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 2024.
Featured Cases
Genser v. Butler County Board of Elections
Held citizens whose mail-in ballots were disqualified for a failure to return them in the required secrecy envelope have a right to cast a provisional ballot and have it count.
Gonzalez v. Miller
Unanimously affirmed the denial of a district attorney’s effort to dismiss a state Open Records Act request relating to her office’s “failure . . . to effectively prosecute criminal cases, and an open disregard for the laws of the State of Georgia"
Republican National Committee v. Eternal Vigilance Action, Inc
The Georgia Supreme Court left in place a lower court ruling that several controversial new election rules are “illegal, unconstitutional, and void.” The rules would have made election certification discretionary, required hand-counting the number of ballots, made drop boxes harder to use, and expanded the role of poll watchers. The appeal will proceed on a normal schedule, which means the state supreme court will fully consider the challenge against the rules over the next few months.
North Carolina NAACP v. Moore
Ruled principles of popular sovereignty and democratic self-rule impose limits on authority of legislators elected from unconstitutionally racially gerrymandered districts to initiate process of amending constitution
Brown v. State
Dissent would have denied indigent defendant's petition as meritless without limiting future filings in forma pauperis, as violating constitutional right to access to courts
Willis v. Bernini
Ruled state’s failure to present clearly exculpatory evidence to the grand jury relevant to 3rd-party defense justification violated defendant’s constitutional due process rights
State v. The Alaska Legislative Council
Ruled legislature’s education appropriation from a future fiscal year’s budget violates constitution’s budgetary clauses’ implied requirement that funds be appropriated annually
State v. Donovan
Ruling police seizure of defendant violated constitutional right to be free from unreasonable seizures when they had no articulable, reasonable suspicion to justify seizure
Zolly v. City of Oakland
Ruled city's fees for private waste hauling contracts were not exempt from constitution's voter approval requirement for imposition of taxes
Brunson v. State
Concurred to deny post-conviction relief petition as meritless but restricting defendant's future filings in forma pauperis violated constitutional right to access to courts
Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation v. Commonwealth
Ruled statute diverting public land trust funds to General Assembly does not facially violate constitution's Environmental Rights Amendment
People v. Stovall
Ruled parolable life sentence for defendant who committed 2nd degree murder while a juvenile constitutes cruel or unusual punishment violating Michigan Constitution
State v. Gray
Ruled Oregon Constitution’s right to counsel provision allows defendant to have counsel present in grand jury room for consultation during defendant’s testimony
