Articles
Idaho Supreme Court rejects controversial ethics rule 8.4(g)
The Idaho Supreme Court recently took the extraordinary step of unanimously rejecting a proposal by...
Public records, Excel spreadsheets, and textualism: Kansas Supreme Court affirms the separation of powers
Within the American system of government, legislative authority is the sole prerogative of the people’s...
Florida Supreme Court Identifies Limits on Governmental Immunity Doctrines
In the recent decision Fried v. Florida, the Florida Supreme Court confronted the tension between...
Arizona Supreme Court Takes Aim at Legislative Intent in Tax Case
Arizona Department of Revenue v. Tunkey[1] concerned Arizona’s transaction privilege tax (“TPT”). The unanimous Arizona...
Textualism, Governmental Immunity, and the Common Law at the Tennessee Supreme Court
Writing for a unanimous Tennessee Supreme Court in Lawson v. Hawkins County, Justice Sarah Campbell...
Iowa Supreme Court Upholds the Warrantless DNA Analysis of a Drinking Straw Collected from a Fast-Food Restaurant
In State v. Burns, the Iowa Supreme Court considered whether police violated the U.S. or...
Biometric Privacy Ruling at Illinois Supreme Court Could Cost White Castle Billions
White Castle may be best known for its sliders, but after this year, Illinois lawyers...
Washington Supreme Court Allows Some Claims To Proceed in Challenge to Delivery Fee Ordinance
In a recent Washington Supreme Court decision, Washington Food Industry Association v. City of Seattle,...
In Nevada, Pandemic Sunsets but Novel Powers are Preserved
A recent decision by the Nevada Supreme Court has given one state agency considerable power...
Minnesota Supreme Court Grapples with Voting Rights and Equal Protection
The Minnesota Supreme Court recently decided a challenge to Minnesota’s system for restoring voting rights...
North Dakota Supreme Court Concludes State Constitution Protects the Right to Abortions to Preserve Life or Health
In Wrigley v. Romanick,[1] the North Dakota Supreme Court addressed a trigger law that criminalized...
The Nevada Supreme Court Recognizes a Damages Remedy Directly Under Its State Constitution
Last year, two state supreme courts, within five months of each other, issued two decisions...
Supreme Court of Texas Says Calling Abortion Murder Is Protected Speech, Not Defamation
In Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity v. Dickson, the Supreme Court of Texas held that...
Abortion Laws In Oklahoma Subject of Fractured Decision at State Supreme Court
Immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,[1]...
Narrow Right to Abortion in State Constitution Divined and Reaffirmed by Oklahoma Supreme Court
In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the United States Supreme Court held that there...
Proposed “Reproductive Freedom” Constitutional Amendment May Be Placed on the Ballot After Ohio Supreme Court Ruling
The Ohio Constitution reserves for the people the right to propose an amendment to the...
Felon Re-Enfranchisement Requirements Upheld by North Carolina Supreme Court
When lawsuits challenge state legislative enactments as racially discriminatory or motivated by invidious intent, courts...
Tennessee Supreme Court Clarifies Which Policy Statements Must Undergo Notice and Comment
While the federal Administrative Procedure Act (APA)[1] may receive the most attention from students of...
State Constitution’s Enhanced Vehicle Search Protections Reaffirmed by New Jersey Supreme Court
In March, the New Jersey Supreme Court reaffirmed that the New Jersey Constitution provides more...
Administrative Appeals in Arizona: Does Form Prevail over Substance?
The Arizona Supreme Court’s decision in Shea v. Maricopa County[1] turns on whether form prevails...
Iowa Supreme Court Retains the Emergency Aid Doctrine as an Exception to the Warrant Requirement
The Iowa Supreme Court has recognized a community-caretaking exception to the Fourth Amendment’s warrant requirement...
Pennsylvania Supreme Court holds GPS Data is not Hearsay
In Pennsylvania v. Wallace, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that GPS data collected from...
Texas Supreme Court Holds Foreign Auto Manufacturers Subject to Texas Jurisdiction
After taking care of some preliminary matters,[1] the Texas Supreme Court settled a personal...
Iowa Supreme Court Reverses Ruling That Recognized Implied Rights of Action under the Iowa Constitution
If states are laboratories of democracy, then state judiciaries run these labs’ clinical trials for...
In re Hawai'i Electric Light Company: Legislative Purpose, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, and the Public Interest
Article XI, section 9 of the Constitution of Hawai'i establishes “a right to a clean...
Janus Does Not Require Opt-Ins for Paycheck Deductions of Already Unionized Public Employees in Alaska
In June 2018, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Janus v. American...
Maine Supreme Court Endorses Flexible Balancing Test for Analyzing Speedy Trial Claims Under the Maine Constitution
In Winchester v. State, the Maine Supreme Court considered whether criminal cases that took between...
Texas Supreme Court Tackles Attorney-Client Privilege and the Texas Public Information Act
One of the bedrock principles of our legal system is confidentiality between attorneys and their...
After Ramos, the Louisiana Supreme Court Addresses Whether Certain Defendants Are Entitled to a New Trial
The Louisiana Supreme Court granted certiorari in State v. Vaughn to address a question left...
Iowa Supreme Court Leaves in Place Injunction of Fetal Heartbeat Law, New One Passed Weeks Later
In Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, Inc. v. Reynolds (Planned Parenthood IV), the Supreme Court...
Indiana Supreme Court Upholds Law Banning Most Abortions, Establishes Right To Life-Saving Abortion
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization,[1] Indiana...
North Carolina Supreme Court Reverses Itself In Two Election Law Cases Decided Months Prior
In December 2022, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued opinions in two cases—one striking down...
The Ohio Supreme Court Ruling That Allowed August 8 Special Election to Amend the Ohio Constitution to proceed
In State ex rel. One Person One Vote v. LaRose, the Ohio Supreme Court was...
New York's Municipal Home Rule Law Trumps Local Effort to Institute Term Limits
On May 19, 2023, the New York State Court of Appeals, in a unanimous decision,...
Utah Supreme Court Grapples With Public Recreational Access to Public Waters via Private Property
In Utah Stream Access Coalition v. VR Acquisitions, LLC (USAC II), the Utah Supreme Court...
Constitutional Bar on Retrospective Laws Limits Claims Under Colorado's Child Sex Abuse Statute
The Colorado Supreme Court recently issued a decision in Aurora Public Schools v. A.S. finding...
The Original Meaning of "Maliciously" at the Florida Supreme Court
In Tomlinson v. Florida, Justice John Couriel wrote for a unanimous Florida Supreme Court exploring...
Ohio Supreme Court Rules Tax Exemptions Will No Longer Be Strictly Construed Against Taxpayers
In Stingray Pressure Pumping, LLC v. Harris, the Ohio Supreme Court recently interred a principle...
Nevada Supreme Court Rules That General Concerns About COVID-19 Do Not Trump Sixth Amendment
In Newson v. State,[1] a unanimous en banc Supreme Court of Nevada[2] held that a...
Michigan Supreme Court Enacts Preferred Pronoun Rule for State Judiciary
The debate about pronouns and gender identity has come to the judicial system. Courts are...
Ohio Supreme Court Rules Probate-Juvenile Court Had No Authority To Grant Criminal Witness Immunity
In a per curiam opinion, a unanimous Supreme Court of Ohio held that the Probate-Juvenile...
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Grapples With Corporate Income Tax and the Attorney General's Independence
With more than $2 million dollars of tax revenue and important separation of powers questions...
Wisconsin Supreme Court Finds Local "User Fees" To Be Unlawful Property Taxes
The difference between a tax and a user fee may seem obvious at first glance:...
Texas Supreme Court Rules ERCOT Is a Government Entity, Blocks Suit Stemming From Winter Storm Uri
In the winter of 2021, Winter Storm Uri sent Texas into a deep freeze of...
Smell of Marijuana Alone Can Justify an Arrest, Even After Legalization of Hemp, Says Wisconsin Supreme Court
In State v. Moore,[1] decided on June 20, 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court faced a...
South Carolina Supreme Court Upholds Heartbeat Abortion Ban
In Planned Parenthood South Atlantic v. State (Planned Parenthood II), the South Carolina Supreme Court...
Georgia Supreme Court Carves Its Own Path on Due Process to Strike Down Occupational Licensing Law
A unanimous Georgia Supreme Court held in Raffensperger v. Jackson that an occupational licensing law...
Victim Rights in Arizona's Constitution Clash With Sixth Amendment at Arizona Supreme Court
In 1990, Arizona was the first state in the nation to adopt a Victim’s Bill...
Can a Respondeat Superior Claim Survive Dismissal of the Underlying Negligence Claim? Arizona Supreme Court Reverses Course.
For nearly eighty years, Arizona courts have held that if a negligence claim against an...
Dram-Shop Liability and the State Constitution at the Arizona Supreme Court
The Arizona Supreme Court made surprisingly quick work of what at first appeared to be...
Georgia Supreme Court Rejects Sex Offender Registration Challenge, Re-Affirms Originalism Commitment
In May, the Supreme Court of Georgia unanimously rejected a facial and as-applied challenge to...
Ohio Law Allowing Judges to Impose Indefinite Sentences Upheld at State Supreme Court
In State v. Hacker,[1] the Ohio Supreme Court upheld, by a 5-2 decision, the constitutionality...
California Supreme Court Holds That State Law Preempts County Anti-Fracking Ordinance
The issue in Chevron U.S.A., Inc. v. County of Monterey, Calif. was whether California Public Resources Code § 3106 preempts a...
Utah Supreme Court Recognizes Fifth Amendment Right in Phone Passcodes
With each new development in communication and surveillance technology come new Fourth and Fifth Amendment...
Georgia Supreme Court Rules that State’s Heartbeat Law Is Not Void Ab Initio
In Georgia v. SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective,[1] the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that...
New Jersey Supreme Court Rules Police Need Wiretap Order to Access Nearly Real-Time Facebook Activity
New Jersey police officers sought to “compel Facebook to provide the contents of two users’...
Supreme Court of Texas Holds Governor Can Preempt Local Mask Orders
The Covid-19 pandemic produced many interesting and important constitutional questions. From vaccine mandates[1] to student...
In Wyoming, Supreme Court Rules Canine Sniffs Outside Vehicles Don’t Need Probable Cause
Last June, the Wyoming Supreme Court unanimously held that the Wyoming Constitution does not...
Virginia Supreme Court Rules State Constitution Includes Expansive Protections of Religious Exercise
In Vlaming v. West Point School Board, a former teacher’s lawsuit was given new life...
Michigan Supreme Court Finds Confession of 18-Year-Old Inadmissible
The Michigan Supreme Court’s recent decision in People v. Stewart revisits the longstanding debate about...
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Sides with Government in Nondelegation Case
In Robinhood Financial LLC v. Secretary of Commonwealth, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court sided...
Reverse Keyword Search Warrant Upheld at Colorado Supreme Court
A house fire in August 2020 in Denver killed a Senegalese family—three adults, a toddler,...
Indiana Supreme Court Recognizes State Constitutional Right to a Jury in Civil Forfeiture Actions
In State v. $2,435 in U.S. Currency, the Indiana Supreme Court unanimously held that Article...
The Supreme Court of Texas Addresses Exception to State Anti-Abortion Law
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 reversal of Roe v. Wade,[1] the...
Wisconsin Supreme Court Resolves Sentencing Credit Dispute & Clarifies Precedent About “Read-in” Counts
The idea behind sentencing credit sounds simple: an offender who is ultimately convicted gets credit...
Illinois Supreme Court Rules Monetary Bail Not Required By Bail Clause in State Constitution
In July 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court issued a much-anticipated ruling in Rowe v. Raoul,...
PA Supreme Court Embraces “Per-Defendant” Basis for Calculating Punitive-to-Compensatory Damages Ratio
The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly declined to articulate a bright line rule capping the...
Washington Supreme Court Expands Batson Test, Establishes Rule Regarding Peremptory Strikes
In Matter of Rhone, the Washington Supreme Court addressed a narrow issue about racial bias...
Texas Supreme Court Clarifies Standard for Awarding Noneconomic Damages
The case of Gregory v. Chohan arose out of a tragic highway accident that...
2023 Civil Justice Update
This paper reviews key civil justice issues and changes in 2023. Part I discusses legal reform...