State Case Database
Search State Court Report's database of significant state supreme court decisions and pending cases. Download decisions and briefs for cases that develop state constitutional law. This is a selected database and does not include every state supreme court case. See methodology and "How to Use the State Case Database" for more information.
This database is updated monthly, although individual cases may be updated more frequently. Last updated comprehensively with cases decided through October 2024.
Featured Cases
Held v. Montana
Held that Montana’s policy of excluding greenhouse gas emissions and related climate impacts from environmental reviews of fossil fuel projects violated the state constitution’s guarantee of a clean and healthful environment.
Evers v. Marklein
Court will decide whether a legislative committee’s vetoes of an agency rule that would ban the practice of “conversion therapy” for LGBTQ+ patients violates the separation of powers principles in the Wisconsin Constitution.
In an earlier installment of the case, the court ruled 6–1 that the law permitting the effective legislative veto of agency land-conservation expenditures violated the executive branch’s “core power” to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” While the Wisconsin Constitution gives the legislature authority to create an agency, define its parameters, and appropriate funds for it, the power to spend those funds in accordance with legislation lies solely with the executive, the court said.
People v. Taylor
Defendant argues that mandatory life-without-parole sentences constitute unconstitutional cruel punishment under the Michigan Constitution for those who were 20 or younger at the time of commission of a crime. A 2022 court ruling held such sentences were unconstitutional for those 18-years-old and younger.
People v. Taylor
Defendant argues that mandatory life-without-parole sentences constitute unconstitutional cruel punishment under the Michigan Constitution for those who were 20 or younger at the time of commission of a crime. A 2022 court ruling held such sentences were unconstitutional for those 18-years-old and younger.
People v. Poole
Defendants who had already exhausted their direct appeals when a 2022 state supreme court decision held mandatory life-without-parole sentences were unconstitutional for those 18-years-old and younger are asking the court to determine if they may now seek resentencing.
In re N.S.
Iowa Supreme Court issued divided opinion upholding state process for restoring gun rights revoked by federal law after an involuntary commitment, holding the process does not violate 2022's Amendment 1A that expressly required judges to apply strict scrutiny to gun regulations
Cuomo v. New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government
Plaintiff, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, claims structure of new state ethics commission violates state separation of powers laws because it has “quintessentially executive powers” — namely the ability to enforce ethics laws through civil penalties and discipline — but legislators and unelected law school deans have the power to appoint a majority of members.
People v. Czarnecki
Defendant argues that mandatory life-without-parole sentences constitute unconstitutional cruel punishment under the Michigan Constitution for those who were 19 at the time of commission of a crime. A 2022 court ruling held such sentences were unconstitutional for those 18-years-old and younger.
Jersey City United Against the New Ward Map v. Jersey City Ward Commission
Court will consider controversial new boundaries for municipal election districts redrawn after the 2020 census revealed a significant population disparity between the most and least populous wards, including whether these allegations amount to valid claims under New Jersey’s equal protection clause, civil rights law, and a statute requiring municipal wards to be “compact.”
An intermediate appellate court rejected the plaintiffs’ arguments that equal protection and “compactness” — a term not defined in the law or previous published decisions — require maintaining “communities of interest” and historic neighborhoods.
