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Joe Ross Profile picture
@ProfJVRoss
Jan 1, 2019 • 53 tweets • 37 min read • Read on X
A new project for a new year: Each week in 2019, @DrToddACurry, @ProfLeonard_ISU, and I will profile a different state supreme court in the United States. We’ll start this Friday with the First State, Delaware!
If you're following along with our #52courts52weeks tour, here's our itinerary so far:

Our first stop was the First State, Delaware, known for corporate law, a challenged partisan balance requirement, and creating the last permanent state supreme court.

We headed west to Nevada with @ProfLeonard_ISU to learn about the new majorities of women serving on the Court and in the state legislature, as well as the state's unique chief justice rotation rules. #52courts52weeks

Florida was stop #3, as nearly half the Court (@flcourts) was forced into mandatory retirement in early 2019 and their replacements roused a racial controversy. #52courts52weeks

Next, @DrToddACurry took us to the Michigan Hall of Justice, where we learned about the state's hybrid partisan/nonpartisan elections and saw a West Wing reunion in an instant classic campaign ad. #52courts52weeks

We kicked off #BlackHistoryMonth with @ProfLeonard_ISU's thread on the South Carolina Supreme Court, which Jonathan Jasper Wright joined in 1870 as the first African-American justice anywhere in the country. #52courts52weeks

The first of two stops in Oklahoma was a chance to learn about the civil court of last resort and how the state's judges shaped politics in its early years, including a late-night burglary to move the state's capital in 1910. #52courts52weeks

We celebrated Arizona's 107th birthday by highlighting the trailblazing women who have served on the state's courts, including Lorna Lockwood and Sandra Day O'Connor. #52courts52weeks

North Carolina welcomed a new chief justice, setting up potentially combative races on the 2020 ballot. #52courts52weeks

Our first trip to Texas to learn about the Texas Supreme Court marked the anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Texas. #52courts52weeks

On the 15th anniversary of its Kelo decision, we learned more about the Connecticut Supreme Court with @DrToddACurry. #52courts52weeks

As Maine prepares to turn 200 in 2020, we marked its 199th birthday on March 15 with a look at its Supreme Judicial Court. #52courts52weeks

We then made the short hop with @ProfLeonard_ISU to learn about the Vermont Supreme Court. #52courts52weeks

Our thread on the ideological and personal rancor on the Wisconsin Supreme Court was good preparation for the highly competitive race to succeed Justice Shirley Abrahamson after 43 years of service. #52courts52weeks

We then went to Iowa with @DrToddACurry to mark the tenth anniversary of the Court's unanimous and controversial decision on same-sex marriage that ultimately cost three justices their jobs.

#52courts52weeks
We saw how Spencer Roane and his colleagues on the Virginia Supreme Court influenced American political history in their clashes with John Marshall's Court.

#52courts52weeks
Montana's reputation as a leader in campaign reform has been bolstered by decisions of the Montana Supreme Court, as we saw in our #52courts52weeks thread.

The New Jersey Supreme Court is where William Brennan served before starting his decades of service on the U.S. Supreme Court. It's also been home to some recent inter-branch appointment controversies. #52courts52weeks

One-third of the way through our #52weeks52courts tour, @ProfLeonard_ISU took us to the Hoosier State for a closer look at the Supreme Court of Indiana.

Alaska is the only state without a law school. In this thread, @DrToddACurry showed us what consequences that has had on the Alaska Supreme Court and state law, particularly with regard to Alaskan Natives. #52courts52weeks

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court paved the way for the first same-sex marriages in the United States to take place in May 2004, as detailed by @ProfLeonard_ISU in her informative thread. @52courts52weeks

We then stopped in Idaho to recognize its recent history of competitive judicial elections in May, and its role in the landmark gender equality case of Reed v. Reed. #52courts52weeks

We don't have a thread on the New York Supreme Court because those are actually trial courts. Instead, @ProfLeonard_ISU told us all about the New York Court of Appeals on the anniversary of its 1846 founding as the state's highest court. #52courts52weeks

West Virginia's Supreme Court of Appeals has had a tumultuous few years, including memorable campaign ads, conflicts of interest, and the impeachment of the entire court in 2018. This thread is just the start. #52courts52weeks

The Temple of Justice may sound like something out of a comic book, but it's actually home to the Washington Supreme Court. #52courts52weeks

The first woman to serve on a federal appeals court, Florence Allen, was also the first woman to serve as a state supreme court justice. Learn more about Allen and the Ohio Supreme Court in @ProfLeonard_ISU's thread!

#52courts52weeks

The first half of our #52courts52weeks tour ended with a stop in Georgia to learn about the state's history with capital punishment and Leah Ward Sears' path-breaking career.

The second half of our #52courts52weeks tour started in the Land of Enchantment, with a closer look at the New Mexico Supreme Court.

Next up was @ProfLeonard_ISU's thread on the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Turns out the high court of the Granite State has had a colorful history in recent years.

@ProfLeonard_ISU Gov. "Wild Bill" Langer and his removal by the North Dakota Supreme Court reminded us just how wild state politics can be in this thread. #52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU Just hours after @ProfLeonard_ISU posted her insightful thread on the Kansas Supreme Court and its battles with the legislature, the Chief Justice announced his retirement.

Coincidence?

Definitely, but you should still read the thread.

#52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU Tennessee was a 3-for-1 deal, since the Court is required to sit in three locations across the state each year. #52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU We then made our second trip to Texas to learn about the Criminal Court of Appeals, which shares a building with its counterpart, the Supreme Court of Texas.

#52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU Next up was the Oregon Supreme Court, where the first LGBT justice on a state supreme court anywhere in the United States was appointed in 2003.

#52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU We celebrated 60 years of Hawaiian statehood with @DrToddACurry's thread on the Supreme Court of Hawaii.

#52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU @DrToddACurry In Minnesota, we were introduced to some path-breaking justices and a landmark case for the freedom of press.

#52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU @DrToddACurry We visited the Golden State with @DrToddACurry to learn about some of California's most notable justices, as well as the infamous election defeats of three justices in 1986.

#52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU @DrToddACurry Next was a look at the Nebraska Supreme Court's most unique and startlingly political cases, as well as a LEGO replica of the courtroom.

#52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU @DrToddACurry To mark Constitution Day on September 17, @ProfLeonard_ISU took us to the Constitution's birthplace to learn about the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

#52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU @DrToddACurry By the end of September, we all had impeachment on the brain, which made it a perfect time to learn about the two Rhode Island Chief Justices who faced impeachment in the 1980s and 90s.

#52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU @DrToddACurry The 40th (!) stop on our tour was South Dakota with @ProfLeonard_ISU.

#52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU @DrToddACurry October 11 is #NationalComingOutDay and the anniversary of a landmark LGBT anti-discrimination case by the Colorado Supreme Court that was eventually decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in Romer v. Evans (1996)

#52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU @DrToddACurry Louisiana elected a new supreme court justice in a runoff last weekend. They will join a court that was deeply divided over its chief just a few years ago

#52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU @DrToddACurry We stayed in the Deep South as @DrToddACurry taught us about the Mississippi Supreme Court.

#52courts52weeks

@ProfLeonard_ISU @DrToddACurry Just after @ProfLeonard_ISU profiled the Illinois Supreme Court the day after Halloween, a justice announced his retirement. The same thing happened earlier in Kansas. Spooky.

#52courts52weeks
Then, @DrToddACurry showed us the birthplace of the Missouri Plan, the most common method of judicial selection for state supreme court justices today.

#52courts52weeks
@DrToddACurry Our second trip to Oklahoma, led by @ProfLeonard_ISU, was focused on the Court of Criminal Appeals, one of only two such courts in the country.

#52courts52weeks
We then saw how Utah's political culture influences its state supreme court, as @DrToddACurry took us behind the scenes of the "Taj Mahal" courthouse in Salt Lake City.

#52courts52weeks
@DrToddACurry We learned about congressional term limits in Arkansas...

#52courts52weeks
...and (white) woman suffrage in Wyoming.

#52courts52weeks
We found out that there's more to the Alabama Supreme Court than Roy Moore (though he is hard to ignore).

#52courts52weeks
And met the red-robed judges of the Maryland Court of Appeals, who seem downright festive when December rolls around.

#52courts52weeks
We ended our #52courts52weeks tour in the Bluegrass State, with a remarkable story of two competing high courts of Kentucky in the 1820s.

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