@aliciabannon.bsky.social
Senior Director of the Judiciary Program at the Brennan Center for Justice and the Kohlberg Center on the U.S. Supreme Court. Editor-in-chief of State Court Report. All opinions are my own.
@statecourtreport.orgReposted by @aliciabannon.bsky.socialThe Oklahoma constitution requires a public vote every 20 years over whether to hold a state constitutional convention. But there hasn't been such a vote in over 50 years. The requirement is now at the center of an inter-branch conflict, writes @msmith750.bsky.social.
@aliciabannon.bsky.socialI wrote about Christa Pike's botched execution & what it shows us about our death penalty system. Justice Blackmun famously said he would no longer “tinker with the machinery of death.” Pike's experience highlights how today's death penalty machinery is broken.
statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...
@kevintmorris.bsky.socialReposted by @aliciabannon.bsky.socialAs we prep for launch tomorrow, I wanted to share a bit about where the title for the book comes from...
www.lbjlibrary.org/object/video...
@statecourtreport.orgReposted by @aliciabannon.bsky.socialThe Utah Supreme Court is hearing arguments today on whether the state can transfer high-profile redistricting, abortion, and climate challenges away from their judges to new judicial panels, under a 2026 law passed after redistricting losses. Watch and read more here:
@statecourtreport.orgReposted by @aliciabannon.bsky.socialThe Massachusetts Supreme Court is hearing arguments today on whether a judge was right to hold prosecutors responsible and dismiss criminal charges against a defendant when ICE detained him in the middle of his trial. Watch the arguments and read more here:
@aliciabannon.bsky.socialU Penn Professor Kim Roosevelt has a very cool new book about SCOTUS. Check out his arguments about why our system for choosing justices isn't designed for the modern world in @brennancenter.org's Benchmark. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
@aliciabannon.bsky.socialThe horrific botched execution in Tennessee last night comes amid a sharp rise in executions in the United States. My colleague Jamie Muth has an excellent new explainer on the legal regimes governing the death penalty. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...
@aliciabannon.bsky.socialLooking for a cheat sheet on state supreme court elections to watch? @douglaskeith.bsky.social, our resident judicial elections expert, has you covered! statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...
@aliciabannon.bsky.socialThere's a lot of thinking to be done about how to give full expression to the reproductive freedom amendments that have passed in 10 states (and counting). This piece (and the report it's based on) digs in to what these state constitutional doctrines should look like. It's definitely worth a read.
@aliciabannon.bsky.socialReposted by @aliciabannon.bsky.socialNEW: I wrote about a Texas lawsuit filed by the family of Tierra Walker, who allegedly died after being denied a medically necessary abortion. The complaint describes a “medical, legal, and political morass,” with patients like Walker paying the price.
statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...
@larrynorden.bsky.socialReposted by @aliciabannon.bsky.socialWhat a wonderful tribute to my brilliant, funny, warm colleague Mireya Navarro, who so many of us will deeply miss. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...
@chrisgeidner.bsky.socialReposted by @aliciabannon.bsky.socialBREAKING: SCOTUS keeps the Missouri 2022 congressional map in effect for this election in an order that criticizes the Eighth Circuit's actions in the case. The five page, per curiam — unsigned order — came with no noted dissents.
More to come at Law Dork: www.lawdork.com
@stevevladeck.bsky.socialReposted by @aliciabannon.bsky.socialHere's a graphic that does a better job of conveying the point than my original post: even by the (insane) standards of the first Trump administration, #SCOTUS is receiving—and granting—a truly unprecedented number of applications for emergency relief from the federal government:
@yeargain.bsky.socialReposted by @aliciabannon.bsky.socialvery interesting analysis:
@brennancenter.orgReposted by @aliciabannon.bsky.social"If mounting threats and baseless impeachments influence who is willing to serve as a judge, how judges make decisions or whether their families can live safely, we risk allowing intimidation to infect the judicial process," a former federal judge writes in @thehill.com.
@aliciabannon.bsky.socialExcited to share this new article and very cool dataset from Robinson Woodward-Burns, examining 20 years of state constitutional amendments. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...
@aliciabannon.bsky.socialNEW: I wrote about a Texas lawsuit filed by the family of Tierra Walker, who allegedly died after being denied a medically necessary abortion. The complaint describes a “medical, legal, and political morass,” with patients like Walker paying the price.
statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...
@aliciabannon.bsky.socialReally interesting Delaware argument tomorrow on whether a town can grant voting rights to corporations.
@tomtmwolf.bsky.socialReposted by @aliciabannon.bsky.social🗣️TIME TO REGISTER
On Tues., Sept. 29 @ 3 PM ET, historians Laura Edwards and Serena Mayeri will join @brennancenter.org to talk about how lawyers and historians can work together to address originalist arguments in big constitutional cases.
Sign up ➡️ brennan.swoogo.com/historiansan...
@stevespaulding.bsky.socialReposted by @aliciabannon.bsky.socialNEW: Today Marquette released fresh September polling on SCOTUS. Public approval continues to decline. 📉 But support for Supreme Court term limits remains strong & resilient at 79 percent—including supermajorities of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents.
