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Religious Freedom Claims Could Provide New Path to Protect Abortion Rights
Challenges to abortion bans by religious plaintiffs have had mixed results.
People v. Debellis
Ruled that defense counsel was ineffective for failing to request charge on the only defense supported by the trial testimony
People v. Rodriguez
Held that a bicycle stop is a seizure and that police may not initiate encounters with bicyclists absent reasonable suspicion of crime or probable cause of traffic violation
Mellowitz v. Ball State University
Upheld law prohibiting class actions against postsecondary educational institutions to recover losses stemming from Covid-19
State Constitutions and the Limits of Criminal Punishments
This symposium will engage with the growing legal and intellectual movement to challenge excessive criminal punishments via state constitutional prohibitions on cruel and unusual punishments and related clauses.
Multiple High Courts Uphold Voters’ Right to Use Ballot Measures to Change Law
Decisions in California, Michigan, and Utah could serve as models for courts in other states facing power struggles between legislatures and proponents of voter-approved ballot initiatives.
State v. Oldenburg
Held that statute permitting trial court to seal criminal records violates separation of powers by impinging supreme court’s rulemaking power
Direct Democracy Under Attack
Courts in Utah and Michigan recently blocked legislative assaults on the ballot initiative process.
Vlaming v. West Point School Board
Allowed teacher to proceed with claim that refusal to use a student's preferred pronouns is protected by the teacher's free-exercise rights
