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 April 2025.
Featured Cases
Access Independent Health Services v. Wrigley
North Dakota Supreme Court upheld state's abortion ban despite three of five justices concluding a health-risk exception was unconstitutionally vague, because the state constitution requires four justices to declare legislation unconstitutional
Clarke v. Town of Newburgh
New York Court of Appeals held local government could not assert state or federal equal protection challenge to the vote dilution provision of the state's Voting Rights Act
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
Palade v. Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas System
Ruled tenured faculty claims that university’s revised policy violated contracts and free communication clauses lacked standing, ripeness, and justiciability
Meyer v. Knudsen
Ruled constitution’s restriction that legislation by initiative may not appropriate funds does not apply to constitutional amendments proposed by initiative
Ex parte Pinkard
Ruled constitution’s absolute state immunity clause does not bar claims that name and seek relief only from individual state employees in their personal capacity
Shea v. State
Held that the constitution grants the legislature broad authority to determine public education policy, prohibiting judicial review of the adequacy and allocation of education funding
State v. Wellknown
Concurrence would have held that state constitution provides greater protection against discriminatory peremptory challenges than the federal constitution
State v. Robinson
Ruled legislature treated fetus as a type of child in aggravator factor statute for capital cases resulting in constitutionally permissible basis to support aggravator finding
The Village of Newburgh Heights v. State
Held that a statute reducing a municipality's state funding by an amount equal to the fines collected from traffic camera citations did not violate home rule authority
Caruso v. Eighth Judicial District Court of Nevada
Dissent would have held that separation of powers prohibits a state legislator from also serving as a prosecutor, an executive branch function
Metropolitan Government of Nashville & Davidson County v. Tennessee Department of Education
Ruled that a program redirecting money from local public school systems directly to some students to pay for private school tuition did not violate home rule provision
City of Baytown v. Schrock
Concurrence emphasized the protections provided by the state takings clause, but agreed that property damage due to civil enforcement of an ordinance is not enough to sustain a regulatory takings claim
