Your Rights by State

How to read this guide

• Recording conversations: the First Amendment lets you film police doing their jobs in public in every state. This entry shows each state's consent rule for private conversations — all-party (everyone must agree) or one-party (you may record a conversation you're part of). Several states split the rule between in-person and phone calls.
• Handgun carry: Permitless ("constitutional carry") means an eligible adult may carry without a permit; permit required means you must be licensed first. Federal bans (e.g., felony convictions) and gun-free zones apply everywhere.
• Voter ID: whether the state asks for photo ID, accepts non-photo ID, or requires none. Under the federal Help America Vote Act, you can always request a provisional ballot if your eligibility is questioned.
• DUI/DWI checkpoints: whether the state runs sobriety checkpoints. The Supreme Court allowed them in Michigan Dept. of State Police v. Sitz (1990), but eleven states ban or don't conduct them under their own constitutions or statutes.
• Recreational marijuana: adult-use status under state law. It remains illegal under federal law (Controlled Substances Act) everywhere — which still matters on federal land, federal jobs, and at the border.
• Stop & identify: whether police can require your name during a lawful detention (upheld in Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court, 2004). Drivers must always provide a license.

All 50 states