Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2025
Publication
Albany Law Review
Volume
88
Abbreviation
Alb. L. Rev.
First Page
693
Abstract
Scholars have insisted that constitutional crisis is rare in American history. They are wrong. Constitutional crisis has been one of the most important constants in American history. The events of January 6, 2021, the assassination attempt on President Trump, and the debate about whether to invoke the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to force President Biden out of office are child’s play compared to the constitutional crises this country has endured. Those observations are only surprising because so few scholars have studied constitutional crises at the state level. They are focused on national and international constitutional crises. This Article has three goals. First, it explains why such a narrow view of constitutional crisis is mistaken, given a context where state constitutions are increasingly important. Second, it demonstrates that constitutional crisis at the state level has been a frequent occurrence in American history and describes the most common ways those state constitutional crises have manifested. Finally, it argues that far from being isolated events, these crises have profoundly shaped our legal and constitutional order today and warns that they are a present threat that scholars and policymakers should take seriously.