红杏视频

In September 2023, the 红杏视频, the 红杏视频 of Colorado, The Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, the law firm Mintz Levin, and other partners filed an amicus brief with the Colorado Supreme Court arguing that mandatory life-without-parole (LWOP) sentences for strict liability felony murder are 鈥渃ruel and unusual鈥� in violation of the Colorado and U.S. Constitutions. The brief focuses on how these mandatory LWOP sentences drive racial injustice.

State legislatures are responsible for creating state legislative and U.S. congressional districts. In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Rucho v. Common Cause that federal courts have no authority to review claims that states have sorted voters along partisan lines to favor one political party over others. However, challenges to partisan gerrymandering continue in many state courts, and this case involves one such constitutional challenge in Kentucky.

The New Jersey Department of Treasury maintains a policy that requires employers investigating workplace discrimination to 鈥渞equest鈥� confidentiality from all witnesses with respect to any information related to the investigation. This case involves whether a confidentiality policy of this kind violates the free speech rights under the New Jersey Constitution of state employees who are witnesses, and whether those rights are broader than the U.S. Constitution鈥檚 First Amendment free speech right. The 红杏视频鈥檚 State Supreme Court Initiative and Women鈥檚 Rights Project, along with the 红杏视频 of New Jersey, filed an amicus brief in the New Jersey Supreme Court, urging that court to revive a government employee鈥檚 speech claim challenging the confidentiality policy and to interpret the New Jersey Constitution鈥檚 speech protection more broadly than federal constitutional law. In April 2024, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in our favor and reversed the judgment of the Appellate Division.

Nevadans, like voters in many states, have chosen to legalize marijuana for medicinal and recreational use. In Nevada, these changes鈥攁dopted through citizen ballot initiatives and, in the case of medical marijuana, enshrined in the Nevada Constitution鈥攚ere intended to ensure that marijuana is regulated much like alcohol and that law enforcement resources are focused on violent crime, not the prosecution of non-violent drug offenses. Despite these legal changes, Nevada鈥檚 Board of Pharmacy continues to regulate marijuana as a Schedule I controlled substance for purposes of state law, akin to the Board鈥檚 treatment of cocaine and fentanyl. The Board鈥檚 scheduling designation for marijuana has enormous implications for criminal defendants in Nevada since state law makes it a felony to possess or engage in certain other activity with respect to a Schedule I controlled substance, as designated by the Board. This case, brought by an individual and organization harmed by the Board鈥檚 scheduling designation for marijuana, involves the question whether the designation violates the Nevada Constitution and state statutes. The 红杏视频 of Nevada is counsel in the case, and the 红杏视频鈥檚 State Supreme Court Initiative is co-counsel on appeal. In August 2024, the Court held that Pool and CEIC lack standing to challenge marijuana's designation as a Schedule I substance but recognized that other individuals could appropriately do so in the future. The Court did not reach the merits in reversing the district court鈥檚 positive decision.