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 August 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 found 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"
Brown v. Gianforte
Ruled that statute abolishing judicial nomination commission and screening process does not violate constitutional provision that governor will fill vacancies with nominees selected in a manner provided by law
State v. Keys
Ruled that constitutional provision prescribing charging procedures for felonies does not establish that a defendant's defective waiver of a probable cause hearing deprives a court of subject matter jurisdiction
Hudson v. State (In re K. H.)
Ruled that in parental rights termination proceeding, admitting evidence of pending child abuse charges against parents was so inherently prejudicial that it violated right to a fair trial
State v. Smith
Upheld statute imposing mandatory 100-year sentence and lifetime GPS monitoring for adult convicted of child sexual abuse
State v. Wilson
Ruled that state's pandemic public health orders imposing occupancy limitations on some categories of businesses, do not support a claim for just compensation under takings clause
State v. VanBeek
Ruled that an officer taking an individual's driver's license back to the officer's squad car may constitute a seizure for purposes of constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures
State v. Sewell
Ruled that arrestee has no right to consult counsel when deciding whether to consent to chemical testing because the right does not attach before a prosecution is commenced
People v. Schneider
Dissent wrote that jurisdiction to issue eavesdropping warrants should be constrained by clause regarding telephone intercepts in light of state's fundamental distrust of the use of wiretapping
In re M.M.
Ruled that statute eliminating review of final orders in superior court and instead directed appeals in the supreme court, may be applied to pending case without violating prohibition on retrospective laws
Commonwealth v. Delgado-Rivera
Ruled that a defendant does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in sent text messages that were acquired from codefendant's cell phone
