Economic and Labor Rights
State constitutions include provisions protecting economic liberty, or the right to engage in work without undue interference; property rights, including protections against takings; and provisions that protect workers’ rights. Florida’s constitution, for example, protects the right “to be rewarded for industry,” and Montana protects the right to pursue “life’s basic necessities.” Illinois’s constitution protects workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively. Washington’s privileges and immunities clause has been used to strike down a law excluding dairy workers from overtime pay.
State supreme courts hear challenges related to business regulations and occupational licensing requirements, dangerous work environments, inadequate wages and hour requirements, collective bargaining rights, public employee benefits, and other issues.
Filters
The Arizona Constitution: Deeply Skeptical of Power
Arizona’s governing document is easy to amend. While Arizonans have approved changes on issues like abortion and immigration, they use the right relatively sparingly.
State Court Oral Arguments to Watch for in September
Issues on the dockets include charter schools, minimum wage for live-in caregivers, online arbitration agreements, and a controversial handwritten date requirement for mail ballots.
Mount Laurel at 50: New Jersey’s Blueprint for Dismantling Residential Segregation
Fifty years ago, the New Jersey Supreme Court created a groundbreaking affordable housing framework. A new law gives it real teeth.
American Indians and Indigenous Peoples in State Constitutions
In the shadow of federal law, some state constitutions address American Indian land, taxation, gaming permissions, voting rights, cultural protection, and governance.
Does the Arizona Constitution Allow Juryless Trial by Bureaucrats?
A case in Arizona calls into question the constitutionality of an administrative hearing in which the owners of a business were found guilty of fraud.
Assessing the State Reaction to the Supreme Court’s Undermining of Property Rights
Twenty years after Kelo v. City of New London, there has been much progress, but abusive takings continue in many states.
State Court Oral Arguments to Watch for in June
Issues on the dockets include partisan gerrymandering, fines and fees imposed on indigent defendants, and bans on flavored tobacco and online vision tests.
Levels of Scrutiny Applied by State Courts, Explained
The tests state courts use to decide whether a law impermissibly infringes on people’s rights play a big role in determining whether government restrictions on those rights are upheld.