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Sikora v. Iowa
Iowa Supreme Court held that a former incarcerated person’s state constitutional and tort damages claims against the state and correction officers for releasing him from prison five months late were barred by the legislature’s choice not to waive sovereign immunity for false imprisonment claims. Three dissenting justices would have held that the right to sue an official for false imprisonment was part of the common law at the state constitution’s adoption and was secured by its liberty guarantees, precluding legislators from eliminating that right in the state tort claims act.
Comprehensive Health of Planned Parenthood Great Plains and Planned Parenthood Great Rivers v. State of Missouri
Asking the court to declare unconstitutional and block enforcement of Missouri’s ban on abortion, its ban on the use of telemedicine for abortion, the 72-hour waiting period for the procedure, and multiple other restrictive abortion-related laws.
Law Student Cheat Sheet: Understanding State Courts and Constitutions
As the school year kicks off, we’ve rounded up some of our top explainer essays on how state courts and state constitutions work, protect rights, and influence major U.S. legal issues. Consider it your “State Constitutions 101.”
Back-to-School Scholarship Roundup: State Courts, Constitutional Law, and Federalism
Recent books and law review articles discuss voter disenfranchisement, separation of church and state, and much more.
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.
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.
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.
Members of the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana v. Planned Parenthood Great Northwest
Indiana Supreme Court held that the right to privacy does not protect the right to abortion except when necessary to protect the patient’s life or to protect a patient from a serious health risk. The court left open the possibility of an as-applied challenge to the state's ban, which is being pursued on remand.
State v. City of San Antonio
Court of Appeals blocked a city from distributing payments under a $100,000 fund created to cover reproductive healthcare costs, which may include out-of-state travel for abortion care, while a full appeal is pending. Preliminarily held the fund violates the state constitution's gift clause because sending residents to undergo procedures out of state that Texas prohibits within the state does not count as a public purpose. Although the city had not yet disbursed any money and argued it still had the option to choose not to pay for out-of-state abortion travel, the panel found it sufficiently likely such payment would occur for the dispute to be ripe.
