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Commonwealth v. Anthony Lewis
Pennsylvania Supreme Court declined to adopt stringent test for the evidence required to designate an area “high crime” in order for that circumstance to be a factor in whether reasonable suspicion exists for a police stop, leaving it to the discretion of the supression court.
City of Kalispell v. Doman
Montana Supreme Court will consider whether a law against obstructing a peace officer violates federal and state speech protections as applied to a defendant arrested while recording on his cellphone police conducting a traffic stop in a public place.
State v. James Ellis
Washington Supreme Court held restitution imposed on an indigent defendant did not violate state or federal excessive fines clause, finding the amount to be compensatory, not punitive.
Bush v. Gore Introduced a Fringe Theory that Threatened Elections Decades Later
The “independent state legislature theory,” shut down in 2023 by the U.S. Supreme Court, would have robbed state courts of the power to review state laws related to federal elections.
How Originalism Revived an Abortion Ban a Majority of the North Dakota Supreme Court Held Unconstitutional
Although three of the five justices on the court concluded the ban violated state due process rights, a state rule requiring a supermajority to strike down a law means the dissenting opinion controls.
Access Independent Health Services v. Wrigley
North Dakota Supreme Court upheld state's abortion ban despite three of five justices concluding a health-risk exception was unconstitutionally vague, because the state constitution requires four justices to declare legislation unconstitutional
McVay v. Cockroft
Oklahoma Supreme Court will consider whether a law making it harder for citizen initiative petitions to qualify for the ballot violates citizens' state constitutional initative, free speech, and equal protection rights.
Hon. Barbara J. Pariente
Hon. Barbara J. Pariente served on the Florida Supreme Court from 1998 to 2019 and was the chief justice from 2004 to 2006.
Judging Democracy: A Former Justice Reflects on Bush v. Gore 25 Years Later
The legal battles over the 2000 presidential election were the beginning of a cautionary tale reminding us that democracy does not sustain itself.
"Liberty" is a Big Word, and That’s OK
A recent abortion rights decision in North Dakota demonstrates that the distinction between “fundamental” and “non-fundamental” rights doesn’t always make sense in state constitutional jurisprudence.