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Steven D. Schwinn
Steven D. Schwinn is a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law
How the Constitution Constrains Presidential Overreach Against the States
Existing “anti-commandeering” doctrine is one avenue to challenge abuses of presidential power, but stronger arguments are rooted in the Constitution’s separation of powers.
State ex rel. Spung v. Evnen
Ordered election officials to implement immediately a 2024 law that reinstated voting rights to those convicted of a felony upon completion of their sentence, meaning affected people can now register to vote for November’s election. The secretary of state, based on an advisory opinion from the state attorney general calling the law unconstitutional, had directed election officials to stop registering people with a felony conviction who had not received a pardon.
League of Women Voters of Utah v. Utah State Legislature (LWV 2)
Utah Supreme Court voided Amendment D, a legislatively referred proposed state constitutional amendment that would have allowed lawmakers to repeal citizen-initiated and approved ballot measures. The amendment would have overturned a prior Utah high court ruling. The high court found the legislature failed to follow the proper procedure for placing an amendment on the ballot.
Planned Parenthood of Montana v. State (Planned Parenthood 3)
Upheld preliminary injunction against 2023 laws and an agency rule that limit Medicaid coverage for abortion, finding that they likely violate the right to a pre-viability abortion the Montana Supreme Court has recognized as protected by the state constitution's right to privacy, as well as the state's equal protection clause.
Planned Parenthood of Montana v. State (Planned Parenthood 4)
Upheld preliminary injunction against 2023 laws that prohibit dilation and evacuation abortions—the only outpatient procedure available in the second trimester in Montana—and require an ultrasound pre-abortion, effectively preventing telehealth mediation abortions. A majority of the court found that these laws likely violate the right to a pre-viability abortion the Montana Supreme Court has recognized as protected by the state constitution's right to privacy.
Three Years After Dobbs, State Courts Are Defining the Future of Abortion
Litigation across the states is testing how far constitutional amendments can go in protecting or restricting abortion access.
Republican National Committee v. Aguilar
Nevada Supreme Court affirmed denial of a preliminary injunction sought by the Republican National Committee to stop the practice of counting mail-in ballots that lack a postmark date but arrive by the statutory deadline. State law provides that ballots for which the “date of the postmark cannot be determined” must arrive by 5:00 p.m. on the third day after the election. The court found the statutory language ambiguous but said both legislative history and public policy support counting the un-postmarked ballots.
The Strange Legal Standard Eroding Civil Rights In North Carolina
In a string of recent cases, the North Carolina Supreme Court has demanded claimants prove that statutes are “unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Virginia’s Constitution: An Influential and Resurgent Declaration of Rights
The state’s supreme court has recently interpreted the constitution to provide stronger protections for rights than are guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.
