Introduction.

• Author: Gaber, Mark
• Position: SYMPOSIUM: State Constitutions

The 2010 Stanford Law Review Symposium, "State Constitutions," examines a critical area of law that has been inadequately addressed in legal literature. The Articles presented in this Issue address the intersection of state constitutional rights and the common law, (1) the need for a state-focused approach to understanding state constitutional law, (2) develop a working theory of state constitutions, (3) and discuss the strategic wisdom of the plaintiffs in the case challenging California's Proposition 8 (banning same-sex marriage) having brought a federal constitutional challenge. (4) The Note analyzes state government from an original understanding of the federal Guarantee Clause. (5)

The live Symposium at Stanford Law School on February 19 and 20, 2010, cosponsored by the Stanford Constitutional Law Center, and the Stanford chapters of the Federalist Society and the American Constitution Society, expanded on these issues, to include panels on "California: a Constitution in Crisis" and "Judicial Elections and Ethics." (6) The event brought together the authors published in this Issue as well as California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George, who delivered the keynote address, which is published in this Issue, Professor Bruce Cain of the University of California-Berkeley, former California Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Fred Keeley, Steven Miller of Hanson Bridgett, LLP, Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Alan Page, former Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Clifford Taylor, Bert Brandenburg of Justice at Stake, and Cynthia Gray of the American Judicature Society. Professors Daniel Rodriguez of the University of Texas-Austin School of Law, Jane Schacter of Stanford Law School, and Norman Spaulding of Stanford Law School moderated the panels.

The...