States, Constitution | featured news

Republican lawmakers in North Carolina have introduced a bill declaring that the state has the power to establish an official religion — a direct challenge to the First Amendment. One professor of politics called the measure “the verge of being neo-secessionist,” and another said it was reminiscent of how Southern states objected to the Supreme Court’s 1954 integration of public schools.

If state challenges to the constitutionality of the insurance mandate are successful, they may have the effect of stalling the whole health care overhaul, officials say.