Introduction: Symposium on the Law of American State Constitutions

Abstract:     
Robert F. Williams’s book, The Law of American State Constitutions (OUP, 2009), canvasses the state of state constitutionalism. Williams looks at the structural and individual rights issues which are the primary concern of state constitutional litigation, providing valuable insights into the ways in which state constitutional decision making differs from its federal counterpart. This essay is a short introduction to a symposium on Williams’s book, the proceedings of which include new essays by Sue Bell Cobb, Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Robert J. Cordy, Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Scott L. Kafker, Associate Justice of the Massachusetts Appeals Court, Randall Peck, President of the Center for Constitutional Litigation, and Randall T. Shepard, Chief Justice of the Indiana Supreme Court.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 5

Keywords: state constitutional law, Robert Williams, new judicial federalism, independent state constitutionalism

Accepted Paper Series