All fifty states have laws criminalizing various forms of corruption. While many are limited to state and local officials, a few states' laws expressly cover federal officials too, potentially offering a pathway for addressing federal corruption.

If cost has kept you from picking up There Is No Place for Us (which is totally understandable), good news: the ebook is *$1.99* today—93% off!—on Kindle, B&N, Bookshop, and elsewhere. So grateful to everyone who's been reading and sharing the book this year. It means a lot.

I like the analogy he starts out with. "I took the bus down here from Dallas this morning . . . If the bus driver had told me he was 60% sure he could get me to Houston safely, I wouldn't have gotten on the bus."

Curious about all the historical research and historical amicus briefs that Justice Kagan referenced at the Slaughter oral arguments? @lmillerkaralunas.bsky.social has you covered with this annotated guide and links to the key historical briefs: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

#BREAKING: Over dissents from the three democratic appointees, #SCOTUS puts Texas's new House maps back into effect for (and, presumably, through) the 2026 midterms. The three Democratic appointees, in an opinion by Justice Kagan, dissent. I'll post the ruling shortly.

Have 30 seconds during lunch? Make an impact by sending a letter to your City Council Member, showing support for increased and stabilized funding of NYC public library systems actionnetwork.org/letters/city...

Hello! @adamsopko.bsky.social and I have been working on a proposal to charter an AALS Section on State Constitutional Law. We believe that such a section is long overdue and that it is urgent to foster scholarly community and support in a growing discipline. Links to support this effort below: ⬇️

Nestled within this bizarre story is the important news that the Wisconsin Supreme Court has taken the first steps toward striking down its state’s GOP congressional gerrymander, a move that could net Democrats 2-3 more seats in the House of Representatives. slate.com/news-and-pol...

So.....today Indiana Republicans proposed a 9-0 redistricting map to eliminate both of the state's Democratic districts, gave the public less than 24 hrs notice of the hearing at 9am tomorrow AND included a deeply bizarre provision trying to restrict legal challenges to the map

Former law enforcement officials filed an amicus brief in support of defendants’ request to dismiss a Justice Dept lawsuit challenging Boston’s Trust Act. The Act outlines how local law enforcement engages in civil immigration-related enforcement & interacts w/ fed immigration authorities. 1/5

As the year comes to an end, I'm reposting some of the comics I made this year, including this ridiculous thing.

Saturday morning in Brooklyn: Let's read the Constitution together! With @mawaldman.bsky.social and special guest readers below; join us!! @brennancenter.org

Landlords frequently challenge programs meant to ease poverty and housing insecurity by claiming they're unconstitutional takings of private property. But as @uwlawdemocracy.bsky.social's @bridgetlavender.bsky.social explains, state courts have largely rejected these claims.

The Supreme Court did grant review of one case today, Watson v. Republican National Committee, and it's a big one over state laws allowing the counting of ballots cast by Election Day but received after Election Day. Here's the docket: www.supremecourt.gov/docket/docke... And question presented:

One week left to submit an abstract for our Scholarship Roundtable in April!

The last New York City mayoral candidate to secure over 1 million votes was John Lindsay in 1969. Zohran Mamdani will be the seventh New York City mayor ever to receive more than 1 million votes.

Mamdani, an immigrant who will become the city’s first Muslim mayor, has said that his election “is an opportunity for us to make clear that immigrants don’t just belong in the five boroughs of New York City — we also belong in City Hall.”

BREAKING: Zohran Mamdani wins the New York City mayoral race, NBC News projects. nbcnews.to/4nIzNUC

If you want the granular look at how the NYC mayoral candidates perform in neighborhoods across the city, you'll want to watch this precinct-level map, which will update as results start coming in.

whew, per the Board of Elections, we've hit 2M votes in New York City

Polls don't close until 9 p.m., but here's a gift link to the results page for the NYC mayoral election to bookmark to watch once they do. (No needle for this one.)

NEW: State constitutions and state high courts are central in defining how, and by whom, elections are run — and who gets to participate in them. Check out @cisozaki.bsky.social’s Election Day 2025 edition of our series on state constitutional trends.

🚨🚨🚨🚨🚨 This is the President openly announcing that he will violate court orders - two courts had concluded that the Trump regime withholding SNAP funding was illegal - and that the government had to pay out (at least reduced) SNAP benefits starting this week

I know people sometimes forget, but your local elections ARE CRUCIAL. Your schools & libraries depend on local elections. Your AG choice is the one who will stand up to unjust federal actions. We've seen mayors stand up. And if you want to shift your party, the local elections are where you do it.

NEW: Programs meant to protect the vulnerable from poverty & housing insecurity are often challenged by landlords claiming they're unconstitutional takings of private property. But state courts have largely rejected these claims. @uwlawdemocracy.bsky.social's @bridgetlavender.bsky.social explains:

Property owners have increasingly used state law to challenge programs and policies meant to assist the poor. As Staff Attorney @bridgetlavender.bsky.social explains in the State Court Report, state efforts to defend these policies have been mostly successful. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

"[M]emories of the bad times still haunt me. When they do, I remember ... the birds who always came to visit when no one else would."

Palate cleanse. Some humans are terrible, but more of us are great.

Live coverage of the NYC mayoral race continues today as the candidates make their final appeals to voters across the five boroughs.

More and more, property owners go to state court to challenge programs meant to assist the poor, such as eviction moratoriums and mandated charity care. But efforts to defend these policies have been mostly successful. I wrote about it for @statecourtreport.org ⬇️ statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

In analyzing Miller's comments, @politifact.bsky.social cites our piece explaining that "while Supremacy Clause immunity grants federal officials a partial shield from state prosecution, that immunity is not absolute." For more, see the full explainer: statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu/featured/202...

Tomorrow, voters in six states will consider ballot measures regarding redistricting, voting, gun laws, parental rights, taxes, and more. @erings.bsky.social breaks down key measures we're tracking, including CA's Prop 50, which could impact control of the US House after the 2026 elections.

LAW STUDENTS: The ACLU's State Supreme Court Initiative has an internship posting for Spring 2026. www.aclu.org/careers/inte...

Locked Out: Voting and Politics Behind Bars

We filed a brief yesterday explaining that the Constitution’s structure envisions an active role for states in redressing the constitutional violations of federal actors and, historically, state-level causes of action were the primary way for individuals to recover for injuries by federal actors.

This recent piece by @uwlawdemocracy.bsky.social's Harrison Stark explains how state laws offer redress to victims of excessive force, retaliatory investigations, unlawful property destruction, and other unconstitutional federal actions.

They have fired the staff of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and 70 Epidemic Intelligence Service officers, who are disease detectives that respond to outbreaks around the world. I cannot emphasize enough how dangerous it is to dismantle our disease surveillance infrastructure.

Today my @nytimes.com colleagues and I are launching a new series called Lost Science. We interview US scientists who can no longer discover something new about our world, thanks to this year‘s cuts. Here is my first interview with a scientist who studied bees and fires. Gift link: nyti.ms/3IWXbiE

"We took the freedom of speech away," says the president

California recently banned law enforcement—including ICE—from masking up while on the job. At least other 5 other states have proposed similar laws. My latest piece explores whether these laws can actually be applied to federal agents.

As states start to pass laws banning law enforcement from wearing masks, @bridgetlavender.bsky.social has an explainer on the constitutionality of such laws as applied to ICE and other federal law enforcement officers: statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu/featured/202.... The short answer: it's complicated.

NEW: TX is asking NY courts to declare NY's reproductive health care shield law unconstitutional in an attempt to enforce its abortion ban across state lines. @law.ucla.edu's @lindsaywiley.bsky.social lays out a legal case for why NY (and other shield states) can and should reject such overreach.

NEW: Hawaii's Supreme Court keeps releasing opinions that denounce the U.S. Supreme Court. The latest? A new ruling that requires the police to record all interrogations from now on. The author took it as an opportunity to say Hawaii's court will protect due process—while SCOTUS isn't:

This is extraordinarily lawless and is happening all over the country, and because of the Supreme Court there is no remedy for whatsoever. The Constitution, if you can keep it, huh.

I always love reading @prisonjournalism.bsky.social’s work, and this one brought tears to my eyes this afternoon.

The US government holds a tremendous amount of data about US citizens. Now, The Trump administration is trying to access that data and link it together. www.nytimes.com/2025/04/09/u...

i'm excited to read the supreme court opinion explaining that the founders INTENDED for the president to be able to coerce his staff to produce fake evidence of voter fraud in an election he lost so he could cling to power indefinitely bsky.app/profile/char...

🚨🚨Calling all North Carolina voters!! Here is a list of every voter that Jefferson Griffin is trying to disenfranchise, please if you are a NC voter check to see if your name is on here, you have 15 days to cure your ballot to make sure your vote counts. thegriffinlist.com/assets/griff...

NC Court of Appeals rules 2-1 for Judge Jefferson Griffin. The court didn't throw out 65,000 ballots, but it's requiring all of those voters to jump through more hoops to have their vote counted. NONE of these voters broke the rules. appellate.nccourts.org/opinions/?c=... #ncpol