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Jul 8, 2024 | 
penncapital-star.com | Jerry Dickinson
by Jerry Dickinson, Pennsylvania Capital-Star July 8, 2024 Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v.
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May 2, 2024 | 
penncapital-star.com | Jerry Dickinson
It’s not every day you hear the words “ghosts, guns and Quakers” in the same breath. But those words are likely to be central themes in future legal challenges if the recent state House Bill 777 (H.B. 777), also known as the “Ghost Gun” law, is enacted. Ghost guns are IKEA-style, do-it-yourself (“DIY”) weapons. The kits allow any person of age to build a firearm at home by following basic instructions that help piece together a couple frames and receivers.
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Mar 20, 2024 | 
statecourtreport.org | Martha Davis |Michael Bobelian |Nancy Watzman |Jerry Dickinson
A town in Massachusetts has found an innovative way to avoid losing local policies to state preemption. Under preemption doctrine, when a state enacts a law, it can preclude a local government from enacting its own local regulation on the same issue. Very often, state preemption has frustrated liberally oriented communities in conservative states from adopting local ordinances that reflect more progressive values.
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Mar 11, 2024 | 
ourcommunitynow.com | Jerry Dickinson
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Mar 11, 2024 | 
penncapital-star.com | Jerry Dickinson
Lately, there has been a lot of talk about state supreme courts and state constitutions. The two don’t typically receive a whole lot of attention. But the post-Dobbs era of law and politics has shone a light on these obscure and forgotten jurists and documents. Last week, for example, the the Colorado state supreme court’s “monumental” decision to ban former President Donald Trump from the ballot.
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Mar 1, 2024 | 
statecourtreport.org | Nancy Watzman |Jerry Dickinson |Evan Zoldan |Douglas Keith
State supreme courts issue hundreds of decisions every year affecting voting rights, reproductive care, protections related to the criminal justice system, and other state constitutional rights. With so much at stake, accessing information about these proceedings — dockets, briefs, opinions — should be simple. But, often, it’s not so easy. Every state has its own system and practices for public access to case information.
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Feb 12, 2024 | 
statecourtreport.org | Jerry Dickinson |Kathrina Szymborski Wolfkot |Evan Zoldan |Jonathan L. Marshfield
Both historical and recent decisions show the Court’s willingness to apply state supreme courts’ reasoning to interpret the Constitution. When the U.S. Supreme Court struggles to find an appropriate source or applicable precedent when addressing vexing questions of federal constitutional law, it sometimes turns to state supreme courts for guidance.
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Jan 15, 2024 | 
post-gazette.com | Jerry Dickinson
Good morning and welcome. I want to thank the Homer S. Brown Division of the Allegheny County Bar Association for organizing this historic milestone event, the 25th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer Breakfast. I also want to recognize the historic location where we stand and worship today, Bethel A.M.E. Church in the Hill District. This “citadel of hope” once stood near the center of the Lower Hill District.
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Oct 25, 2023 | 
statecourtreport.org | Michael Bobelian |Nancy Watzman |Jerry Dickinson |Douglas Keith
New York State’s high court has yet to define the scope of the right to shelter, which comes from a Depression-era amendment to the state constitution. In response to an influx of asylum seekers to New York City, the city this month asked a court to suspend its obligation to provide shelter to those who need it, maintaining that “extraordinary circumstances” justify a temporary lifting of the city’s right-to-shelter mandate.
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Oct 13, 2023 | 
statecourtreport.org | Jerry Dickinson |Alicia Bannon |Ilya Somin
Federal constitutional law has historically played a significant, if not overwhelming, role in influencing and developing state constitutional law. This is what some scholars have called the gravitational force of federal constitutional law, which causes state courts to mimic and follow the lead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s federal rulings and interpretations of the federal Constitution when deciding questions of state constitutional law.
