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"The Wisconsin Supreme Court in April 2025 upheld Gov. Tony Evers’ use of the partial veto to convert a two-year funding increase for schools into one that would last 2,425 years, prompting Republican lawmakers to propose a constitutional amendment limiting the governor’s veto power on the November 2026 ballot, according to the court’s majority opinion in LeMieux v. Evers."

"The Wisconsin Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Wednesday in a case that highlights how judges can apply different interpretations of the law and constitution to suit their ideological viewpoints."

"The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office is investigating 17 incidents in which immigration authorities potentially violated the law — including one involving former Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino — and is asking the public to submit evidence that could assist the investigations. "

"The City of Madison on Monday appealed a ruling that allows it to be sued for monetary damages for disenfranchising nearly 200 voters in the 2024 election, arguing the decision would unrealistically require 'error-free elections' and expose municipalities across the state to liability for mistakes. . . . Bryna Godar, a staff attorney at the University of Wisconsin Law School’s State Democracy Research Initiative, clarified that a court wouldn’t need to overturn the historic Black voting rights case entirely to rule that it doesn’t apply in the lawsuit against Madison."

"Constitutional limits make it difficult, although not impossible, for states to prosecute federal officers for violations of state law, said Bryna Godar, a staff attorney with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School. But there are some successful cases in which states have pursued officers who are alleged to have gone beyond the scope of their federal duties or have acted unreasonably in carrying out those duties, she said."

“The Legislature has, in these absentee voting statutes, made clear that it considers absentee voting to be a privilege, in that absentee voting as a method is not constitutionally required, and that the Legislature can impose some additional procedures on absentee voting that it maybe couldn’t impose on in-person voting. That privileged language does not mean that when you vote absentee, you don’t have a right to have your vote counted.”

"Bryna Godar of the University of Wisconsin explains how Minnesota could prosecute federal law enforcement on state charges."

State legislatures regularly propose and enact laws that seek to shape the substantive outcomes of state courts. These measures, including court-packing efforts, jurisdiction-stripping laws, and more creative maneuvers to change judicial selection or authority, would amount to legal earthquakes at the federal level. At the state level, these efforts often receive virtually no attention. This Essay brings the potent category of outcome-shaping court reform measures into focus and evaluates it as a question of state constitutional law.

"State officials vow their own investigation, setting up a potential legal clash with federal officials."

Senior Editor Anna Bower spoke with Carolyn Shapiro, co-director of Chicago-Kent College of Law's Institute on the Supreme Court, and Bryna Godar, a Staff Attorney with the State Democracy Research Initiative at the University of Wisconsin Law School. The discussion covered the state of Minnesota’s jurisdiction to criminally investigate Jonathan Ross, the ICE official who reportedly shot and killed Renee Nicole Good on Jan. 7. The conversation also covered obstacles state prosecutors might face in pursuing a potential prosecution and the likelihood that Ross could raise what’s known as "Supremacy Clause immunity."