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.

As manager of @statecourtreport.org's case database at the @brennancenter.org, I'm rolling out a series discussing trends we're seeing in our database cases. Read the first of the series here, and find out what state courts are saying in response to challenges to Covid-19 era government policies 👇👇

NEW: SCOTUS's controversial invocation of originalism has sparked a lively debate among justices about interpreting state court cases using "history and tradition." @cisozaki.bsky.social & Maryjane Johnson review recent critiques of originalism and alternative interpretive methods to consider.

NEW: In celebration of May’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, Zoe Merriman and @cisozaki.bsky.social look at former Hawaii Justice Masaji Marumoto’s trailblazing career and legacy on the bench.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Republican challenger concedes a 2024 North Carolina Supreme Court election to the Democratic incumbent.

i’m sorry, i’m tired of this shit. there was no pronoun policing. i have encountered exactly three or four land acknowledgments in like ten years, and the most you’ll hear about “intersectionality” is in liberal nonprofits. this is just freefloating resentment masquerading as analysis.

everyone seeing how when you takeaway the DEI the planes start falling out of the sky

The attacks on DEI are a pretext for a much more radical agenda of reversing the gains of the civil rights movement, an objective the Trump administration is pursuing with zeal. A Great Resegregation. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

Elon Musk is now trying to flip the balance of power on the top court in one of the country’s most important swing states. Read @ariberman.bsky.social on the very high stakes in Wisconsin and the Tesla founder's plot to buy the state supreme court.

This is, in no uncertain terms, a rout. The New York Times published an unfortunate op-ed trying to legally justify Trump administration's #Birthright citizenship order. Here, five leading scholars show, with analytic precision, how that op-ed was "fundamentally flawed and irresponsible."⬇️

Fantastic new piece by my @brennancenter.bsky.social colleagues @douglaskeith.bsky.social & Yasmin Abusaif explaining what courts can do if the Trump administration flouts court orders 👇🏻👇🏻

BREAKING: A Ninth Circuit panel DENIES the Trump administration’s request to limit the nationwide scope of a Seattle court’s injunction that blocks Trump’s executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. The panel included two Republican appointees, and one Democratic appointee

Today is EO9066 Day of Remembrance. 🇺🇸 This EO ordered the incarceration of Japanese residents. They were citizens and immigrants denied citizenship due to racist laws. Their stories are more important than ever. Take some time to listen to their stories.

On this Day of Remembrance, we honor the 120,000 Japanese Americans unjustly imprisoned during WWII because of their heritage. Their resilience remind us to never forget the lessons of history. We will continue to fight for justice, equality, and civil rights for all.

Allowing the administration to define broad swaths of history, programming and civil rights compliance as “DEI” and then regurgitating that language instead of clearly articulating what specifically is being targeted is spreading disinformation and propaganda.

ICYMI: 16 state AGs put out guidance yesterday encouraging companies not to end programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion, and reiterating that (1) most "DEI" practices and policies are lawful, and (2) help prevent orgs rectify unlawful discrimination. 🔗: www.mass.gov/doc/multi-st...

As @jamellebouie.net points out, the Trump administration’s crusade against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) is really an attempt of powerful elites to roll back the very concept of civil rights. What’s going on here? 🧵👇

I've lived democratic backsliding & authoritarianism across multiple countries. I've watched repression creep across staff planning sessions & editorial rooms, from both the left & right. The #1 way it happens? Self-censorship. Before your opponents ever censor you, self-professed allies do.

BREAKING: Judge Carl Nichols - a Trump appointee - announced he will pause Trump’s effort to gut USAID. www.nbcnews.com/politics/pol...

This is a manufactured crisis — one that serves to distract you from the fact that Trump and Republicans ran on raising wages and lowering costs, but have no real solutions to help you build a better life. They are trying to get you to look the other way. Don’t.

We should be focusing on the real obstacles that female athletes face, like a lack of financial resources and vulnerability to abuse. Instead, Republicans are attacking a group that represents less than a fraction of 1% of student athletes.

Yesterday, Trump signed an executive order banning transgender women from competing in sports at federally-funded schools. This is a cruel, invasive action that will harm women and girls across the country. Let’s talk about it.🧵

Another day, another big legal loss for Trump. This is the second court in as many days to hit his EO attempting to rescind birthright citizenship with a preliminary injunction. Birthright citizenship is still the law of the land, as it has been since the beginning of our history.

LISTEN: Judge Coughenour condemns Trump’s assault on birthright citizenship. It is “apparent that to our president, the rule of law is but an impediment to his policy goals. The rule of law is, according to him, something to navigate around or simply ignore…for political or personal gain.” Part 1:

This Black History Month, you'll be supporting Black Penned Stories. Follow this Starter Pack. This isn't DEI. It's Anti-Segregation. #BlackSky #BookSky go.bsky.app/Thz8U7e

When your entire narrative is founded on erasure, censorship, & disempowerment because you can't win the battle with evidence....🙃

I would encourage my colleagues and friends here to sign the statement that @maxineeichner.bsky.social and others have drafted, and to share it within your networks, too. We must speak out and speak together. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

+ Democracy Forward too!

There's been news circulating this wk that the UCs have been slapped with an anti-affirmative action suit--UC has denied. Regardless, let's be clear: a maj of AAPIs support AA. These suits are driven by angry white guys seeking to undo equal protection& rewrite history. Asians aren't your scapegoat.

Trump's birthright citizenship order is now BLOCKED by a nationwide preliminary injunction. This enhances the protections already in place under the TRO issued earlier. The Trump administration takes another loss in court. Let's keep stacking these wins. abcnews.go.com/US/judge-fut...

FOUR hearings tmrw in cases related to Trump directives: 9:30 am, New York v. Trump (OMB grant freeze) 10:30 am, Does 1-9 v. DOJ (FBI purge) 11 am, Doe v. OPM (E-Gov privacy + mass emails) 1 pm, Washington v. Trump (birthright citizenship EO) Links/call-in nos. here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

A coalition of DEI officers, professors, AAJC & others are challenging Trump’s anti-DEI EOs in a fed suit (D Maryland) arguing that they are unconstitutionally vague, risk chilling free speech & constitutes exec overreach (including one order that usurps congressional spending power).

I get that people are feeling a lot of feelings right now but sitting around going "oh, the law is over, all is lost, we're doomed" isn't helping anybody and it's at times actively hurting the causes you support because it saps the will to fight back.

I went to post about the National Japanese American Memorial in D.C., which is beautiful but usually missed by tourists. It is a deeply staggering admission of guilt and a warning to future Americans. I went to link to the inscriptions and- Well, they took the site down. www.nps.gov/places/japan...

having just determined that we cant do an extra show every time something batshit happens, we did an emergency show today because something batshit happened. Thank the goddesses for @stevevladeck.bsky.social who explains terrible things in the best ways. slate.com/podcasts/ami...

Great new opportunity for post-graduate researchers! Come work with my amazing team 👇👇

Judge: "I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one. This is a blatantly unconstitutional order." www.nbcnews.com/politics/imm...

The 14th Amendment rejected the idea that some people born here are less than others in the eyes of the law. We reject that idea again today. We say that out loud because protecting our Constitution requires all of us to speak and act like we still have one. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

An examination of more than 1,200 federal judges and state supreme court justices turned up dozens of judges who chose not to recuse when facing potential appearances of impropriety involving familial financial connections. (Published July 2024)

I told you what I thought abt #January6 when it happened 4 yrs ago, and nothing since then has changed my view. Storming the Capitol was about maintaining white power in the US. You can read it here: fivethirtyeight.com/features/sto... An interview with @democracynow.org: youtu.be/JcYVVpKG7nk?...

Thank you to @historians.org for hosting our #AHA25 panel on the US Supreme Court’s originalist turn and how historians can respond. For more info on the Historians Council on the Constitution 🧵👇🏻 @brennancenter.bsky.social

John Roberts' year-end report on the judiciary is shockingly tone-deaf. 🧵 www.supremecourt.gov/publicinfo/y...

The Hawaii Supreme Court said this year that sweeps like the ones described by @propublica.org's @nicolesantacruz.bsky.social violate the state constitution. By contrast, SCOTUS says it's OK to punish people for sleeping outside. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana... @brennancenter.bsky.social

In 2025, state supreme court races in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Louisiana could have a major impact on the fight for voting rights. We outline the races you should be watching.

Not sure of the original source of this, but the depiction with the final domino set to crush the pusher is devastatingly accurate.

Happy Caturday to all those that celebrate 😽 The lap kitties clearly do not want me to get off the couch today….

Many of the rights we cherish were pioneered in state courts. And with recent federal court rulings limiting or eliminating rights under the U.S. Constitution, state courts have gained prominence as critical arenas for protecting rights.

ICYMI: State Court Report asked scholars and advocates to identify the most significant state constitutional cases of 2024. From repro rights to youth sentencing, it’s a fascinating account of the growth of state con law. @statecourtreport.bsky.social statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

David Brown did a great deep dive into this case and potential sequels for @statecourtreport.bsky.social. Worth the read! statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

Exciting news from the Montana Supreme Court!