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
League of Women Voters of Utah v. Utah State Legislature (LWV 1)
Utah Supreme Court dismissed legislators' appeal from trial court ruling that struck the state's congressional map. Lower court said law the map was enacted under violated a fundamental right of voters to alter or reform their government — recognized by the Utah high court earlier in the case — by repealing a redistricting-reform initiative, and subsequently adopted plaintiffs' proposed alternative map
Commonwealth v. Council for Better Education; LaFontaine v. Council for Better Education
Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that a law providing for charter schools funds education outside the “system of common schools,” in violation of clauses requiring the legislature to establish such a system and voters to approve such funding
McDougle v. Nardo
Virginia Supreme Court permitted legislature's proposed amendment to redraw the state’s congressional map to proceed to a vote, while it considers appeal of trial court decision finding the legislative process unconstitutional
Thompson v. Fhuere
Held that defendant's challenge to constitutionality of death sentence, together with challenge to postconviction court's modification of sentence rather than remand for resentencing, were not cognizable on postconviction review after Governor commuted death sentence
Syed v. Lee
Maryland Supreme Court held that victim's representatives had a right to participate in person a hearing on a motion to vacate defendant's conviction under state constitution's requirement that crime victims be treated with dignity and sensitivity
Jane Doe v. Manchester School District
Plaintiff claims that school district's policy that staff generally should not inform parents when a student identifies as gender nonconforming, absent student consent, violates parents' rights
State v. McKelvey
Held that a state trooper's use of telephoto lens to enhance photographs of defendant's greenhouse from aerial surveillance was a "search" under the state's search and seizure clause
Smith v. Ohio State University
Held that discretionary immunity serves as a jurisdictional bar, not an affirmative defense, to suits against the state in the Court of Claims
Davis v. Bissen
Held that unabandoned possessions of houseless persons constitute property and were protected by Hawaii's due process clause
State Chamber of Oklahoma v. Cobbs
Dissent would have struck down Initiative Petition 446 as a facially unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority to federal officials in direct contravention of the Court's precedent
Aztec Municipal Schools v. Cardenas
Affirmed a lower court decision that a workers’ compensation limit on the duration of disability benefits for a mental illness violated the equal protection clause of the state constitution.
Vazquez v. State
Held that the statute generally defining state residency governs Alaska Constitution's three-year state residency requirement for Alaska legislators
State v. Gnewuch
Held that Nebraska's deferred judgment statute did not violate the state constitution's separation of powers clause
