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 May 2025.
Featured Cases
Access Independent Health Services v. Wrigley
North Dakota Supreme Court upheld state's abortion ban despite three of five justices concluding a health-risk exception was unconstitutionally vague, because the state constitution requires four justices to declare legislation unconstitutional
Clarke v. Town of Newburgh
New York Court of Appeals held local government could not assert state or federal equal protection challenge to the vote dilution provision of the state's Voting Rights Act
League of Women Voters of Utah v. Utah State Legislature (LWV 1)
Utah Supreme Court sent partisan gerrymandering case back to lower court to consider whether the legislature violated voters' fundamental right to "reform or alter" their government when it overturned redistricting reforms passed by initiative. Lower court found legislators violated that right and struck the current congressional map, adopting an alternative proposed by the plaintiffs
Texas Department of Transportation v. Self
Held that the government must pay compensation to the landowners when it intentionally destroys private property for public use, even when it acted with the mistaken belief that it has a legal right to do so
Albence v. Mennella
The Delaware Supreme Court dismissed for lack of standing a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a 2019 law permitting early in-person voting “at least 10 days before an election" and a 2010 statute allowing some voters who are already eligible to vote absentee to apply for permanent absentee status.
Thurston v. The League of Women Voters of Arkansas
Held that Acts placing restrictions on absentee ballots and requiring valid photographic identification to cast a ballot did not clearly violate state constitutional provisions guaranteeing equal protection and free and equal elections
Schools Over Stadiums v. Thompson
Held that a petition seeking to place a referendum on the ballot to strike sections of a bill authorizing the financing and construction of a Major League Baseball stadium in the county violated the constitution's full-text requirement because it did not include the entirety of the bill's language
Commonwealth v. Hastings
Ruled that an indigent defendant's motion for funds to retain an expert for his parole hearing was excepted from indigency statute's restrictions because it implicated his State constitutional right to reasonable disability accommodations in parole proceedings
Snell v. Walz
Held that the Emergency Management Act, which authorized the Governor to declare a peacetime emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic, did not provide for an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority
Alaska Trappers Association v. City of Valdez
Held that a local ordinance regulating animal trappings within city limits was enacted pursuant to the city’s authority to regulate land use and public safety and not substantially irreconcilable with state law
Brown v. Kotek
Held that the terms of the conditional commutation limited the Governor's authority to revoke the commutation to the period before the commutee's sentence had expired
Cosme v. Clark
Ruled that under Indiana's constitutional right to a jury trial, courts cannot weigh conflicting evidence or assess witness credibility at the directed-verdict stage
Usachenok v. Department of the Treasury
Held that the confidentiality directive in regulation applicable to harassment and discrimination investigations in state workplaces was constitutionally overbroad under New Jersey's affirmative right to speak freely, which is broader than federal First Amendment Protections
