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 June 2025.
Featured Cases
Hoke County Board of Education v. State of North Carolina
The North Carolina Supreme Court overturned its own precedent and put an end to more than 30 years of litigation involving the funding of public education in the state.
Commonwealth v. Lee
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that mandating a life sentence, without the possibility of parole, for “felony murder” — a legal doctrine that allows someone to be prosecuted for murder for any death that occurs during the commission of a separate felony, even if the defendant never meant to kill anyone — violates the Pennsylvania Constitution’s ban on “cruel” punishments
Luther v. Hoskins
The Missouri Supreme Court rejected voters' challenge to Missouri's new congressional district map, which the plaintiffs said ran afoul of state constitutional prohibitions on mid-decade redistricting. The court said the state constitution contained no express prohibition on mid-decade redistricting and that the map was a "valid exercise" of the "plenary legislative power to establish congressional districts."
In re Individuals in Custody of the State
Reaffirmed court’s constitutional power in granting extraordinary relief to the Office of Public Defender during the pandemic relating to expedited release of inmates
Aparicio v. State
Held that, for purposes of victims' rights clause, victim impact letters are limited to persons who had been directly and proximately harmed by the crime
In re Williams
Ruled that state’s cruel punishment clause provides greater protection than the Eighth Amendment, and that petitioner was deprived of basic hygiene in confinement in violation of the constitution
State v. Randall
Concurrence wrote that police dog’s intrusion into car during a traffic stop was an illegal search, as using an exterior car sniff by a dog is a search under the state constitution
Laws v. Grayeyes
Concurrence wrote that Utah's separation of powers provision would not prevent the legislature from granting standing to a plaintiff and questions applying federal standing rules
People v. McDaniel
Ruled that the state constitution does not require unanimity in jury's determination of disputed aggravating circumstances
State v. Melvin
Ruled that acquitted conduct may not be considered in sentencing defendants under state constitution’s heightened due process rights and right to a criminal trial by jury
Brooks v. Ewing Cole, Inc.
Ruled pretrial decision denying a government defendant’s right to a sovereign immunity defense in a negligence action was an immediately appealable collateral order
Pinckney v. Peeler
Ruled that statute removing confederate flag from capital and renaming other historic items did not violate prohibition on special laws or home rule provision, but severed provision requiring a supermajority to amend the law
Fay v. Fox
Ruled victim has right to be heard on merits of defendant’s motion for a delayed appeal of restitution award under due process, prompt restitution, and finality provisions of Victims’ Bill of Rights
