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Schwartz v. Washington County
Will consider whether statutes that establish state tobacco retail licenses and that authorize licensees to sell tobacco products and vaping devices preempt a county ordinance that prohibits the sale of flavored tobacco products and vapes. An intermediate court found the statutes did not preempt the county ordinance.
Paxton v. Annunciation House
Texas Supreme Court held that a clause empowering the state attorney general to seek judicial forfeiture of corporate charters permits him to bring a quo warranto action to shut down a Catholic charity based on allegations it violated a state law against harboring undocumented immigrants. The state's religious freedom restoration act does not bar the claim from being filed, and the law is neither unconstitutionally vague nor precluded by federal immigration law. Remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings on the merits.
Stephens v. State
Georgia Supreme Court upheld, under the state’s right to bear arms clause, a law banning individuals younger than 21 from carrying handguns in public, unless they have military training. Declined to import federal Second Amendment standards into Georgia’s clause, noting it distinctly and expressly grants the legislature power to regulate the manner in which firearms may be carried.
State v. Green
Tennessee Supreme Court held that, following the state's legalization of hemp, a positive alert from a drug-detecting dog incapable of distinguishing between the smell of legal hemp and illegal marijuana could still contribute to a probable cause finding to support a vehicle search.
A Conversation with North Carolina Justice Allison Riggs
North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs has served on the North Carolina Supreme Court since 2023. She was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper (D), who had previously named her to the state’s Court of Appeals in 2022. In her interview, Riggs discusses the drawbacks of partisan judicial elections, the decisions that have meant the most to her, and why she smiles at everyone who argues in her court.
State of North Carolina v. Chambers
North Carolina Supreme Court upheld a law that allows a juror to be excused and substituted by an alternate after criminal trial deliberations have begun. Because the law requires the trial court to instruct the jury to begin deliberations anew, the majority said, a verdict will still be reached by the 12 people the state constitutional jury right guarantees, not 13.
Norfolk Southern Railway v. State Corporation Commission
Virginia Supreme Court held that a law permitting broadband service providers to install fiber optic cables across railroad property violates a state constitutional amendment providing robust "public use" requirements for eminent domain, as applied to a private company seeking to expand its network for financial gain.
Center for Arizona Policy v. Arizona Secretary of State
Arizona Supreme Court will consider allegations that a campaign-disclosure law violates state constitutional rights to free speech and not to be disturbed in "private affairs," as well as separation of powers. Lower courts dismissed the claims.
Birthmark Doula Collective v. State of Louisiana
Challenge to a state law that reclassifies mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled dangerous substances, arguing that the law unconstitutionally regulates and delays access to medications that people need for non-abortion reasons, simply because those medications may also be used for an abortion
City of Wenatchee v. Stearns
Washington Supreme Court upheld the legality, under the state's private affairs clause and the Fourth Amendment, of a police stop that was based on information received in a 911 call. A stop based on a 911 tip is lawful when circumstances indicate the tip is reliable and it contains a factual basis to give the officer reasonable suspicion of a crime, even if how the caller gathered the facts conveyed in the tip is not established.
