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Arizona Supreme Court Grapples with Challenge to “Dark Money” Disclosure Law
Voters overwhelmingly approved the law in 2022 to shed light on anonymous campaign spending from large donors.
In Re Application for Correction of Birth Record of Hailey Emmeline Adelaide
Court was unable to form a majority on the merits, which had the effect of leaving undisturbed lower court rulings denying a transgender woman’s request to change the sex marker on her birth certificate.
State v. Velasquez
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals held that suppression of evidence as a remedy did not apply to officers' violation of Oklahoma's "knock and announce" requirement for executing a search warrant, and reaffirmed that the state's search and seizure clause is substantively "identical" to the Fourth Amendment.
People v. Lopez
Held that a defendant seeking to establish a violation of their constitutional right to conflict-free counsel is required to show both a conflict of interest and an adverse effect resulting from that conflict
SisterSong v. Georgia
Plaintiffs claim that abortion ban violates the state constitution’s right to liberty and privacy and guarantee of equal protection
Webster v. Commission for Lawyer Discipline
Held that a disciplinary complaint collaterally accusing the first-assistant state attorney general of making misrepresentations in a petition filed in the U.S. Supreme Court alleging 2020 election “irregularities” violated separation-of-powers principles. While the judicial branch (and the lawyer discipline commission derivatively) has the power to enforce compliance with conduct rules, the attorney general (and his first assistant derivatively) has exclusive authority to assess the propriety of filing suit and of "the representations forming the basis of the petitions that he files." If the contents of those pleadings are objectionable, permitting the court to which the pleadings are presented to scrutinize the contents and discipline the attorney general's office "wholly accommodates the legitimate interests of all branches of government." But a disciplinary complaint arising outside the litigation in which the challenged statements were made, "improperly invade[s] the executive branch's prerogatives and risk[s] the politicization and thus the independence of the judiciary."
Jersey City United Against the New Ward Map v. Jersey City Ward Commission
Court will consider controversial new boundaries for municipal election districts redrawn after the 2020 census revealed a significant population disparity between the most and least populous wards, including whether these allegations amount to valid claims under New Jersey’s equal protection clause, civil rights law, and a statute requiring municipal wards to be “compact.”
An intermediate appellate court rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments that equal protection and “compactness” — a term not defined in the law or previous published decisions — require maintaining “communities of interest” and historic neighborhoods.
Gatehouse Media Ohio Holdings v. City of Columbus Police Department
Court will decide whether Ohio's Marsy's Law requires the identity of police officers involved in use of force incidents to be shielded and, if so, whether that requirement violates a state constitutional right of the public and press to inspect public records.
Fisher v. Harter
Ruled that a statute granting peremptory grounds to state legislators to obtain continuances or extensions of fixed court dates was unconstitutional on its face under the separation-of-powers doctrine
