Questions tagged [us-state-laws]
Questions related to any laws enacted by any of the 50 states in the United States. Use the [united-states] tag alongside this.
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How did Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo explain why he vetoed a bill that would ban people from acting as fake electors?
Politico's Nov 15, 2023 Nevada attorney general is investigating false electors who aided Trump in 2020 includes the following, quoting Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford:
...an American lawyer and ...
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Are there strictly political arguments why a racketeering case in a U.S. state court wouldn't move forward if the defendant became the U.S. President?
At 02:11 the August 15, 2023 video CNN's Haberman on the irony of Giuliani’s indictment for racketeering an exchange between CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins and White House correspondent for The New York ...
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Have other US state governors tried to invoke executive privilege previously, or is Florida's DeSantis the first? If so, are some successful?
Politico's January 13, 2023 DeSantis administration wants to keep some things private includes the following:
Keep pushing— In a line of recent cases, including one that goes before a Leon County ...
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Is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact constitutional?
I read recently that Colorado will have a version of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact on their ballot in November. Considering that this bill functionally eliminates the Electoral College, ...
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Can a U.S. state criminalize activity that's done in another state where it's legal?
In the United States, there are many states which have laws prohibiting things which other states permit - gambling, marijuana, same-sex marriage, and gun ownership, for a few examples. Obviously, if ...
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Where does the right to refuse service come from?
I'm curious where this comes from, is it written law somewhere? Where is this right defined?
It's normally written as "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" in restaurants or ...
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What are the specifications of Texas's new motto law?
Texas has a new law requiring public schools to display "In God We Trust" posters if donated.
What are the specifications of an item that would be required for mandatory display? I've seen ...
CommunityBot
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What would happen if an American state didn’t follow a ruling by the Supreme Court?
If the Supreme Court decided that same-sex marriage was a right on the federal level, what would happen if a specific state decided not to follow their ruling?
What power does the federal government ...
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Can a state delegate the creation of a law to an unelected agent such as the Supreme Court?
This is with regard to the constitutionality of "trigger laws" such as those that went into effect, automatically, after the overturn of Roe vs. Wade.
I am neither a lawyer nor a politician, ...
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Has any US state passed a law in a language other than English?
There is an interesting question on the Law stack exchange: "If Congress [of the United States of America] passed a bill written in Spanish, would it be valid?" (the answer appears to be '...
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If Roe is overturned, what is the legality of laws prohibiting crossing state lines for abortion?
States such as Missouri are planning to make it illegal for a citizen of Missouri to go to a different state to get an abortion if Roe is ultimately overturned. It attempts to evade legal challenge by ...
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Georgia Secretary of State's power to enforce the 14th amendment of the US constitution re. deny Marjorie Taylor Green's right to run for re-election?
In CNN's Attorney grills Marjorie Taylor Greene about her false stolen election remarks at about 03:35 reporter Amara Walker says:
Now the judge is expected to make a decision early next month on ...
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In most U.S. states, female genital mutilation is illegal. So why is male circumcision legal?
Hello new users from around the Stack Exchange Network
We are aware that this question is about a very emotionally laden topic. So we would like to make sure you are aware of the purpose of ...
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Why did the Unruh Act exclude sale of buildings and real property?
Inspired by this question on law.stackexchange, but I think my question fits better on politics.
From this answer, "sales of residence are exempt from the deceptive trade practices provisions of ...
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What would be the *political* ramifications of a former US President being charged under state law?
The State of New York, for example has an attorney general who said that there will be an investigation into Trump's activities. There are rumors that this type of action could eventually result in ...
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How do the Republicans' recent laws make it harder for Democratic voters to vote?
I read this BBC article, but it's not totally clear for me why the recent voting rights laws passed in more than a dozen Republican-controlled state legislatures affect the Democratic base, but not ...
CommunityBot
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If a law is found to be unconstitutional; can an amendment to the state constitution matter?
In the general sense, let's say a state law is passed, and the courts decide that the law is unconstitutional because the United States constitution prohibits such laws. Can a state amend its own ...
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How are U.S. states allowed to put marijuana legalization on ballots when it's against federal law?
Five states will now legalize marijuana for both recreational and medical use.
During the November elections, A majority of New Jersey and Arizona residents voted yes on ballot measures to make ...
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Why is there a concept of a wedding officiant in US marriage law?
I am Chinese-American. My parents got married the Chinese way. That is, there was no wedding officiant, and the wedding pictures are really just pictures of the wedding banquet or reception, but not ...
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Did the US Supreme Court's recent ruling sidestep the issue of judicial review? (Whole Women's Health v. Jackson; challenge to Texas S.B. 8)
The following questions and their extensive answers cover the background of the issues well:
How close does the Texas law that bars most abortions after six weeks come to saying 'Defendants can&#...
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Why do the states have such heavy support banning abortion?
The political dynamic in the United States is that a small group of elites, the Supreme Court, has to read the tea leaves of the Constitution and extract imputed rights out of it that include the ...
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Are Prized Linked Savings Accounts legal in the United States?
So, there's a really interesting way to get people to save. It is called the Prize Linked Savings Account. The idea is fairly simple - to encourage savings, savings accounts are randomly awarded ...
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Why doesn't the Governor of the US state of Idaho fire the Lt. Governor for insubordination? Can they be punished in any way at all?
Idaho Public Radio's McGeachin and Little battle over COVID-related executive orders — again details a situation where as soon as Idaho's Governor left the state on official business the Lieutenant ...
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Balanced budget (amendments) in U.S. States
I understand that 43 out of 50 U.S. states are constitutionally required to have balanced budgets. Are there identifiable trends in how and when these states implemented the requirement in their ...
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Why is avoidance of judicial review of the Texas abortion law and other future US state laws so concerning to the US department of justice?
From CNN's video coverage of US Attorney General Merrick Garland announcement of its lawsuit against the state of Texas:
Q: ...several GOP lawmakers who said that they will follow Texas’ lead, and I ...
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Why do people say the Indiana Religious Freedom Act will be used to discriminate against gays?
Indiana's recent Religious Freedom Restoration Act has cause a bit of a stir. Political leaders such as Clinton, business leaders such as Benioff and Cook, celebrities as well as protestors have all ...
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Are there constitutional arguments for preventing/avoiding judicial review of state law in some scenarios? Are there any historical examples of this?
From CNN's video coverage of US Attorney General Merrick Garland announcement of its lawsuit against the state of Texas:
Q: ...several GOP lawmakers who said that they will follow Texas’ lead, and I ...
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What arguments have been made to support the Texas abortion law's private enforcement provisions, beyond evading review?
Texas Senate Bill 8, which practically bars abortions in the state, has an unusual* provision whereby civil claims against abortion providers can be asserted by private plaintiffs not involved in or ...
CDJB♦
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What's the most extreme way the states of the United States can ensure compliance to a vaccine mandate for all adults? [closed]
What's the most extreme way the states of the United States can insure compliance to a vaccine mandate for all adults?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacobson_v._Massachusetts
Jacobson v. ...
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Does arresting specific types of people for voting illegally discourage those types of people from voting?
There were instances where voters were arrested for voting illegally in the state of Texas. Many of these arrests involve black and other nonwhite Democratic voters according to reports.
Texas found ...
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How can POTUS legally prevent/change state National Guard movements/actions?
According to some news from the Texas-Mexico border, some other states, including Texas and South Dakota, are sending their troops to the Texas border to support border patrol agents.
I don't think ...
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What can individual state governments do to combat court case backlogs?
Many people say that states have a problem administering justice due to a large and growing number of cases that have yet to be tried.
Increasing funding to the state's courts system seems like an ...
CommunityBot
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Why are American states permitted to vote their own election laws?
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Friday that the Department
of Justice would be suing the state of Georgia over its recent voting
rights changes. While the case is obviously directed at the ...
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Can the Virginia State Government have a public referendum on 3rd trimester abortion? [closed]
Would a referendum on third term abortion be legal in Virginia if the only options were “yes” or “no”?
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How do states with no state income tax like Florida or Texas generate tax revenue?
How do states with no state income tax like Florida or Texas generate tax revenue? Do they have higher property tax or sales tax?
I compared their property and sales taxes with other states with ...
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What is the rationale behind making it illegal to hand out water to voters in line in Georgia?
From S.B. 202 (emphasis added):
No person shall solicit votes in any manner or by any means or method, nor shall any person distribute or display any campaign material, nor shall any person give, ...
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Why does Georgia not have a hate crime statute?
Context
Reading Man who threw boiling water on gay couple will spend 40 years in prison:
The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes Wednesday before finding
Martin Blackwell guilty of eight counts of ...
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Why did Mississipi ratify the 13th Amendment so late?
I read recently - to my surprise - that Mississippi ratified the 13th Amendment to abolish involuntary servitude and slavery in 2013. In fact, there was a move to ratify it in 1995, but the paperwork ...
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What contributing factors would make the Florida “gain time” bill be signed into law in 2021?
A.) Are there contributing factors that would effect whether the Florida “gain time” bill will be passed by the House in 2021? Is so, what are they at this current time? I heard that some House ...
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Could a state governor use their pardon power to perform controlled experiments on sentencing policy?
My understanding is that state governors have roughly unilateral power to pardon state crimes. (First of all, is this true?)
If so, suppose that a governor were to announce something like the ...
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What does "H St Aff" mean as an action taken on a proposed bill (Idaho)?
Idaho's legislature is in session. I've been monitoring their activity on this page. I can usually tell what abbreviations for actions taken on bills mean at a glance, but this one has me stumped:
...
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If every legal challenge that Trump has mounted since the election succeeds, could he win the presidency?
I am not certain of exactly which legal cases he has launched, but let us imagine that all of them (recounts, discarding votes, etc.) are decided in his favo(u)r, exactly as he wishes.
In that case, ...
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Can there be an administrative organization inside the US, above the state level? [closed]
According to the question about chairman West's phrase:
Perhaps law-abiding states should bond together and form a Union of states that will abide by the constitution
Is it constitutionally possible ...
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Why do many states in the US often elect state cabinet members?
When I first learned various states hold elections for state cabinet positions I was puzzled, because there are no such elections for federal secretaries. Why do so many states do it like this, ...
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What is the mechanism to invalidate a (US) election result? [duplicate]
Inspired by this tweet:
In Detroit, there are FAR MORE VOTES THAN PEOPLE. Nothing can be done
to cure that giant scam. I win Michigan! -@realdonaldtrump
Let us, for the sake of argument, assume the ...
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Why does New Mexico resolve election ties with a game of Poker?
I just learned today that, according to the New Mexico Constitution, if an election ends in a tie, the race will be decided by a game of chance, either a coin-flip, high-card draw, or a single hand of ...
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Does the electoral college (or a similar system) apply to US governor elections?
I'm following the live results of the Kentucky and Mississippi elections for governor etc, and I notice that while the Republican nominee has won the majority of the precincts, what they're reporting ...
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How can Indiana already be won even though only 8% of polls have reported?
Not that I would expect Indiana to swing blue here, but with 8% of polls reporting, Donald Trump has already clinched Indiana.
NY Times
How does this happen?
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Instant runoff voting in US presidential elections
User Thunderforge recently remarked: (emphasis mine)
Of interest, Maine approved a ballot measure for Instant Runoff Voting for U.S. Senate, Congress, Governor, State Senate, and State ...
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Can special prosecutor Dan Webb charge Jussie Smollet? [closed]
In a case that made political headlines, actor Jussie Smollett was charged with making false statements to Chicago police about a supposed hate crime he had experienced. But then the Illinois State ...
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