Volume 53 (2021) Issue 3 (Fall)

Kent E. Cattani & Paul J. McMurdie Arizona’s procedure for determining whether to seek the death penalty—a decision by an elected County Attorney—was established when Arizona became a state in 1912. At that time, however, a decision to seek the death penalty began a process that bore little resemblance to what we have today. For example, between 1912 and 1960, in the 63 cases in which a death sentence was imposed, the average time from the date of the murder to the date of execution was less than two years. In fact, in 10 of those cases, less than a year passed between the crime and the execution.2 The current process, in contrast, often lasts more than 30 years, consuming significant resources at both the local and state level. And…

Clint Bolick State constitutionalism—the practice of state courts deciding cases on independent state constitutional grounds—is a vital yet underdeveloped attribute of American federalism. Our system of dual sovereignty ensures the capacity of state courts to interpret their own constitutions to provide greater protections for individual rights than the federal constitution. When they do so, their decisions are not subject to review by federal courts absent a federal issue. Full Article.