Although binding within their own jurisdiction, state constitutional decisions remain outsiders to the U.S. Supreme Court’s constitutional authority. As a result, they can both inspire political engagement and demonstrate that an alternative constitutional path is already in practice. Read more 👇

State Court Report@statecourtreport.org · 2w ago

The Hawaii Supreme Court opened the door for criminal defendants to challenge convictions based on discredited evidence, diverging from the U.S. Supreme Court.

Can state high court opinions serve as catalysts for national change? Examining Hawaiʻi Justice Todd Eddins' latest opinion, my latest @statecourtreport.org essay draws on Prof. Justin Long's insight that state court opinions can engage the public and inspire democratic change. Read below!

One Hawaii Justice Is Using State Constitutionalism to Challenge Federal Constitutional Orthodoxy

Justice Todd Eddins has consistently reminded us that state courts need not agree with the U.S. Supreme Court’s reasoning or conclusions — and neither do we.

statecourtreport.org

Alito's recent dissent in US v. Carter is the most recent reminder of something my colleague @cisozaki.bsky.social has been warning for a while: The originalist fiction of a race-neutral Constitution is damaging civil rights law. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

The Originalist Fiction of a Race-Neutral Constitution is Damaging Civil Rights Law

A Supreme Court ruling based on an ahistorical reading of the Constitution has encouraged attacks on race-inclusive policies and diversity and social justice initiatives.

brennancenter.org

Rick Hasen @rickhasen.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#ELB: Justice Alito’s Vision of the Colorblind Constitution Will Be Coming for Other Laws, Including State VRAs https://electionlawblog.org/?p=156831

State Court Report's @cisozaki.bsky.social outlines some extra tools state law gives litigators to counter originalism. Learn more:

State Law Gives Litigators Extra Tools to Counter Originalism

Unique features of state courts allow lawyers to go beyond arguments available in federal courts.

statecourtreport.org

Did you know the majority of cases about the right to bear arms are heard in state court? This is a fascinating discussion of 2025 gun rulings in Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, and Washington, by @kasiawolfkot.bsky.social & @cisozaki.bsky.social in @statecourtreport.org. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

Case Trends: State Courts Grapple with Gun Rights

Multiple courts last year upheld state laws that restricted the right to bear arms. Courts also struggled to interpret related U.S. Supreme Court decisions.

statecourtreport.org

As we reflect on this year's most notable state constitutional cases, @cisozaki.bsky.social's series on 2025 case trends highlights how state courts have been dealing with a range of issues, from the right to vote, to reproductive and transgender rights, to Covid-19 policies. Check it out: 🧵

Alicia Bannon@aliciabannon.bsky.social · 8mo ago

2025 was a big year for state con law, and @statecourtreport.org asked some of the country's top legal thinkers what they thought were the most significant state constitutional cases of the year. Check out their answers! statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

State constitutional law matters—now more than ever. @statecourtreport.org's latest roundup collects leading voices on the most influential state constitutional cases of 2025. Read it below 👇

State Court Report@statecourtreport.org · 8mo ago

What state constitutional case from 2025 should our readers know about, and why? We asked some of the country’s leading legal thinkers, and their answers highlight the myriad ways state courts can chart their own jurisprudential courses. A must read piece to wrap up the year!

Who sits on the state's highest courts isn't just symbolic -- it can matter to outcomes that shape everyday lives. My colleague @aliciabannon.bsky.social discusses why diversity on the bench is so important in @statecourtreport.org's latest newsletter. Read the post & our latest analysis below!

State Supreme Court Diversity - November 2025 Update

Many state supreme courts lack diversity in terms of their justices’ race, ethnicity, gender, and professional background.

bit.ly

State Court Report@statecourtreport.org · 8mo ago

A new report describing the diversity of state supreme courts reveals "a stark disconnect between the composition of many of these powerful bodies and the communities they serve." @aliciabannon.bsky.social discusses why that matters In the latest State Court Report newsletter.

Originalism’s creep in the courts may seem inevitable. But litigators do have tools to push back – and for the first time, my colleagues @tomtmwolf.bsky.social, @cisozaki.bsky.social and I have collected the many moves litigators can make in a single resource: www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Countering Originalism

This guide offers lawyers strategies, arguments, and citations to address originalist claims they encounter in litigation.

brennancenter.org

🚨NEW REPORT from @brennancenter.org: Countering Originalism: A Guide for Litigators. What’s inside? ⚖️ Practical strategies to respond to originalist arguments 📚 Case law + scholarship 📝 Real examples from court filings 🏛️ Lessons from our SCOTUS practice 🌐 Tips for both fed + state courts

Countering Originalism

This guide offers lawyers strategies, arguments, and citations to address originalist claims they encounter in litigation.

brennancenter.org

Tom “T.M.” Wolf@tomtmwolf.bsky.social · 8mo ago

⏰NEW RESOURCE: In Countering Originalism: A Guide for Litigators, @sam-breidbart.bsky.social, @cisozaki.bsky.social, and I offer lawyers the strategies, arguments, and citations that they need to push back against originalist claims they encounter in court 🧵⬇️ www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

NEW: Amid attacks on DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), the need for representative state supreme courts is as urgent as ever. @cisozaki.bsky.social and Jamie Muth share key takeaways from their latest analysis of state supreme court diversity for @brennancenter.org.

Everyone Benefits When Judges Come from a Variety of Backgrounds

Amid attacks on “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” the need for representative state supreme courts is as urgent as ever.

statecourtreport.org

Judges from diverse demographic and professional backgrounds can reduce bias, improve decision-making, and build public trust. Read our latest State Supreme Court Diversity report: bit.ly/3JW6lN6

Apesar de la creciente diversidad de nuestra nación, las personas que deciden algunas de nuestras cuestiones judiciales más importantes, a menudo, no reflejan a las comunidades a las que atienden. Lea mi último artículo en @laopinionla.bsky.social 👇

La lucha para lograr cortes supremas estatales más diversas no se acaba - La Opinión

A pesar de los ataques contra las iniciativas de “diversidad, equidad e inclusión”, la necesidad de tener una judicatura estatal más representativa es urgente

laopinion.com

Check out my latest @brennancenter.org report: ⚖️18 states: 0 justices of color ⚖️47 states + DC: 0 Native American justices ⚖️42 states: 0 Asian American justices ⚖️39 + DC: 0 Latino justices ⚖️24 states: 0 Black justices Bottom line? States high courts still fail to reflect the communities they serve

Brennan Center@brennancenter.org · 9mo ago

Judges from diverse demographic and professional backgrounds can reduce bias, improve decision-making, and build public trust. Yet in 18 states, there are no justices of color — including 12 where people of color make up at least 20% of the population. bit.ly/3JW6lN6

State supreme courts are still overwhelmingly white & male ⚖️ 18 states: 0 justices of color ⚖️ 47 states + DC: 0 Native American justices ⚖️ 42 states: 0 Asian American justices ⚖️ 39 + DC: 0 Latino justices ⚖️ 24 states: 0 Black justices New @brennancenter.org analysis below👇👇

State Supreme Court Diversity - November 2025 Update

Many state supreme courts lack diversity in terms of their justices’ race, ethnicity, gender, and professional background.

brennancenter.org

Happy election day 🗳️ to my state-side friends! And while you're in line for the polls (or relaxing on your couch because you voted early!), check out my latest case trends piece on some recent cases in the states that are shaping election processes and the constitutional right to vote 👇👇👇

State Court Report@statecourtreport.org · 10mo ago

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.

Attending #NAPABA2025? Join us for “Originalism’s Impacts" (Sat 11/8, 9:15am) w folks from from the state judiciary, @legaldefensefund.bsky.social, @myconstitution.bsky.social & @publicrightspro.bsky.social - we'll explore how originalism is reshaping the law & equal justice for #AANHPI communities!

Check out the second piece in my new "case trends" series for @statecourtreport.org, where I explore state constitutional developments in the repro/trans rights space.

State Court Report@statecourtreport.org · 10mo ago

NEW: "With the federal vacuum forcing states to chart their own course, state courts are increasingly drawing on their distinctive constitutional history and culture to shape the future of reproductive and trans rights.” @cisozaki.bsky.social looks at case trends post-Dobbs and Skrmetti.

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...

The Power of State Constitutional Rights

Judges, practitioners, and scholars explore critical issues facing state courts and constitutions.

brennan.swoogo.com

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.

Case Trends: State Courts Continue to Grapple with Covid-19 Policies  

Courts are still weighing the constitutionality of state responses to the pandemic more than five years after its start.

statecourtreport.org

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 👇👇

Case Trends: State Courts Continue to Grapple with Covid-19 Policies

Courts are still weighing the constitutionality of state responses to the pandemic more than five years after its start.

statecourtreport.org

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.

State Justices Continue to Challenge Originalism

A lively debate about the value of “history and tradition” in analyzing cases is ongoing in state courts. Some justices are pushing for alternative interpretative methodologies.

statecourtreport.org

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.

Honoring Former Hawaii Justice Masaji Marumoto’s Legacy on the Bench

A look at Marumoto’s trailblazing career, in celebration of May’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month.

statecourtreport.org

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.

Eric Michael Garcia@ericmgarcia.bsky.social · last yr.

Elissa Slotkin told Tim Alberta why her response to Trump's joint address did not touch on a laundry list of priorities from various advocacy groups. www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

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

Nancy Levine Stearns@nancylevinestearns.bsky.social · last yr.

💥 BREAKING: At John Deere's annual shareholders meeting today, shareholders overwhelmingly rejected an anti-DEI proposal brought by the same group that targeted Costco and Apple. An anti-DEI proposal from the NCPPR received less than 1 percent of votes. Deere shareholders: DEI is in. Bigots are out

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.

Elon Musk is trying to buy the Wisconsin supreme court

“His attack on democracy isn’t limited to gutting the federal government. He wants it all.”

motherjones.com

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."⬇️

The Fundamental Flaws in the Barnett/Wurman Defense of Trump’s Birthright Citizenship Executive Order

"In their apparent effort to give credence to the Trump Executive Order, Professors Barnett and Wurman indefensibly ignore these core, constitutive principles."

justsecurity.org

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 👇🏻👇🏻

Brennan Center@brennancenter.org · 2y ago

If the Trump administration ignores court orders, judges have a range of options available to ensure compliance. Here are some of the most powerful tools at their disposal: