Health Law Advisor

State courts continue to debate whether a state’s constitution recognizes a right to “liberty of privacy” or personal autonomy that would encompass the right to make personal health care decisions, including abortion.

In the post-Dobbs era, state supreme courts have been divided over whether state constitutions offer protections for abortion. Supreme courts in Florida and Iowa have rejected state constitutional protections for abortions, while those in Oklahoma and Montana have found or upheld certain constitutional protections for abortion. Recently, district court judges in Georgia and North Dakota have issued injunctions against their respective state’s abortion bans, finding that each state’s constitution protects a right to abortion.

On September 14, 2024, a district court judge in North Dakota enjoined North Dakota’s total prohibition on abortion, and on September 30, 2024, a superior court judge in Fulton County, Georgia, issued an injunction blocking the state’s six-week abortion ban. While the fate of the North Dakota injunction remains pending, on October 7, the Georgia Supreme Court stayed the lower court’s injunction, allowing Georgia’s six-week ban on abortion to once again take effect. One Georgia Supreme Court justice—Justice John J. Ellington—dissented in part from the decision, opining that “[t]he ‘status quo’ that should be maintained is the state of the law before the challenged law took effect.”

Consumer privacy protection continues to be top of mind for regulators given a climate where technology companies face scrutiny for lax data governance and poor data stewardship.  Less than a year ago, California passed the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) of 2018, to strengthen its privacy laws.  In many regards, the CCPA served as a watershed moment in privacy due to its breadth and similarities to the E.U. sweeping General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) law.

Yet, California continues to push the envelope further.  Recently, California State Senator Jackson and Attorney ...

In the November 2018 mid-term elections, state ballot measures for the legalization of marijuana were approved in three states – Michigan, Missouri, and Utah – and rejected in one state – North Dakota.

Michigan

Michigan is now the 10^th state in the country to legalize the recreational use of marijuana under certain conditions. Michigan residents approved Proposal 1, allowing for recreational marijuana to be consumed, purchased, or cultivated by those 21 and over. The new law went into effect December 6, 2018, but the commercial system will not be running for another year. The ...

While the presidential election has attracted extreme attention, marijuana legalization initiatives were on the ballots in nine states on November 8, 2016. Four states – Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and North Dakota – approved measures providing for the medical use of marijuana, and three states – California, Massachusetts, and Nevada – approved initiatives allowing for recreational use.  The results in Maine are still close to call, but, if that measure is approved, it will be the fourth measure permitting recreational use.  Only one state (Arizona) defeated a marijuana ...