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
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 said 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."
Valdez v. West Des Moines Community Schools
Ruled that plaintiff's proposed heightened standard for assessing peremptory strikes of "last minority" jurors was not required by constitution's due process, equal protection, or jury-trial rights
Falls v. Goins
Ruled that requiring persons with out of state felony convictions to comply with two separate statutes to regain suffrage rights was within the legislature’s constitutional authority to disenfranchise persons with felony convictions
Facebook, Inc. v. State
Ruled that the contemporaneous acquisition of electronic communications is the equivalent of wiretap surveillance and is therefore entitled to greater constitutional protection
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
