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
Johnson v. Wyoming
Wyoming Supreme Court struck down the state's abortion and medication abortion bans for violating a 2012 amendment that granted adults the right to make their own health care decisions
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
Jackson v. Florida
Florida Supreme Court upheld a 2023 law that permits eligible defendants to be sentenced to death on the recommendation of only 8 of 12 jurors
Harris v. State
Ruled that right to a jury trial applies to "habitual offender" trials, but that there is no right to present evidence to a jury that does not prove or disprove prior convictions
Ex parte Sheffield
Ruled that defendant’s speedy trial claims were not cognizable in pretrial habeas corpus litigation, which would effectively undermine rather than vindicate the constitutional right before trial
Aurora Public Schools. v. A.S.
Ruled that statute creating a new cause of action for victims of child sexual abuse pre-dating the statute and for which claims were time-barred was unconstitutional as applied under constitution’s prohibition on retrospective legislation
People v. Smith
Ruled that a court may not treat an offense as a 'capital offense' for the purposes of setting bail if the general assembly has abolished the death penalty for that offense
State v. Murphy
Held that individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their real-time cell phone location, and acquisition of that information by police is a search requiring a warrant unless an exception to the warrant requirement applies.
State ex rel. One Person One Vote v. LaRose
Ruled that legislature was constitutionally authorized to prescribe a special election on a specific date by joint resolution on a proposed constitutional amendment, overriding election statute prohibiting otherwise
Portugal v. Franklin County
Ruled that the Washington Voting Rights Act was valid and constitutional on its face
Conservation Commission v. Bailey
Held that legislature lacked authority to restrict Conservation Commission from using funds for constitutionally enumerated purposes, thus violating separation of powers principles
State v. Hamby
Ruled that there was no violation of unanimous jury verdict rule despite alleged flaws in jury instructions, as nature of evidence abated risk that jury did not “substantially agree” to acts described in instructions
Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association v. NYS Department of Transportation
Ruled that regulation authorizing roadside inspection of a commercial vehicle’s electronic logging device data fell within the administrative search exception to the warrant requirement
