1.5 State Constitutional Law

• Library: Criminal Procedure in Practice (ABA) (2018 Ed.)

1.5 State Constitutional Law

Every state constitution contains provisions for protecting the rights of individuals in criminal proceedings. State courts and legislatures remain free to impose limitations on criminal prosecutions through their own constitutional provisions beyond those required by federal guarantees. State courts sometimes find greater protection in state provisions that have language almost identical to federal constitutional provisions. This version of federalism has been especially prevalent since 1970, when the Supreme Court began to retreat from the rights-centered decisions of the Warren Court years. Some states are more inclined to offer this greater protection,⁴⁵ while others tend to defer to the interpretations and decisions of the US Supreme Court.

References

Articles

Erwin Chemerinsky, The Roberts Court and Criminal Procedure at Age Five, 43 Tex. Tech. L. Rev. 13 (2010).

Georgetown Law Journal Annual Review of Criminal Procedure, 41 Geo L.J. Ann. Rev. Crim. Proc. (2012).

Jerold Israel...