State of Justice June 2024: Cases in the Courts
Consumer Protections
Colorado
In a 5-2 decision, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that liability waivers do not protect ski resorts from all negligence claims, holding that only injuries that are likely to arise from skiing activities as defined by state law are covered by liability waivers. The court’s landmark ruling, which remanded the case back to lower court to assess the litigation’s merits, is among the first to roll back the strength of the liability waivers that are standard in the ski resort industry. The ruling will open the courthouse doors to at least some people harmed by resorts’ negligent behavior.
Indigenous Rights
Hawai’i
In a unanimous ruling, the Hawai’i Supreme Court ruled that the state’s Department of Transportation violated the Hawaiian Homes Commission Act and its duties to Hawaiian Homeland Trust beneficiaries when it bypassed procedures required to turn the Mauna Kea Access Road into a state highway. The court ruled that the Department’s failure to follow statutory procedures was an illegal taking and that the road is not a state highway. The court remanded the case back to the circuit court.
Washington
State of Washington v. Wallahee
In a 7-2 decision authored by Chief Justice González, the Washington State Supreme Court overturned a century-old conviction of a Yakama Nation citizen who was convicted for hunting despite treaties that allowed hunting and fishing on Indigenous lands. The case represents a continuation of efforts to right past wrongs in Washington’s judicial history and highlights the state’s extensive history of racism against its indigenous people.
Racial Justice
Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit that sought reparations in response to the 1921 Tulsa race massacre, when a white mob murdered 300 Black Tulsans and razed their neighborhood, Greenwood. The court unanimously ruled that no legal remedy is available to the plaintiffs – the last two living survivors of the massacre, who are 109 and 110 years old – effectively ending any chance that they will receive justice for the atrocities committed against them, their families, and their community 103 years ago.
Religious Freedom
Tennessee
Rutan Ram v. Tennessee Department of Children Services
The Tennessee Supreme court affirmed a Court of Appeals ruling that a Jewish couple who were denied an adoption because of their Jewish beliefs had standing to move forward with a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a 2020 law that allows publicly funded private adoption centers to deny adoptions depending on the beliefs of potential families.
Reproductive Rights
Texas
The Texas Supreme Court rejected a challenge to the state’s abortion ban that had asked the court to clarify the circumstances in which it is legal for doctors in Texas to perform abortions to save the life or health of the mother. The court refused to clarify the questions presented by the suit, which arose from a woman who faced complications during her pregnancy that threatened her life, affirming its belief that the circumstances in which the law permits an exception to the abortion ban are clear and unambiguous.
Voting Rights
Kansas
League of Women Voters of Kansas v. Schwab
In a 4-3 opinion, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the state’s constitution does not explicitly protect the right to vote in a decision that reinstated a measure requiring election officials to match signatures on mail ballots to those on voters’ registration records. The ruling overturned decades of precedent in Kansas and was characterized by the three dissenting justices as a “betrayal of our constitutional duty to safeguard the foundational rights of Kansans.”
Nevada
A unanimous ruling by the Nevada Supreme Court rejected a challenge to a proposed constitutional amendment that would require voters to present identification to vote. The ruling will allow the proposal to appear on ballots this fall if organizers collect the required number of signatures before the June 26 deadline, which they say they have done. If the initiative passes, it would make voting more difficult in Nevada and would have a disproportionate impact on minority communities.
