Kasia Szymborski Wolfkot

Back-to-School Scholarship Roundup: State Courts, Constitutional Law, and Federalism Recent books and law review articles discuss voter disenfranchisement, separation of church and state, and much more.

It's that time of year again ✏️📚 Get ready for the new semester with
@miriamseifter.bsky.social 's Back-to-School state con law scholarship roundup.

PanelPicker | SXSW Conference & Festivals PanelPicker® is the official SXSW user-generated session proposal platform. Enter ideas and vote to help shape Conference programming for SXSW and SXSW EDU.

Less than a week left (!!!) to vote for our panel "How State Constitutions Empower and Protect Youth" to be included in @sxswedu.com 2026. Head to the #SXSWEDU #PanelPicker and click the heart before August 24.

Only half of all Americans know their state has a constitution. You can help us change that! Please click on the link below to vote for our proposed SXSW EDU panel, How State Constitutions Empower and Protect Youth.

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.

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.

PanelPicker | SXSW Conference & Festivals PanelPicker® is the official SXSW user-generated session proposal platform. Enter ideas and vote to help shape Conference programming for SXSW and SXSW EDU.

Have you voted yet for our @statecourtreport.org SXSW EDU (proposed) panel? We've lined up an all-star group: @lwvus.bsky.social CEO Celina Stewart, @aclu.org's Harper Seldin, and @youthvgov.bsky.social's Julia Olson. But we need your vote! THANK YOU FOR VOTING! participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sx...

You can help State Court Report make it to South by Southwest EDU! Please vote below on a great panel.

With scant federal protections for those incarcerated in extreme heat, state constitutions could offer this particularly vulnerable population more relief.

Recent State Judicial Opinions Critique Lockstepping Justices in Connecticut, Texas, and Pennsylvania have called on their courts to embrace independent state constitutional interpretations.

NEW: Justices in Connecticut, Texas, and Pennsylvania have called on their courts to embrace independent state constitutional interpretations. @aliciabannon.bsky.social discusses recent state judicial opinions that critique lockstepping.

Extreme Heat Exacerbates Dire Prison Conditions, With Few Paths to Relief People behind bars are particularly vulnerable to harm during heat waves and climate-related disasters. Advocates should consider state constitutional solutions.

ICYMI: Hot weather leaves people behind bars particularly vulnerable. Ava Kaufman, @kasiawolfkot.bsky.social & @briannaseid.bsky.social wrote in @statecourtreport.org about limited federal protections & how state constitutions could offer a more promising answer. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

Why did I write about state court pushback to the Dred Scott decision? Because President Trump’s January 2025 Executive Order directly cited the Dred Scott decision when he took aim at birthright citizenship. And we could see state courts pushback against the Supreme Court again. I'll explain. /1

Universal Injunctions in State Courts Debates over whether a judge in a single county can issue a statewide injunction are brewing. States should not follow the U.S. Supreme Court’s approach.

A debate’s been brewing at the federal level over whether a judge in a single county can issue a statewide injunction, and it’s coming to state courts. Constance Van Kley explores how state courts can and should respond when it does.

More people have been executed in 2025 than in any year of the past decade. @kasiawolfkot.bsky.social explains how some states are strengthening protections against the death penalty. Stay informed on the latest developments in state courts and constitutions: go.statecourtreport.org/subscribe

Why 2025 Has Been the Year of the Execution Some states, though, are strengthening protections against the death penalty.

If your Friday is going too well, here's an article I wrote about executions surging and states killing people in increasingly gruesome ways.

There have also been instances of likely innocent people being executed—over prosecutors' or lawmakers' objections. @statecourtreport.org @slate.com

As Executions Rise, A Conversation with an Attorney Whose Clients Are Facing the Death Penalty  John Mills, whose client on Oklahoma’s death row was granted a new trial by the U.S. Supreme Court this term, discusses his anti-death-penalty advocacy. 

NEW: Despite support for the death penalty declining, there have been more executions in 2025 than any year in the past decade, "and states are...killing people in ever more gruesome ways..." @kasiawolfkot.bsky.social spoke with attorney John Mills about his anti-death-penalty advocacy.

Hawaii’s Lawsuit Against Oil Companies Alleges “Harm to Public Trust Resources” States are suing companies that cause harm to the environment, relying on mandates requiring protection of public resources.

Hawaii is suing oil companies by invoking the state constitution's "public trust doctrine," which declares that “all public natural resources are held in trust by the State for the benefit of the people." Sarah J. Morath explores this new trend in environmental litigation.

These women should all still be alive. Their deaths were not only preventable, they were foretold by the stories of other women from a century ago. One of those stories involved my own great-grandmother, Julia Cowan, who met the same fate in 1929. Living in Boston, Julia, a White woman, became pregnant with what would have been her fourth child. Desiring to end the pregnancy but having no access to the medical care necessary for an abortion, she took matters into her own hands and ultimately bled to death in a Boston hospital. Like so many others, she died because society did not recognize her as someone with the “dignity and authority to make these choices.”

An absolutely remarkable concurrence by Chief Justice Karofsky in the WI Supreme Court case that held the state's total abortion ban is not in effect.

CJ Karofsky recounts the stories of women, including her great-grandmother, who died bc of abortion restrictions. www.wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/D...

I know you have a lot of options for hearing a wrap up of this term of Court, but let me suggest that this one is going to be a banger! I hope you'll join us.

The History of Same-Sex Marriage in the United States, and What Might Come Next Until the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, the country was a patchwork of laws regarding who could marry.

Obergefell v. Hodges came down 10 years ago today, making marriage equality the law of the land.

Human rights lawyer Jordan Long wrote a beautiful article commemorating the anniversary for @statecourtreport.bsky.social and @brennancenter.org.

OH GREAT. Thomas calling for a reexamination of Section 1983 jurisprudence—the main way people whose civil rights have been violated by state actors sue.

He also urged the Court to revisit abortion rights, Chevron deference, and affirmative action law. And look what happened to those.

Yes. @ddangaran.bsky.social made this same point in @statecourtreport.bsky.social: Skrmetti opens the door to bans on health care for trans adults, not just kids.

Reflections on the Supreme Court’s Decision Upholding a Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for Trans Youth We spoke with a transgender rights advocate about U.S. v. Skrmetti’s impact on trans people and what’s next in the struggle for equal rights.

NEW: What’s next in the struggle for equal rights in the aftermath of SCOTUS’s decision upholding a ban on gender-affirming care for trans youth? @kasiawolfkot.bsky.social spoke with trans rights advocate @ddangaran.bsky.social about the impact of U.S. v. Skrmetti on trans people.

Looking to understand what happened in SCOTUS this year? Thrilled to moderate this event with some of the top legal thinkers (and doers!) in the country.

Assessing the State Reaction to the Supreme Court’s Undermining of Property Rights Twenty years after Kelo v. City of New London, there has been much progress, but abusive takings continue in many states.

Today is 20th anniversary of Supreme Court's notorious ruling in Kelo v. New London, upholding taking of property for private "economic development." In new @brennancenter.org article, I assess massive state response to Kelo - much progress, but not enough: statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

I was glad to have the chance to discuss a dangerous measure in the budget bill that would create huge financial barriers for plaintiffs seeking to protect their rights.

Today in Skrmetti, SCOTUS said bans on gender-affirming care for trans minors didn’t violate the Equal Protection Clause. But as our managing editor @kasiawolfkot.bsky.social explains, state courts can interpret state constitutions differently.

State Constitutional Protections for Transgender People After Skrmetti A review of recent litigation in state courts provides hints about the future of trans rights.

Check out Morgan Munroe and @kasiawolfkot.bsky.social's review of recent state court litigation and what it suggests about the future of trans rights.

Sigh, this is unsurprising. As @yeargain.bsky.social has written, state courts can do what SCOTUS didn’t: strike down laws that discriminate against trans people, based on state constitutions.

@statecourtreport.bsky.social

Leah’s Lawless book party was a stream of hilarious jokes and insightful commentary, just like the book itself. So fun. @leahlitman.bsky.social @dtdeacon.bsky.social @profmmurray.bsky.social @kateshaw.bsky.social

"North Carolina Justice Anita Earls ... expressed bewilderment at her majority’s new standard. 'Either the statute is consistent with the constitution or not,' she said. 'This notion that you have to somehow establish that beyond a reasonable doubt makes no sense to me.'" bsky.app/profile/stat...

Author, Umich law professor, and cohost of the Strict Scrutiny podcast Leah Litman smiling and sitting on the floor in a turquoise blazer surrounded by pieces of paper and a giant bowl of snacks, her arm leaning on a grey couch, backstage before her appearance on The Daily Show.

Found @leahlitman.bsky.social backstage @thedailyshow.com surrounded by snacks and dozens of pages of handwritten notes prepping to talk about her book Lawless! Everyone watch tonight! She was hilarious and insightful, as always.