In this talk, Hoover research fellow Clint Bolick discusses the importance of state governments defending their citizens’ rights from the overreach of the federal government. He begins with a discussion of how state legislatures are a more refined tool for protecting citizens. He goes on to outline a growing judicial trend in the United States that recognizes the importance of powerful states. To examine this trend more closely, Bolick offers three examples from the work at the Goldwater Institute Center for Constitutional Litigation, of which he is the director: first, the decline of unions and the protection of the secret ballot; second, the Arizona State Sovereignty Amendment (also known as Proposition 122); and finally the Right to Try Movement, which seeks to curb FDA responsibilities that of a safety insurance organization and allow Americans access to lifesaving drugs.