In both GA and MN, judges are supposedly elected. But in practice, "nearly every state supreme court justice steps down midterm, allowing the governor to appoint a successor instead of the state holding an open election for a new justice." Once on the court, they basically never lose re-election.

Hennepin County prosecutors have issued an arrest warrant for the ICE officer who allegedly shot Julio Sosa-Celis in January. Prosecutors are charging the officer with with four counts of second-degree assault with a deadly weapon and one count of falsely reporting a crime.

Excited to share my article, Disenfranchisement Creep, was published Friday in the Virginia Law Review! It argues that state constitutions offer an underexplored way to rein in overbroad criminal and capacity-based disenfranchisement schemes. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Social Circle, Ga., sued DHS/ICE this week over their efforts to construct a 10,000-person detention facility in the 5,000-person town, bringing claims under NEPA, the APA, and state nuisance law. I explore the viability and hurdles for such claims here: statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu/our-work/sta...

A Dane County judge yesterday ordered that the 23 absentee ballots that arrived late to Madison polling places on election day must be counted, given that they arrived late due to election officials' error rather than voter fault. www.votebeat.org/wisconsin/20...

For decades, ICE limited enforcement operations at locations like schools and hospitals. Both Trump Administrations rescinded those guidelines. @harrisonstark.bsky.social discusses states & localities’ ability to adopt their own policies in a new report: statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu/our-work/can...

And now voters have appealed to state court. Law Forward filed a suit Wednesday arguing that the rejection of the ballots is unconstitutional because the voters submitted their absentee ballots on time--it was the city that failed to transport them to polling places by 8 p.m.

Illinois police are investigating an ICE agent's fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez last summer in Chicago, months before the Minneapolis shootings. As in other cases, federal officials claimed that he drove his car into officers, but video footage instead showed him attempting to flee.

The Madison ballot saga continues: WEC voted 5-1 to order the rejection of 23 absentee ballots that arrived at polling places after 8 p.m. on Election Day, even though the city received them the day before. The commissioners cited state law, but one said she hopes the voters appeal the decision.

@bridgetlavender.bsky.social discusses the suit over NJ's law enforcement mask ban, explaining that "Federal officials do not have blanket immunity from state laws. So the question is: What laws are seeking to control them? What laws go too far?"

We're hiring! Two postings are up for a staff attorney position and a one-year fellow position @uwlawdemocracy.bsky.social (in-person and remote options available). Apply by May 14!

The second WI congressional redistricting case, claiming anti-competitive gerrymandering, was dismissed today: wcca.wicourts.gov/caseDetail.h... The other, based on partisan gerrymandering, was dismissed last month: www.wpr.org/news/judicia... Both could now go to the WI Supreme Court.

This would be a significant change for VA and ties in with my article on state constitutional limits on criminal and capacity-based disenfranchisement, which comes out next month in (fittingly) the Virginia Law Review: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

CO prosecutors have charged a federal officer with assault over an altercation with a protester in October. Federal officials are again asserting states don't have jurisdiction over federal officers. I've explained already why that's incorrect: statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu/our-work/can...

A recent U.S. district court decision held that states can constitutionally prohibit federal agents from wearing masks, so long as they do not discriminate against them in the process. Staff Attorney Bridget Lavender explains what this means for other states who are considering their own mask bans.

Wisconsin and Arkansas already had state supreme court elections this year, but dozens more are still playing out across the country. This helpful guide includes all of them.

This is one of the lawsuits I mention in my latest report on how states and localities are pushing back on federal ICE detention facilities and other actions: statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu/our-work/sta...

While federal laws and the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause place constraints on what property-related tools states and localities can use to push back on ICE actions, this report explains that they still have some avenues for ensuring the federal government and its contractors do not overreach.

The assault charges are in keeping with a long history of state prosecutions of federal officers. Read more on that history here: statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu/our-work/can...

This is an important point in the discussion of state criminal prosecution of federal officials: possible prosecutions are not limited to the most extreme cases, like fatal shootings; they may also be available for things like trespass or, as here, kidnapping, burglary, and false imprisonment.

The KY S Ct today voided legislative efforts to impeach a state judge based on disagreements with her rulings. The court rejected the legislature's assertion that it could not intervene in the proceedings, writing: "This would not be co-equal. It would not be constitutional. It would be tyrannical."

The non-fatal shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis is one of three federal shootings in which Minnesota officials are suing to obtain evidence from DHS/DOJ. The other two are the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti: www.startribune.com/minnesota-of... www.nytimes.com/2026/04/06/u...

Minnesota is suing the federal government to obtain evidence in the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and the shooting of Julio Sosa-Celis. The suit was filed in D.C. and argues that federal agencies have unlawfully withheld evidence. www.startribune.com/minnesota-su...

We’re excited to welcome Paul D. Clement, former U.S. Solicitor General, for the Robert W. Kastenmeier Lecture on March 25. Register for the in-person and virtual lecture: buff.ly/oznhRq4.

Interested in clerking? Check out this event to learn more about clerking in state supreme courts.

The strongest arguments against qualified immunity reform are that lawsuit costs would skyrocket and officer retention would plummet. Alex Reinert, Jim Pfander, and I studied qualified immunity reforms in Colorado and New Mexico and can report: the sky is not falling. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Join us next week for this panel!

BREAKING: Judge Patrick Schiltz in Minnesota threatens criminal contempt, if necessary, to address ICE noncompliance in an order calling out U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen's response to Schiltz's earlier questions about noncompliance with court orders. "ICE will comply with this Court's orders."

Judge Bryan in Minnesota has scheduled a combined contempt hearing in morethan two dozen immigration cases for what he says has been widespread defiance of his orders to ensure released detainees are given their confiscated property. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Join us for the next installment in our Election Matters series, "The Battle Over Mid-Decade Redistricting" on March 6, 3-4:15 pm CT. Panelists will offer an update on mid-decade redistricting and how it may impact the 2026 midterms. Register here: go.wisc.edu/95y7s8

"[L]ocal police did not open investigations into six of the 12 shootings by on-duty federal agents that have led to the deaths or injuries of citizens and immigrants since September, a ProPublica analysis found."

Relevant to this essay, UT's Republican governor signed a bill this weekend to add two new supreme court justices that he would appoint. Unlike a constitutional amendment, which goes to voters, the bill did not give voters a chance to directly weigh in. www.sltrib.com/news/politic...

We argue that state constitutions do not bar efforts to align state courts with popular preferences or the public's vision for the judiciary. But they do require, at a minimum, that outcome-shaping changes receive public engagement and validation--a component that is often lacking today.

Nine DAs are coalescing to work on prosecuting federal agents for 'overreach': —L. Krasner in Philly —J. Creuzot in Dallas —M. Moriarty in Minneapolis —L. Conover in Tucson —S. Descano in Fairfax (VA) —R. Fatehi in Norfolk (VA) —S. Morales in Portsmouth (VA) —P. Dehghani-Tafti in Arlington (VA)

DOJ's Oregon case officially dismissed: Yesterday, the judge called a hearing to require DOJ to explain how AG Bondi's weekend demand for MN's voter data in exchange for ICE leaving impacts the OR case. The judge's prior "tentative" dismissal is now final, though an opinion is still forthcoming. 15/

To learn more about states’ powers in this moment, check out our checks on federal overreach pieces, including on state prosecutions of federal officials and on DOJ’s efforts to access state voter rolls (which Bondi raised in her MN letter yesterday) statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu/research-exp...

It seems timely to re-re-up this crystal clear Nov. 2025 @lawfaremedia.org article explaining precisely when federal officers can and cannot be criminally prosecuted by state authorities. It's by @bgodar.bsky.social of Univ of Wisconsin www.lawfaremedia.org/article/are-...

DHS has shot 12 people during immigration enforcement operations since September:

BREAKING: Trump-appointed judge blocks FBI/DOJ/DHS from destroying or altering evidence related to shooting of Alex Pretti by Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis. Judge Eric Tostrud grants TRO & sets Monday hearing. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... Earlier: www.politico.com/news/2026/01...

BREAKING: MN Bureau of Criminal Apprehension & Hennepin DA file fed lawsuit dmeanding immediate access to federal evidence in DHS agent's deadly shooting of observer during immigration enforcement operation Sat. Doc: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... Earlier: www.politico.com/news/2026/01...

The Star Tribune reports that federal agents "attempted to order local police from the scene" where a man was shot and killed by feds this morning, but Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara refused and "instructed his officers to preserve the scene."

Great resource from @derekclinger.bsky.social tracking all the DOJ lawsuits seeking states' voter data. Today, a GA district court dismissed one case, finding it was filed in the wrong court. Last week, a CA district court dismissed another case on the merits.

BREAKING: Immigration officers are asserting sweeping power to enter homes without a judge’s warrant, a memo obtained by AP says.

Incredible resource! My state supreme court clerkship was an absolutely incredible experience, but the process of getting it was incredibly confusing. This resource is the type of thing I dreamed of when I was a 2L!

Do ICE Officers Have Immunity? @hannarosin.bsky.social interviews @bgodar.bsky.social of @uwlawdemocracy.bsky.social for @theatlantic.com: "There are several cases where federal courts have recognized that federal officers do not have absolute immunity." www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/202...

President Trump is threatening to use the Insurrection Act to deploy military to Minnesota. To learn more about the act and its limits, check out this explainer from @brennancenter.org

1/ Starting a thread to track the DOJ voter data litigation as courts begin hearing these cases. So far, DOJ has sued 23 states + DC for refusing to hand over sensitive voter data like SSNs and driver's license numbers. My full analysis: statedemocracy.law.wisc.edu/featured/202...

BREAKING: Minnesota, Minneapolis, and St. Paul sue Noem and others over DHS immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota, seeking TRO to block the surge and stop unlawful actions detailed in the complaint.

Wrote a piece for @slate.com explaining that states have a long history of prosecuting federal officers when they allegedly use excessive force. Federal officers are only immune from such prosecutions when they act reasonably in carrying out lawful duties.

Might be a good time to re-up this @lawfaremedia.org piece by @bgodar.bsky.social www.lawfaremedia.org/article/are-...