Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

 

When the U.S. Supreme Court is Not the Last Word: Dialogue Between State Supreme Courts and its Role in State Constitutionalism Público Deposited

https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/3t945q85r
Abstract
  • State supreme courts occasionally rely on the provisions of their own state constitutions to expand rights for their citizens beyond the protections that the U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted the U.S. Constitution to require. This practice is known as the New Judicial Federalism. State supreme courts have the prerogative to recognize more expansive rights under their state constitutions because the U.S. Constitution sets a floor and not a ceiling for the protection of individual rights. On the other hand, the U.S. Supreme Court has unmatched resources as well as unparalleled prestige, and most state supreme courts give considerable respect and deference to its interpretations of common or similar constitutional language. The challenge for political scientists is to explain why some state supreme courts have chosen to expand rights and why other courts prefer to follow the example and interpretation of the U.S. Supreme Court. I hypothesize that state supreme courts are engaged in an ongoing dialogue about rights by considering the reasoning contained in sister state supreme court decisions, prior deciding court precedent, and changes in U.S. Supreme Court precedent, when deciding whether to expand rights under state constitutions. This dissertation examines the decisions of state supreme courts, as well as interviews with state supreme court justices, to examine why state supreme courts sometimes render rights expanding decisions, but more often follow the approach adopted by the U.S. Supreme Court in interpreting the U.S. Constitution
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Date Issued
  • 2012
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Última modificación
  • 2019-11-16
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Declaración de derechos
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