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New articles and books cover a wide range of topics related to state constitutions, judiciaries, state-level democracy, and more, as of September 2024.

"Land conservation groups say they expect to see more funding requests under the state’s land purchase program now that the Legislature’s finance committee can’t legally block conservation projects. At the same time, Republican lawmakers say the decision has placed the future of the program in jeopardy. The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled 6-1 earlier this month that certain statutes governing the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program unconstitutionally authorize the legislative committee to block spending of funds the full Legislature had already earmarked for land purchases."

"As part of our “Doing Democracy” series, we look at state courts and constitutions. Each state has its own constitution, and they generally offer more rights than the U.S. Constitution. For example, the California constitution guarantees the right to happiness, reproductive freedom, and the ability to fish on public land, among other enumerated rights. With a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, activists are increasingly looking at states to protect – and even expand – rights. But will this strategy work? We’ll talk to legal experts about how state courts and constitutions are increasingly becoming battle grounds for preserving or expanding civil rights, and what the impact in California and neighboring states might be."

"State constitutions offer a potential counterweight to these trends. They embody what the law professors Miriam Seifter and Jessica Bulman-Pozen have termed “the democracy principle”—a commitment to popular sovereignty that is reflected in language vesting power in the people and in explicit assurances of the right to vote."

Recent articles address states taking policy questions away from courts, standing in election cases, and state shadow dockets from the 2023-2024 academic year.

This Article explores the role of standing doctrine in the future of state-court election litigation. Building on existing state practices and state constitutional principles, we defend a presumptively broad approach to state-court standing in election law cases, which we term simply election standing. We find that most state courts already relax standing to some extent in election cases—an approach that reflects both the flexible power of state courts and state constitutions’ commitment to democracy. State courts may be the best (and only) fora able to resolve pressing election-related disputes, and in turn to foster certainty, finality, and confidence in election outcomes.

"As President Joe Biden and Donald Trump step up their campaigning in swing states, a quieter battle is taking place in the shadows of their White House rematch. The Republican National Committee, newly reconstituted under Trump, has filed election-related lawsuits in nearly half the states. Recent lawsuits over voter roll maintenance in Michigan and Nevada are part of a larger strategy targeting various aspects of voting and election administration."

"The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday in a lawsuit that could further alter the balance of power in Wisconsin state government. The case, brought by Gov. Tony Evers against the GOP chairs of three legislative committees, seeks to limit the Legislature’s ability to throw out certain policy decisions made by state executive branch agencies. Evers filed the lawsuit directly with the state Supreme Court. "

New publications on state public law focus on topics ranging from constitutional conventions to criminal sentencing published in the latter part of 2023.

This year, states have stepped into the spotlight. The Supreme Court’s opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has focused attention on the state role in defining individual rights, while democracy cases like Moore v. Harper have underscored the important state role in elections. In addition, many high-profile issues are being brought directly to voters through state ballot measures. As state institutions take center stage, state-focused scholarship has never been more timely or important.