Douglas Keith

Looking for a cheat sheet on state supreme court elections to watch? @douglaskeith.bsky.social, our resident judicial elections expert, has you covered! statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

Twenty-four states are holding elections for supreme court seats this November. @douglaskeith.bsky.social spotlights the supreme court races with the greatest potential to shape state high courts:

NEW: I wrote about the ongoing redistricting mess in Missouri and why courts need stronger tools to address gamesmanship in redistricting and election disputes. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

NEW: Threats against federal judges have surged since 2021. My @brennancenter.org colleagues and I interviewed 35 sitting and retired judges about the heightened threat environment. We discuss causes & impact make recs about how to improve judicial security. www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

An excellent piece in @washingtonpost.com covering our new report detailing the heightened threat environment for judges and calling for enhanced protections. Judges are sounding the alarm that we need to pay attention to judicial security. www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/...

The result of a recent vote on a Kansas ballot measure will make it harder for conservatives to dislodge supreme court justices they dislike, including two new appointments from the Democratic governor.

Today, the Brennan Center releases a major study on AI and its potential impact on election disinformation in the midterms. Our months-long study produced some surprising results. Some good, some alarming. 🧵 www.brennancenter.org/our-work/res...

Kansas voters sent a strong message tonight - they want a judiciary that stands up to the legislature, not one controlled by it or shaped by big money judicial elections

Kansas voters sent a strong message tonight - they want a judiciary that stands up to the legislature, not one controlled by it or shaped by big money judicial elections

An important vote in Kansas tomorrow

Don't sleep on this August ballot measure in Kansas that would transform -- and deeply politicize -- judicial selection in the state. The Kansas Supreme Court has been a bulwark for many important rights so this is a very concerning development. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

If Kansas voters approve this amendment, it will likely open the door to high cost judicial races and a court less willing to stand up to the legislature. New from me and @milov-cordobam.bsky.social on what's at stake in an under-the-radar vote this August: statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

Kansas voters will decide whether to replace their system of appointing supreme court justices with elections. @milov-cordobam.bsky.social & @douglaskeith.bsky.social detail how the amendment is the latest effort to make the court less independent, and the costly races voters can expect if passed.

If Kansas voters approve this amendment, it will likely open the door to high cost judicial races and a court less willing to stand up to the legislature. New from me and @milov-cordobam.bsky.social on what's at stake in an under-the-radar vote this August: statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

There'll be no supreme court elections in Mississippi this year. A federal court had ordered new, fairer maps for the state's court, and was preparing to order special elections this fall under the new map. Then came SCOTUS and Callais. Important new reporting:

We looked into the “business courts” that are sweeping the nation. We found that nearly half the judges are former corporate lawyers, even though many of these courts hear cases involving workers and consumers. In some states, it’s 100%. newrepublic.com/article/2102...

Virginia is one of only two states in which the legislature appoints (and reappoints) state supreme court justices. That system leads to scenarios like what Virginia will see this January, when a justice in today's majority will go before the General Assembly to keep his seat on the court.

This is pretty shocking. Citizens United unleashed the floodgates to more big money in our elections. Shelby County and last week's Callais left the Voting Rights Act in tatters. Rucho turbocharged artisan gerrymandering to silence voters. Trump v. United States expanded presidential immunity.

Amazing new resource for anyone trying to follow changes on state supreme courts. Every cycle, around 20% of the seats on state high courts are up for election, and @taniel.bsky.social writes up every one of this year's races.

While federal laws and the U.S. Constitution's Supremacy Clause place constraints on what property-related tools states and localities can use to push back on ICE actions, this report explains that they still have some avenues for ensuring the federal government and its contractors do not overreach.

This is a must-read account of shadow docket deliberations. Note Roberts' push to halt an Obama-era policy b/c it would generate "substantial and irreversible reordering of the domestic power sector." Yet SCOTUS has greenlit far more disruptive Trump-era policies. /1 www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...

Very big news: Minnesota prosecutors just charged a federal immigration agent with assault. It's not easy to bring state prosecutions against federal officers, but the law is clear that there's no absolute immunity from state prosecution. /1 statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

A big ruling from the Kentucky Supreme Court blocking impeachment proceedings against a state judge. Disagreement with a court ruling is not an impeachable offense and violates separation of powers under the state constitution, the court ruled. kentuckylantern.com/2026/04/06/k...

Last week, the PA Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling barring mandatory life in prison without parole for felony murder convictions. Prof Martha Davis digs into the case and critiques a concurrence that argues courts shouldn't look to international law. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

Check out @jessewegman.bsky.social’s new newsletter on SCOTUS! Check out the below, and subscribe here: majorquestions.substack.com

BREAKING: The PA Supreme Court holds that mandatory life without parole sentences for all "felony murder" convictions -- a sentence more than 1,000 people in PA are serving -- violates the state constitution's "cruel" punishment ban. This is GROUNDBREAKING: www.pacourts.us/assets/opini...

Wow wow wow. Pa Supreme Court just ruled that mandatory life without parole for second-degree murder is unconstitutional.

I'm excited to share a new resource on SCOTUS from @brennancenter.org's Kohlberg Ctr. The Benchmark is a new hub dedicated to how SCOTUS is functioning as an institution & how it can be reformed. We'll have commentary, explainers, trackers, polling & more. /1 www.brennancenter.org/our-work/ana...

Happening today!!

Don't miss this virtual event on state supreme court clerkships, where you can hear directly from justices about what it's like to clerk and what they're looking for in applications. Thursday, March 19 at 3pm ET. Register below! www.brennancenter.org/events/what-...

Proud to join this brief with our friends @aclunm.bsky.social and @aclu.org's State Supreme Court Initiative

We do a lot in the hopes of supporting state courts and state constitutions as venues and tools for protecting rights, and this piece of it makes me so proud. Tell every law student you know to join us on March 19 to learn about why they should clerk on a state supreme court!

But the takeaway is that, despite many academic commentators saying that mask bans are destined to lose, the federal district court found that they are actually constitutional so long as they apply to all levels of government and do not discriminate against the federal government. 3/

LAW STUDENTS & RECENT GRADS: Interested in a state supreme court clerkship? Join us on March 19 at 3pm ET for a virtual event where you can hear from justices across the country about the application process and what it's like to clerk. Register below! www.brennancenter.org/events/what-...

NYT’s reporting on the DOD-Anthropic dispute sheds more light on how the Pentagon planned to use Claude for mass surveillance of Americans: by collecting and analyzing commercial bulk data. So what is this commercial data? And how might Claude be used to collect and analyze it? 🧵 1/

The first state supreme court election of the year takes place today in Arkansas. It hasn't attracted big spending like some of AR's past judicial races, partly due to these machinations you can read about @boltsmag.org

This is what happens when you effectively have no ethical rules at the top of government — virtually limitless opportunities for insider profiteering.

This is a super interesting case. After the 11th cir ruled police could be sued for arresting a Black pastor for refusing to show ID, the trial court certified the q of whether state law has a show your papers req to the AL Sup Ct. Here’s how the argument went. statecourtreport.org/our-work/ana...

Fascinating report (and thread) by @douglaskeith.bsky.social about $$ in state supreme court elections. The last election cycle was the most expensive EVER for judicial races.