Did the New Jersey Supreme Court just subject all restrictions on liberty to a form of intermediate scrutiny? I’m not saying it did, but I’m not saying it didn’t either. Here’s my take on the court’s “palimony” ruling earlier this week. 1/

ij.org/cje-post/state… What’s “palimony?” Alimony, but for smug non-marrieds. There’s a lot of fun relationship drama in the case, but the legal issue is that in NJ you need to consult a lawyer before signing a palimony contract. But not other contracts, even those for alimony. 2/

Happy Constitution Day!

Reposting what I've said before—the US Constitution is important! BUT, our constitutional order didn't begin in 1787. So much preceded it! Here's what you should read to understand the Constitution’s underpinnings that you won't get in Con Law class: 1/ 1. Magna Carta
2. Lord Coke's Petition of Right (1628)
3. 1689 English Bill of Rights
4. Declaration of Independence
5. 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights
6. 1776 Penn. Declaration of Rights
7. 1780 Mass. Constitution
8. Articles of Confederation

2/

1. Aloha! Our last #50Weeks50Constitution brings us to the last state to be settled (by natives or Europeans) & last to be admitted to the Union. But Hawaii certainly was not the last state in constitutional history. 2. People 1st came to the islands well over 1,000 years ago, & the first identifiable non-Polynesians were Captain Cook & his crew in 1778 (although there’s strong evidence that Japanese sailors were shipwrecked there over the prior couple centuries).

1. This week’s edition of #50Weeks50Constitutions leaves the lower 48 to explore the constitutional history of the 49th State. Alaska, the #LastFrontier, was admitted in January 1959, the first state admitted in over four decades! 2. The U.S. bought the land from the Russians in 1867, who had used it as a fur wardrobe since Vitus Bering’s crew first stepped foot in 1741 (& treated native Alaskans no better in the process). You can read about Bering’s amazing story here:

amazon.com/dp/B076MPT3L6/…

1. This week’s edition of #50Weeks50Constitutions explores the constitutional history of the #GrandCanyonState. Arizona, the 48th state, was admitted on Valentines’ Day 1912 after being a territory for over 50 years. 2. The U.S. acquired most of what is now Arizona in the 1848 treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo. The land was originally part of the New Mexico territory, but Congress created a separate Arizona territory in 1863 after the Confederacy tried to take it over.

ushistoryscene.com/article/the-ci…

1. New Mexico, the land of alien landings (allegedly), is this week’s stop for #50Weeks50Constitutions. New Mexico, the #LandofEnchantment has only had a single constitution—but there were a few drafts before Congress admitted it to the Union in 1912. 2. New Mexico’s territory came under Spanish control with an expedition in search of riches in the 1540’s. By 1609, the Spanish established a capital at Santa Fe, which remains the capital today. The Spanish controlled the land until Mexican independence in 1821.

1. Oklahoma isn’t just football, oil, & musicals. The state itself has had just one constitution, although big enough to accommodate several more, but today on #50Weeks50Constitutions we’ll also look at a century of constitutional history leading up to that founding document. 2. We start nowhere near Oklahoma, in the Southeast. Numerous Native American tribes were still living there around the year 1800. In the years following, through formal treaties, forced expungement by private & government violence, & head’s up migration, the tribes moved west.

1. This week #50Weeks50Constitutions travels to Utah. The journey to statehood, & a state constitution, began in the 1840’s when members of the LDS church arrived and settled. But it took numerous constitutional conventions, and many petitions to Congress, to achieve. 2. They settled there with the hopes of creating a religious community, a break with the general western spirit of rugged individualism. They originally planned to petition to become a territory, but quickly realized that statehood would be much more beneficial.

1. Wyoming is more than just a larger-than-its-state federal district or a meeting site for Close Encounters. This week on #50Weeks50Constitutions we examine the constitution of Yellowstone’s home. 2. Before Congress recognized its territorial status (& current borders) in 1868, Wyoming had been in a whole heck of a lot of political entities. In addition to Native American polities, parts were at times claimed by Spain, France, Britain, Mexico, & even the Republic of Texas!

1. This week’s edition of #50Weeks50Constitutions visits the land of potatoes and gems—but only one is native to the state. That’s right, we’re exploring Idaho’s Constitution! Idaho is still operating under its original 1889 Constitution, but it took a while to get there. 2. The future state did not come under full U.S. control until an 1846 treaty with Britain. Protestant, Catholic, and LDS missionaries established settlements (and brought potatoes) as early as the 1830s and by the 1860s gold was discovered and the population boomed.

1. Deep in the waters of Puget Sound, high on Mount Rainier, & over on the Palouse, lies Washington State’s constitutional order. On #50Weeks50Constitutions we take a peek at the state’s one constitution & how it came into port. 2. As we saw with Oregon, in the eyes of the US government the Pacific NW had poorly defined sovereignty until the British ceded any claims in 1846. The Territory of Washington was formed in 1853 & then Congress fiddled w/ its borders a few times.

https://twitter.com/IJSanders/status/1255125146504851456

1. What do you get when you mix miners, mountains, and cowboys? Montana of course! Today on #50Weeks50Constitutions we’ll look at a state boasting one of the most modern constitutions, containing some of the most local flair. 2. When (most of) Montana came into the US as a massive chunk of the Louisiana Purchase, Lewis & Clark took quite a long time navigating across it, including its unexpected seemingly endless mountains. As settlement slowly expanded territorial lines were drawn & redrawn for years

1. This week’s edition of #50Weeks50Constitutions heads to the home state of legendary newsman @tombrokaw and famed NFL kicker @adamvinatieri. That’s right, we are heading to South Dakota, the #MountRushmoreState! 2. South Dakota is one of the many states formed from the Louisiana Purchase, but it took a while. The Dakotas did not become a separate territory until 1861 and statehood wasn’t achieved until 1889, but SD was more active in pushing for statehood than ND.

1. This week’s edition of #50Weeks50Constitutions travels to one of the least visited states in the country: North Dakota. The #PeaceGardenState, & home of Roger Maris, still operates under its 1889 Constitution, though it has been amended frequently over the intervening decades. 2. The U.S. gained control over the land that would eventually become ND through the Louisiana Purchase, but it took a while for the push for statehood to really get going. Though Lewis and Clark wintered there during the westward portion of their journey.

1. Got a Rocky Mountain High? Forget any other intoxicant, Coloradans have been high on their state constitution for almost 150 years. But it wasn’t easy at first. #50Weeks50Constitutions tells a story beyond the document’s (& the state’s) four corners. 2. Originally entirely part of Mexico, by 1858 what is now Colorado was split between the Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, & Utah territories.

1. This week’s edition of #50Weeks50Constitutions travels to the home of the College Baseball World Series & Payton Manning’s favorite audible. That’s right, we are heading to Nebraska, the #CornHuskerState, with their unicameral legislature—but that wasn’t always so. 2. The U.S. bought the land that would eventually become Nebraska in the Louisiana Purchase. It was shuffled around & governed by different territories until the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 which officially created the Nebraska Territory & set up a basic government.

1. Feeling lucky? Constitutionally, & as Mark Twain helped transcribe, for a while Nevada did not. #50Weeks50Constitutions digs into the Silver State’s legal roulette, territorial bluffing, & anarcho-capitalist hold ‘em, only to settle on a long constitutional winning streak. 2. Acquired (taken) from Mexico in 1848, Congress placed almost all of what is now Nevada in the Utah Territory in the Compromise of 1850. But the rough-necked folks settling the Carson Valley resented this arrangement, dominated by Mormans in Salt Lake City.

1. This week’s edition of #50Weeks50Constitutions explores the unique constitutional history of a state that actually might be unconstitutional: That’s right! This week we explore the constitutions of the #MountainState, West Virginia.

prologue.blogs.archives.gov/2010/11/08/is-… 2. West Virginia was originally a part of Virginia, and subject to VA’s first three constitutions, but geographic tensions existed, especially in terms of apportionment, taxation, and voting. Check here for a refresher on Virginia’s constitutions:

https://twitter.com/IJSanders/status/1179052520183713792

1. What’s the matter with the Kansas Constitution? Today nothing more than elsewhere. But in the 1850s you’d have to ask *which* Kansas Constitution. On #50Weeks50Constitutions we’re touring some wild constitutional history that’ll teach you we’re not in Bleeding Kansas anymore. 2. After stints in the Louisiana Territory, Missouri Territory & then “Indian country,” the Kansas Territory was created by Congress in the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. A smooth path to statehood was envisioned, but the Act left the legality of slavery to the people of Kansas.

1. No, Oregon’s constitution did not die of dysentery. This week on #50Weeks50Constitutions we journey down that Trail. The state (which locals will remind you is pronounced Or-ih-gEn”) adopted its constitution in 1857 & stuck with it, though with many amendments over the years. 2. The US AND UK jointly possessed “Oregon Country” from 1818 until 1846. This uneasy equilibrium extended all the way from Alaska (Russia) to California (Spain then Mexico). The non-native presence was virtually non-existent, with the Hudson’s Bay Co having the biggest impact.

1. Minnesota nice? Oh for cute’s sake! That’s just an ol’ stereotype, don’ cha’ know. Today on #50Weeks50Constitutions we’ve got a state with 2 conventions for one constitution. It was all because those silly men in St. Paul couldn’t get along . . .

2. MN was the last state formed out of the old Northwest Territory, under the NW Ordinance. But only the land east of the Mississippi (including good ol’ St. Paul). To the west, the land first came into U.S. hands with the Louisiana Purchase (including big time Minneapolis).