State Court Docket Watch
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Powers v. State of Wyoming: Separation of Powers and the Role of the Judiciary
December 2014
In its 2013 General Session, the Wyoming Legislature passed Senate File 104, or Senate Enrolled Act 1 (“SEA 1”). The bill reassigned most of the duties of the state superintendent of public instruction to a director of education, to be appointed by the governor. On the very day Wyoming Governor Matt Mead signed the bill into law, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill sued, claiming the law violated the Wyoming Constitution. One year later, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that SEA 1 was unconstitutional in its entirety.
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New Mexico Supreme Court: Wedding Photographer May Not Decline Business from Same-Sex Couple’s Commitment Ceremony
Winter 2013-2014
In Elane Photography v. Willock,the [New Mexico Supreme Court] unanimously upheld a ruling against a small company, Elane Photography LLC, for declining to shoot a same-sex commitment ceremony due to the owners’ beliefs on marriage. The New Mexico Supreme Court rejected the photographer’s arguments that the company’s rights to freedom of speech and religious liberty under federal and state law protected it from being forced to produce images.
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Illinois Supreme Court Ruling Explores Scope of Second Amendment
Winter 2013-2014
On September 12, 2013, in People v. Aguilar, the Illinois Supreme Court held that Illinois’s blanket prohibition of the concealed carry of a firearm in public in its aggravated unlawful use of weapons statute, violated the second amendment to the U.S. Constitution, but that the portion of Illinois’s unlawful possession of a firearm statute that prohibited the possession of firearms by minors did not.
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Florida Supreme Court Finds That the Sixth Amendment Right to Counsel Allows Withdrawal of Public Defenders from Criminal Cases
Winter 2013-2014
A significant decision by the Florida Supreme Court ruled that requiring criminal defense attorneys, employed as public defenders, to represent excessive numbers of indigent clients is a violation of a client’s right to effective legal representation under the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution.
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New Jersey Supreme Court Strikes Down Reorganization of the Council on Affordable Housing
Winter 2013-2014
By Alida Kass
In a highly anticipated decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court rejected Governor Chris Christie’s attempt to reform the Council on Affordable Housing (“COAH”), holding that the Reorganization Act did not authorize the Governor “to abolish independent agencies that were created by legislative action.”
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Maryland Court of Appeals Limits Asbestos Liability
Winter 2013-2014
Georgia Pacific LLC v. Farrar presented the Maryland Court of Appeals, the Free State’s highest court, with two questions: (1) whether Georgia-Pacific owed a duty to warn the family members of workers who came into contact with its products about the dangers of asbestos and (2) whether Farrar presented sufficient evidence that Georgia-Pacific’s products caused her mesothelioma. Unanimously finding the answer to the first question to be no, the court did not answer the second.
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Washington Supreme Court Addresses Constitutionality of Water Pollution Control Mandate
Winter 2013-2014
In Lemire v. Department of Ecology (2013), the Washington Supreme Court addressed the constitutionality of an order made pursuant to the State’s Water Pollution Control Act (“WPCA”). Lemire offers the Washington Supreme Court’s latest take on evidentiary standards for reviewing administrative agency actions that affect property rights.
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Louisiana Supreme Court Strikes Down Statewide Voucher Program
Summer 2013
On May 7, 2013, the Supreme Court of Louisiana ruled that its state’s statewide voucher program, an expansion of the New Orleans/Jefferson Parish voucher adopted in 2008, violated the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP) of the Louisiana Constitution.
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Pennsylvania Supreme Court Permits Waivers for Future Negligence by Third Parties
Summer 2013
By Michael I. Krauss, Samantha Rocci
On April 25, 2013, in Bowman v. Sunoco, a divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that Pennsylvania public policy does not prohibit waivers of liability for future negligence by a non-contracting party.1 The implications of this decision are significant.
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Florida Supreme Court Requires Fourth Amendment Protections for Emerging Technology
Summer 2013
In Smallwood v. State of Florida, the Florida Supreme Court 2013 FL 1130 (Fla. 2013), the Florida Supreme Court held by a 4-2 margin that law enforcement officers are required to obtain a search warrant to view information contained within a cell phone found in the possession of an arrested suspect.1 The May 2, 2013 decision restricted an arresting officer’s ability to search property found on an arrestee.