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 January 2025.
Featured Cases
Vet Voice Foundation v. Hobbs
Washington Supreme Court held requirement that election workers verify voter signatures on mail ballots, when coupled with the state’s recently expanded process for notifying voters and providing an opportunity to cure when a signature mismatch is identified, does not facially violate the state constitution’s free and equal elections, privileges and immunities, or due process clause.
SisterSong v. Georgia
Plaintiffs claim that abortion ban violates the state constitution’s right to liberty and privacy and guarantee of equal protection
Texas v. Margaret Daley Carpenter
Texas’s attorney general sued a New York doctor for mailing abortion-including drugs to a woman in Texas, claiming she practiced medicine in Texas without a Texas license and improperly aided an abortion. After the doctor did not respond to the complaint, a Texas trial court issued a default judgment enjoining her from prescribing abortion-inducing drugs to state residents and imposing $100,000 in civil penalties, as sought by the attorney general.
In re Interest of Y.W.-B.
Ruled state’s protection against unreasonable searches applies to searches conducted in civil child neglect proceedings and no exception exists without consent or exigent circumstances
Commonwealth v. Talley
Ruled trial court may constitutionally deny bail if state proffers evidence under a substantially more likely than not standard that an accused is nonbailable
Commonwealth v. Sweeting-Bailey
Dissents wrote that majority's view that police reasonably suspected that the defendant was armed based on companion’s behavior allows for encroachment on right to be free from unreasonable search and seizure
Dunleavy v. Alaska Legislative Council ex rel. Alaska State Legislature
Ruled that laws defining legislative inaction as tantamount to rejection, in the context of appointments and confirmations, violate the state constitution
The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. v. The City of Cleveland
Ruled a municipal utility may acquire excess electricity capacity without violating the constitution so long as the acquisition was not for the sole purpose of reselling it
League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v. Degraffenreid
Enjoined the tabulating and certifying of votes on victim’s rights ballot question, ruled amendment violated constitution’s separate vote requirement
The Detroit News, Inc. v. Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission
Ruled redistricting commission’s closed-session meeting and withholding of memoranda requested by news organizations violated open meetings and publication of supporting materials requirements
State v. Bowman
Ruled that a cell phone owner’s voluntary consent to search text messages justifies intruding on an otherwise private affair
Wash. State Legislature v. Inslee
Ruled that the governor exceeded his veto power by striking a single sentence in an appropriate bill
State v. Stephens
Ruled statute violated separation of powers clause because it delegated authority to the Attorney General to prosecute election laws, a power more properly assigned to the judicial department
