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What Happens if the U.S. Supreme Court Guts the Voting Rights Act?
State provisions could help fill a voting rights gap, but they are a poor substitute for a strong federal standard.
Sobel v. Cameron
Three Jewish women claim abortion ban, which defines human life as beginning at fertilization, violates the state constitution’s prohibition on unintelligible laws because its application to in vitro fertilization is unclear, and religious liberties by inhibiting the Jewish duty to procreate and prioritizing Christian values. Trial court granted summary judgment for the state defendants for lack of standing, but Court of Appeals reversed as to one of the plaintiffs who has frozen embryos and has shown an interest in using them but confusion about her options.
State v. Rudy Nino Parras
Oregon Supreme Court granted review to consider whether state "felon in possession" law, as applied to defendants with prior drug felonies, violates state or federal right to bear arms, but after oral argument dismissed review as improvidently allowed.
Connor v. Oklahoma
Reversed a district court’s denial of the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission’s motion to dismiss a discrimination claim brought by the former general counsel of the commission. The commission claimed she failed to comply with the notice provisions of the Governmental Tort Claims Act, but the lower court had found conflicts between that act and state anti-discrimination statutes meant the notice requirements did not apply. The Oklahoma high court, reaffirming that the liability limitations in the act apply to both constitutional torts and statutes, said no irreconcilable conflicts exist.
Dan Lewerenz
Dan Lewerenz is an assistant professor at the University of North Dakota School of Law.
Tribal Courts and Constitutions of American Indian Tribes
Tribal courts and constitutions shape governance for American Indian tribes, balancing sovereignty with federal law in their unique legal systems.
State v. Gonzalez
Held that defendant's mental health could not be considered in determining whether sentence was unconstitutionally disproportionate
The Lawsuits to Expel Texas’s Democratic Lawmakers Lack Any Support
The governor and attorney general’s claims that the state supreme court should expel lawmakers who fled the state to stop the legislature from gerrymandering congressional districts are unsubstantiated and contradictory.
New Jersey’s Constitution Allowed Women to Vote in the 1700s
Though the right was short-lived, it’s an example of how states can expand — and contract — voting rights.
