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."
Arizona Right to Life v. Fontes
Held that the ballot description for an abortion-rights amendment initiative was sufficiently accurate and was not required to explain the initiative's potential impact on existing abortion laws.
State ex rel. Citizens Not Politicians v. Ohio Ballot Board
Largely upheld ballot language drafted by ballot board for a 2024 initiative that would have created an independent redistricting commission, concluding that characterization of the commission as "required to gerrymander" district boundaries was not unconstitutionally misleading.
State ex rel. Brooks v. Evnen
The Nebraska Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a proposed abortion-rights amendment could go before voters, rejecting claims that it violated the subject-subject rule and was so vague that it would mislead voters
Coleman v. Ashcroft
The Missouri Supreme Court rejected claims that Amendment 3, a ballot measure that would protect abortion access until viability, violated the single-subject rule and state election law by failing to list all the existing laws that its passage would repeal. The ruling ensured that Amendment 3 would remain on the ballot.
Eidson v. South Carolina Department of Education
Held that state program providing taxpayer-funded education accounts to low-income families cannot be allocated by parents to private school tuition because doing so violates a state constitutional ban on use of public funds for the “direct benefit” of private educational institutions.
Acorn International v. State
Held that the Secretary of State's response to ACORN International's public records request asking for documentation of the actual costs for a yearly subscription to state voter database did not violate organization's constitutional right to know
Oberholzer v. Galapo
Held that neighbors' anti-racist signs did not intolerably intrude on homeowners' substantial privacy interests, and thus constitutional free-speech protections did not permit trial court to enjoin continued display of the signs
Commonwealth v. Thompson
Dissent would have held that inventory searches are unconstitutional under art. 1 sec. 8 of the Pennsylvania constitution, and therefore reversed the defendant's judgment on appeal
Layla H v. Virginia
Plaintiffs claim that state’s practice of approving permits for fossil-fuel infrastructure violates substantive due process and public trust rights to natural resources, protected by the state constitution. They claim such practice infringes these rights by contributing to greenhouse-gas pollution and climate change. A trial court dismissed plaintiffs’ complaint, and the intermediate appellate court affirmed on the basis that the plaintiffs lack standing. Finding that there was no reversible error, the Virginia Supreme Court declined to grant review of the appellate court decision.
Ohio v. Isaiah Morris
Court will review court of appeals's decision finding that the state constitutional right to counsel is more protective than the 6th Amendment and requires a defendant, who has been formally charged and secured an attorney, to consult with counsel before any waiver of his right to have an attorney present during a police interrogation can be valid.
