Search
Filter Search
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.
Direct Democracy Under Attack
Courts in Utah and Michigan recently blocked legislative assaults on the ballot initiative process.
State v. Hinman
Ruled that retroactive application of amended Sexual or Violent Offender Registration Act violated prohibition against ex post facto punishment because law is “punitive in nature”
State v. Teulilo
Upheld "community caretaking exception" to warrant requirment despite recent federal Fourth Amendment decisions
Burroughs v. State
Ruled that the constitutional right to bail permits the attachment of unaffordable financial conditions to a dangerous defendant's pretrial release
McEwen v. Lee
Plaintiffs claim Tennessee's voucher program unlawfully diverts public education funds to private schools, undermining public schools' budgets and violating the state constitution's provisions for equitable education and local autonomy.
People v. Regan
Held that four-year delay in filing an indictment violated defendant’s due process right to prompt prosecution
Scholarship Roundup: September 2024 Back to School Edition
New articles and books cover a wide range of topics related to state constitutions, judiciaries, state-level democracy, and more.
