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.
Calcasieu Parish School Board Sales v. Nelson Industrial Steam Co.
Ruled legislation excluding certain transactions from sales tax was a new tax and violated Tax Limitation clause for failure to garner a supermajority vote in legislature
Commonwealth v. Dejesus
Abolished separate standing requirement and ruled a defendant need only show a reasonable expectation of privacy in a place searched to contest search and seizure
State v. Arnett
Ruled that the criminal restitution scheme violates the right to a jury trial under the state constitution
Thom v. Barnett (In re Election Contest Dakota Constitution to Legalize)
In challenge to initiated constitutional amendment to legalize marijuana, ruled proposed amendment violated constitution’s single subject and separate vote requirements
In re Goldston
Ruled family court judge’s presence at party’s home to look for marital property was an improper search under prohibition against judicial officers exercising the executive search power
State ex rel. Suwalski v. Peeler
Ruled that application for relief from federal firearms disability after conviction for domestic violence implicated crime victim’s rights under the constitution
State v. Peterson
Dissent wrote that statute criminalizing sale of heroin violated equal protection clause because the same conduct is criminalized under another controlled substance statute which carries a different penalty
State v. Brown
Ruled statute authorizing judge, not jury, to make criminal history findings for sentencing did not violate right to a jury trial; statute allowing judge to set restitution implicated the right but was severable
State v. Jordan
Dissent wrote that warrantless arrest of defendant when police had ample time to secure a warrant violated constitution’s protection against unreasonable search and seizure
State v. Walker-Brazie
Ruled that evidence seized by Border Patrol was inadmissible in a state criminal proceeding when that search did not comply with the state constitution
