Research

For decades, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) limited enforcement operations at so-called “sensitive locations” like courthouses, schools, or hospitals. But during both Trump Administrations, officials rescinded those guidelines. This report discusses states and localities’ ability to adopt their own state-law policies to protect “sensitive locations” from the disruption of warrantless immigration arrests.

State and local governments are increasingly using property law to push back on ICE operations. This report unpacks the viability of these efforts, from banning new detention centers to barring officers from staging operations on city property.

As part of President Trump’s efforts to expand federal control over the country’s historically state-run election infrastructure, the U.S. Department of Justice has demanded copies of states’ complete voter registration lists, including voters’ highly sensitive data like birthdates, partial Social Security numbers, and driver’s license numbers. The Justice Department has filed 31 federal lawsuits (so far)—against 30 states plus Washington, D.C.—seeking orders compelling these jurisdictions to turn over their data. This tracker monitors the Justice Department’s lawsuits.

The 2026 midterm elections will be a vital test of the country’s democracy, and state officials and state courts will play a critical role in ensuring that the elections are free and fair. In a series of ongoing projects, we are exploring several critical issues, from the protection of state voter data, to efforts to guard against meddling with mail voting, and we are sharing recommendations for how courts can efficiently and effectively handle highly expedited cases. In the coming weeks, we plan to tackle additional questions on topics ranging from state election crimes, deployments of federal officers at the polls, and safeguarding voting machines and ballots from federal seizure, among other topics.

The U.S. Justice Department has demanded states' complete, unredacted vote registration lists. States have mostly declined to provide their full, unredacted voter registration lists. This report examines the questions raised by the federal government's demands about the long-established authority of states to administer elections and the scope of the federal government’s role in the voter registration process.

Federal laws and institutions have long played a central role in addressing public corruption. This report considers the potential for states to play a more central role in addressing public corruption. To date, the vast majority of state public corruption prosecutions have involved misconduct by state or local officials. But beyond addressing public corruption at the state and local levels, state law also provides an underexplored pathway for deterring and punishing corrupt conduct at the federal level.

This Report describes the recently enacted mask ban in California and the proposed laws in other states. Under existing precedent, mask bans are neither clearly prohibited nor clearly permissible. This Report also provides an overview of other options states may have to address masking by federal law enforcement.

Victims of unconstitutional federal actions often have difficulty recovering money damages for their injuries. This Report discusses a potential remedial pathway that is beginning to garner interest among policymakers and litigants: state-created causes of action authorizing people to sue federal officials for damages.

This report explores when states can or cannot pursue prosecutions against federal officials and what that has looked like in practice. This practice stretches back to at least the early 1800s, but it comes with a mixed track record.

The 2024–25 Wisconsin Supreme Court term wrapped up in June and July with a series of high-profile decisions, including on abortion, administrative rulemaking, and the governor’s partial veto power. This article summarizes some of the court’s most notable 2024–25 rulings, including several that implicate democracy and state constitutional law. It also previews what could be ahead in the court’s next term, which begins in September 2025.