Chris Leaverton

Sep 27, 2023 | statecourtreport.org | Rex Bossert |Douglas Keith |Quinn Yeargain |Chris Leaverton

On October 5, the Maryland Supreme Court will hear arguments about whether a hearing that prompted a Baltimore judge to throw out Adnan Syed’s murder conviction comported with victims’ rights protections under Maryland law. Syed, whose case gained notoriety through the true crime podcast Serial, spent 23 years in prison for the 1999 kidnapping and murder of his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee.

Sep 12, 2023 | statecourtreport.org | Anthony Sanders |Alice Clapman |Alicia Bannon |Chris Leaverton

In June, the Indiana Supreme Court provided a fascinating exploration of the American theory of natural rights in ruling on a challenge to the state’s abortion ban. The court ultimately upheld the ban, but its analysis connected the state’s constitution to the 17th-century English philosopher John Locke in a way that could open the door to protecting a broad array of “natural rights” in Indiana and other states with similar constitutional guarantees.

Jul 18, 2023 | statecourtreport.org | Gabriella Sanchez |Anthony Sanders |Chris Leaverton |Douglas Keith

UPDATE: On July 18, 2023, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled the SAFE-T Act’s pretrial release provisions ending the use of cash bail are constitutional and ordered their implementation on September 18, 2023. It held that the SAFE-T Act does not violate the Illinois Constitution’s Bail Clause or Crime Victims’ Rights Clause because neither of these provisions mandate the use of cash bail, as opposed to other conditions of release.

Jun 10, 2023 | commondreams.org | Michael Li |Chris Leaverton

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Jan 20, 2023 | brennancenter.org | Chris Leaverton

View the entire Assessing the Redistricting Cycle series Before the 2022 election, many expected Republicans to pick up two dozen or more seats in the House given how the party not in the White House has performed in previous midterms. Yet in the end, Republicans won only an incredibly close five-seat majority. Had a few thousand votes in highly competitive districts gone a different way, Democrats would be in the majority.