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."
Montana Environmental Information Center v. Office of the Governor
Montana Supreme Court held that a party who succeeds on a state constitutional “right to know” claim in a public records dispute is entitled to a presumption that they should be awarded attorneys’ fees. Two dissents opined that the holding was motivated by partisan bias.
Center for Arizona Policy v. Arizona Secretary of State
Arizona Supreme Court will consider allegations that a campaign-disclosure law violates state constitutional rights to free speech and not to be disturbed in "private affairs," as well as separation of powers. Lower courts dismissed the claims.
Baxter v. Philadelphia Board of Elections
Pennsylvania Supreme Court will consider whether it violates the state constitution's "free and equal" elections clause not to count a mail ballot because the voter failed to comply with a state law requiring the date to be handwritten on the ballot's outer envelope.
Schwartz v. Washington County
Will consider whether statutes that establish state tobacco retail licenses and that authorize licensees to sell tobacco products and vaping devices preempt a county ordinance that prohibits the sale of flavored tobacco products and vapes. An intermediate court found the statutes did not preempt the county ordinance.
Paxton v. Annunciation House
Texas Supreme Court held that a clause empowering the state attorney general to seek judicial forfeiture of corporate charters permits him to bring a quo warranto action to shut down a Catholic charity based on allegations it violated a state law against harboring undocumented immigrants. The state's religious freedom restoration act does not bar the claim from being filed, and the law is neither unconstitutionally vague nor precluded by federal immigration law. Remanded the case to the trial court for further proceedings on the merits.
Stephens v. State
Georgia Supreme Court upheld, under the state’s right to bear arms clause, a law banning individuals younger than 21 from carrying handguns in public, unless they have military training. Declined to import federal Second Amendment standards into Georgia’s clause, noting it distinctly and expressly grants the legislature power to regulate the manner in which firearms may be carried.
State of North Carolina v. Chambers
North Carolina Supreme Court upheld a law that allows a juror to be excused and substituted by an alternate after criminal trial deliberations have begun. Because the law requires the trial court to instruct the jury to begin deliberations anew, the majority said, a verdict will still be reached by the 12 people the state constitutional jury right guarantees, not 13.
Commonwealth v. Shivers
Pennsylvania Supreme Court will consider whether a person fleeing from officers in a high-crime area, standing alone, can create reasonable suspicion to make a police stop lawful under the state constitution's search and seizure clause.
Norfolk Southern Railway v. State Corporation Commission
Virginia Supreme Court held that a law permitting broadband service providers to install fiber optic cables across railroad property violates a state constitutional amendment providing robust "public use" requirements for eminent domain, as applied to a private company seeking to expand its network for financial gain.
Birthmark Doula Collective v. State of Louisiana
Challenge to a state law that reclassifies mifepristone and misoprostol as controlled dangerous substances, arguing that the law unconstitutionally regulates and delays access to medications that people need for non-abortion reasons, simply because those medications may also be used for an abortion
