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.
Cincinnati Enquirer v. Bloom
Found the blanket sealing of a juvenile’s delinquency records when the juvenile is found not delinquent — the juvenile equivalent of not guilty — unconstitutional because there was no determination that the harm to the juvenile outweighed the public’s right to access court records
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"
Doe v. Brown University
Ruled that constitutional clause protecting against state discrimination by reason of race, gender or handicap does not create a private right of action
Hrbek v. State
Ruled that the omnibus crime bill did not violate separation of powers principles, and that in post-conviction relief there is no constitutional right to hybrid representation
People v. Bass
Concurrences would have addressed whether under Illinois' "limited lockstep" approach the state constitution provides greater protections than the Fourth Amendment
State v. Staker
Ruled that defendant has no reasonable expectation of privacy in text messages sent to an undercover agent posing as a sex worker, and so rights to privacy and to be free from unreasonable searches are not violated
VanWinkle v. Sage
Ruled proposed ballot initiative to revise animal cruelty statute to expand definitions of animal cruelty and sexual act with an animal violated single-subject requirement
Poudre School District R-1 v. Stanczyk
Ruled local school boards’ constitutional authority over teacher employment decisions is not unlimited and may be restricted by statutory criteria or judicial review
Harvey v. Merchan
Ruled that statute allowing time-barred civil claims for childhood sexual abuse to be revived does not violate prohibition on retroactive laws or defendants' due process or equal protection rights
Gilliam v. State
Ruled that precedent in which court exercised jurisdiction with no constitutional or statutory basis, but in the interest of judicial economy, was inconsistent with constitution's jurisdictional provisions
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement v. State
Ruled that suit seeking to force state officials to require farmers to reduce chemical levels in a river should be dismissed for lack of standing and nonjusticiability under separation of powers
Anthony A. v. Commissioner of Corrections
Ruled prisoner’s sex offender classification violated state constitution's criminal due process clause and procedural but not substantive due process rights of the prisoner
