This year's Supreme Court term will be a historic one for the future of presidential power and our system of checks and balances. Join us on Sept. 30 at 3pm ET for a virtual event with experts and longtime Court watchers as they break down some of the major cases on the docket. RSVP: bit.ly/4nKeDFP

Once again SCOTUS erases Congress from our constitutional system.

New book excerpt just dropped! Read Yale Professor Judith Resnik's trenchant account of the rise of the modern prison system. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

NEW: In 2019, the US Supreme Court ruled that federal courts have no authority to address partisan gerrymandering, shifting legal battles about the partisan effect of redistricting to the states. @aliciabannon.bsky.social examines the mixed results of these legal challenges.

NEW: I wrote about how SCOTUS's Rucho decision shifted partisan gerrymandering fights to state courts. The record is mixed (including recent divergent rulings in UT an SC) - and mid-decade redistricting is generating a whole new set of challenges. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

Excited that Slate co-published our latest @statecourtreport.org piece, about how state marijuana legalization is impacting search and seizure jurisprudence.

Yup.

A huge case w/ the potential to reshape & expand presidential power. Note the sharp shadow docket critique from Justice Kagan: "Our emergency docket should never be used . . . to permit what our own precedent bars" or to "reshape the Nation’s separation of powers." www.nbcnews.com/politics/sup...

This kind of repudiation of the Supreme Court by a state Supreme Court justice is very rare. But — speaking as a former Alaska Supreme Court clerk — this is also part of their structural purpose. There’s a reason our rights can be, and often are, given *better* protection under state constitutions.

Tort reform laws passed in the '80s & '90s capped damages in malpractice lawsuits and sparked hundreds of state constitutional challenges. As @aliciabannon.bsky.social explains, these “tort wars” transformed judicial elections and reshaped state courts. Learn more: go.statecourtreport.org/subscribe

I hope you can join us at The Power of State Constitutional Rights, a symposium on Nov 6-7 in Chicago, organized by @brennancenter.org & Northwestern Law Review. We'll be hearing from judges, scholars and practitioners about the future of state con law. RSVP below! brennan.swoogo.com/stateconstit...

This is a fascinating story! @aliciabannon.bsky.social wrote about recent state con law challenges to tort reform in Ohio & N. Carolina and how business backlash to similar suits in the '90s helped lead to today’s politicized judicial elections. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

NEW: I wrote about recent state con law challenges to tort reform in OH and NC and how business backlash to similar suits in the 90s helped lead to today’s politicized judicial elections. It’s a fascinating story. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

NEW: Five years on, courts are still weighing the constitutionality of state responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. @cisozaki.bsky.social kicks off her new series on 2025 state constitutional trends with this look at the legal legacy of Covid-19.

Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s breezy suggestion that Americans who are roughed up by ICE can sue agents in federal court is drawing pushback from civil rights attorneys. They note that the Supreme Court’s conservative majority has made those cases nearly impossible to win in recent years.

#BREAKING: With no explanation (save for a solo concurrence by Justice Kavanaugh), #SCOTUS has frozen lower-court rulings that had enjoined allegedly suspicion-less arrests as part of "roving" immigration patrols in California. Justice Sotomayor, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson, dissents:

The KU Law Review is putting on a fantastic symposium this fall (10/17) entitled State Constitutions in Times of Federal Uncertainty. Schedule and registration link can be found here: law.ku.edu/academics/ha... Please share widely! We hope you can join us.

The Trump administration’s plan to use 600 military lawyers as temporary immigration judges, with some starting as soon as this week, will deprive immigrants of a fair hearing and further erode the line between military personnel and civilian government. 1/14

NEW: There are a TON of significant oral arguments in state supreme courts this September. Cases address dark money, charter schools, election rules & more. Check out this roundup by @erings.bsky.social & @skess108.bsky.social w/ dates & links to watch. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

The true purpose of Bluesky has been revealed and it's Michael Stipe telling us the lyrics to It's The End Of The World As We Know It

This is a remarkable article. Federal judges are increasingly speaking out against SCOTUS’s approach to the shadow docket. This isn't typical & underscores the impossible position for lower courts when SCOTUS makes new law on its emergency docket – especially when it doesn’t explain its rulings. /1

NEW: The expansion of school voucher programs is a HUGE education story, and it's leading to new state constitutional challenges. Read about the latest in Ohio's education wars in a great new @statecourtreport.org piece by Nathaniel Fouch. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

My new piece for @brennancenter.org's @statecourtreport.org looks at how New Jersey built the strongest statewide policy in the U.S. to *require* that every municipality create its fair share of affordable homes: statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

NEW: This year marks the 50th anniversary of the NJ Supreme Court's Mount Laurel decision outlawing exclusionary zoning in the state. Jag Davies @fairsharehousing.bsky.social gives a fascinating account of the groundbreaking ruling & long fight over enforcement. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

Law students! Interested in learning more about state courts and state constitutions? @skess108.bsky.social collected all the explainers we wished we had in law school. Check it out in @statecourtreport.org statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

🚨BREAKING: A state district court has struck down Utah’s congressional map on the grounds that the legislature illegally repealed 2018 anti-gerrymandering standards approved by voters. State has until 9/24 to adopt new map.

The only modern president who refused to concede a certified election defeat proclaims his authority over election rules nationwide. My latest: www.nytimes.com/2025/08/24/o...

My latest scholarship roundup up for @statecourtreport.org covers interesting new work on state constitutions, state courts, federalism, and more. (Sorry to report that it’s the back-to-school edition!) statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

NEW: Want to know the latest in state con law scholarship? @miriamseifter.bsky.social has you covered! Check out her latest scholarship roundup in @statecourtreport.org. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

I wrote about threats to the Voting Rights Act from SCOTUS, how state constitutions and other laws could help fill the gap -- and why that's a poor substitute for a strong national standard that protects all voters. My latest in @statecourtreport.org. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

Only half of all Americans know their state has a constitution. You can help us change that! Please click on the link below to vote for our proposed SXSW EDU panel, How State Constitutions Empower and Protect Youth.

Wondering about DC's "home rule" rights? Meryl Chertoff wrote a great piece for @statecourtreport.org explaining the current legal framework and why it makes DC "particularly vulnerable to changing political climates." statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

I’ve been itching to write this piece for a while. I wrote @brennancenter.org about SCOTUS’s shadow docket rulings allowing Trump admin policies to go forward & why it’s outrageous that the Court has so often failed to offer any explanation for its decisions. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

Have you voted yet for our @statecourtreport.org SXSW EDU (proposed) panel? We've lined up an all-star group: @lwvus.bsky.social CEO Celina Stewart, @aclu.org's Harper Seldin, and @youthvgov.bsky.social's Julia Olson. But we need your vote! THANK YOU FOR VOTING! participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sx...

BREAKING: Eight former New York judges, including the former Chief Judge and Chief Administrative Judge, filed a friend-of-the-court brief in United States v. New York. Allowing ICE to make warrantless civil arrests at courthouses undermines the proper functioning of state courts.

My new piece on AI, surveillance, and fully utilizing our state constitutional right to privacy to protect people - out today at @brennancenter.org @statecourtreport.org statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

You can help State Court Report make it to South by Southwest EDU! Please vote below on a great panel.

"What we really need people to do is to vote like they love teachers, show up to school board meetings like they love teachers...show their commitment to education...through action." Check out the recording of our Brennan Center Live discussion w/ education experts: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruvw...

Over 5,000 people tuned in to hear about the dangerous legal theories underwriting the imperial presidency. You should, too: www.youtube.com/live/_QvxTc7... @sam-breidbart.bsky.social @janemanners.bsky.social @jdmortenson.bsky.social @wuc3.bsky.social @brennancenter.org

READ THE FILING: Gov. Greg Abbott asks the Supreme Court of Texas to find that the chair of the TX House Dem caucus has forfeited his office (a petition for a writ of quo warranto). gov.texas.gov/uploads/file...

NEW: Despite growing attention to state con law, many courts still lockstep w/ the federal constitution as a default. I wrote about recent cases in CT, TX & PA where justices called on their courts to embrace independent state constitutional interpretation. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

I had the opportunity to write a foreword for the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review's symposium on state constitutional law. I hope you'll check out the whole issue! journals.law.harvard.edu/crcl/vol-60-...

ICYMI: Hot weather leaves people behind bars particularly vulnerable. Ava Kaufman, @kasiawolfkot.bsky.social & @briannaseid.bsky.social wrote in @statecourtreport.org about limited federal protections & how state constitutions could offer a more promising answer. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

Just 9 days before the Voting Rights Act turns 60, the 8th Cir dealt another blow to the Act. A day later, @durbin.senate.gov & @warnock.senate.gov re-introed a bill to strengthen it. On 8/19, @repnikema.bsky.social, @alexkeyssar.bsky.social, @nativerights.bsky.social & I will discuss this and more.

I had a wonderful time earlier this year participating in a symposium on stare decisis held by the St. John's Law Review. An essay version of my remarks, which looked at "zombie laws" that can reanimate after precedents are overturned, just came out! scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/lawreview/vo...

I had fun answering questions from @boltsmag.org readers about what is going on in Texas - and Texas’ long history of drawing gerrymandered and racially discriminatory maps. #txlege boltsmag.org/a-new-cycle-...

#SCOTUS's academic defenders are increasingly arguing that the justices' behavior in Trump-related emergency applications is a response to district court "overreach." But those claims depend upon cherry-picking from or misrepresenting the examples—and ignoring the Court's own shirking of its rules:

I LOVE seeing helpful tools emerge to study state constitutions! Carrie Ann Donnell highlights stateconstitutiontool.org in a new piece in @statecourtreport.org. Read up on what it does and how to use it! statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

Fights over Medicaid funding for abortion implicate both federal and state law. @maryrziegler.bsky.social has a great new overview in @statecourtreport.org, including recent state litigation challenging funding bans. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

ICYMI: Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein spoke with @statecourtreport.org's @erings.bsky.social about disability rights and his experience as the court's first blind justice. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...