Category: State
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Alaska Supreme Court Justice Craig Stowers announces early retirement, anticipates wave of mandatory retirements
Thirty-two states have constitutionally mandated retirement ages for state supreme court justices. Twenty of those states mandate retirement at 70 years of age. Alaska is one of them, and four of the five justices on the Alaska Supreme Court will be required to retire between February 2023 and February 2025. Regarding the upcoming turnover of…
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Kemp appoints superior court judge to Georgia Court of Appeals
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) appointed Superior Court Judge Verda Colvin to serve on the Georgia Court of Appeals on March 26. Colvin was one of two judges recently appointed to fill vacancies on the appeals court. The other vacancy was created when Carla McMillian was appointed to the Georgia Supreme Court. Gov. Nathan Deal…
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Schools closed in all 50 states, school years ended in 15 states
On April 2, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) ordered schools statewide to close through April 30. This made it the 50th and final state to issue a statewide school closure. Previously, Reynolds’ office had recommended schools close from March 15 to April 13 but left the decision to close up to individual school districts. Through…
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Arizona Governor Doug Ducey issues order restricting out-of-state travelers
On April 7, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) issued an executive order requiring visitors from areas of the country with high rates of COVID-19 community spread to self-quarantine for 14 days unless engaged in essential activities. The order identifies Connecticut, New Jersey, and New York as areas with substantial community spread, but says the restrictions…
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Coronavirus daily update: April 7, 2020
As part of Ballotpedia’s coverage on the coronavirus pandemic, we are compiling a daily summary of major changes in the world of politics, government, and elections happening each day. Here is the summary of changes for April 7, 2020. Federal responses Read more: Political responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020 President Donald Trump (R)…
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New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issues order extending statewide disaster emergency declaration until May 7
On April 7, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) issued an extension to the statewide disaster emergency originally declared at the beginning of March in response to the coronavirus pandemic. The executive order, titled “Continuing Temporary Suspension and Modification of Laws Relating to the Disaster Emergency,” maintains the disaster emergency, and all subsequent executive orders…
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School year ended in three states
On Monday afternoon, governors in three states—Arkansas, South Dakota, and Washington—ordered schools to close through the remainder of the academic year. Each states’ schools were already closed by a previous order of the governor. So far, 15 states have closed schools through the remainder of the academic year: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas,…
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Connecticut released over 700 inmates since early March due to coronavirus
On April 6, 2020, officials from the Connecticut Department of Corrections announced that 727 people had been released from state prisons since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in early March, the most substantial one-month reduction of the prison population in the state’s history. Ballotpedia is tracking prison inmate release responses by state and local…
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Wisconsin Supreme Court enjoins governor’s order postponing the election, allowing voting to continue as scheduled April 7
On April 6, 2020, the Wisconsin State Supreme Court voted 4-2 to enjoin an executive order issued earlier in the day by Governor Tony Evers (D) postponing in-person voting in the spring election, scheduled for April 7, 2020, to June 9, 2020. As a result, in-person voting is expected to take place as scheduled on…
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Fifteen states have restricted out-of-state travelers due to pandemic
As of April 6, governors and state agencies in at least 15 states have placed restrictions on out-of-state travelers through executive orders or public health mandates to reduce the transmission of the novel coronavirus. Though each state uses slightly different language to describe restrictions on interstate travelers, all 15 states require some out-of-state travelers to…