Miriam Seifter

Nov 15, 2024 | statecourtreport.org | John Surico |Gabriella Sanchez |Miriam Seifter |Martha Davis

As New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announces she’s reviving the program, litigation over the plan is ongoing. If there’s a window for New York City to implement congestion pricing, it’s narrowing. The reelection of Donald Trump to the White House could spell doom for a proposed charge for motorists entering Manhattan’s Central Business District (below 59th Street), meant to fund $15 billion worth of mass transit upgrades.

Apr 10, 2024 | statecourtreport.org | Alicia Bannon |Jasleen Singh |Eliza Sweren-Becker |Miriam Seifter

Unlike the U.S. Constitution, nearly every state’s constitution explicitly grants an affirmative right to vote, which raises important questions about whether and how state constitutions may provide additional protections for voting rights. Last month, the Montana Supreme Court spoke to these issues in a major ruling that struck down a number of restrictive voting laws under its state constitution.

Mar 18, 2024 | statecourtreport.org | Jasleen Singh |Eliza Sweren-Becker |Miriam Seifter |Ciara Torres-Spelliscy

Florida has made it nearly impossible for people with felony convictions to determine whether they are eligible to vote.

Nov 1, 2023 | statecourtreport.org | Jasleen Singh |Eliza Sweren-Becker |Miriam Seifter |Ciara Torres-Spelliscy

The United States is primarily a representative democracy in which voters play an indirect role in making laws by electing legislators. Twenty-five states have added some degree of direct democracy to their constitutions, allowing citizens to enact statutes or constitutional amendments by popular vote via a ballot initiative or to reject recently enacted legislation via a referendum.

Oct 19, 2023 | statecourtreport.org | Justin Long |Alicia Bannon |Melissa Hart |Miriam Seifter

Recently, scholars, practitioners, and the public have turned attention to the U.S. Supreme Court’s “shadow docket,” the justices’ relatively new practice of using abbreviated procedures to resolve important issues. Numerous scholars have decried the lack of transparency and other faults in the process. But the Supreme Court is far from the only appellate court to use shortcuts.