offers progressive protections like a right to education while retaining elements of state-sponsored efforts to prevent Black progress in the post-Reconstruction era.
