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 February 2025.
Featured Cases
LeMieux v. Evers
The Wisconsin Supreme Court held, in a divided decision, that the governor did not exceed his partial veto authority under the state constitution when he altered digits, words, and punctuation in a budget bill to extend a school funding increase from 2 to 402 years.
Griffin v. State Board of Elections
A candidate for a seat on the North Carolina Supreme Court, who lost by over 700 votes, claims that the state board of elections followed an incorrect process for registering voters and seeks in invalidate more than 60,000 votes.
People v. Taylor; People v. Czarnecki
Michigan Supreme Court held that mandatory life-without-parole sentences violate the state constitution’s protection against “cruel or unusual” punishment for anyone under age 21 at the time of the offense. The decision extends the court’s 2022 ruling in People v. Parks that such sentences are unconstitutional for those 18 or under.
McCarty v. Arkansas State Plant Board
Ruled statute permitting private entities to appoint members to a governmental board was an unconstitutional delegation of legislative appointment power
In re Childers-Gray
Ruled that adjudication of sex-change petitions is within the judicial power, and does not violate the constitution's separation of powers clause or present a nonjusticiable political question
Protect the Adirondacks! Inc. v. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Ruled that state's plan to construct community connector trails designed for snowmobile use in the state's forest violated constitution's "forever wild" clause
State v. Patel
Ruled statute’s limitation on victim’s restitution award violates right to receive restitution in the full amount of economic loss or injury caused by a defendant's criminal conduct
In re Monschke
Ruled that mandatory LWOP sentence under aggravated murder statute is unconstitutional as applied to 19- and 20-year old defendants
Tillman v. Goodpasture
Ruled that statute abolishing wrongful birth tort did not violate rights to jury trial and legal remedy, as both rights apply only to common-law claims existing at the time of their adoption
Commonwealth v. Eid
Ruled that absence of a maximum term rendered sentencing provision in statute related to driving under a suspended license unconstitutionally vague
Commonwealth v. Hairston
Ruled that death penalty does not violate prohibition on cruel punishment, and right to effective assistance of counsel was not violated by failure to object to jury verdict that did not track relevant statutory language
State v. Vega-Larregui
Ruled that court's order authorizing virtual grand jury presentations, in response to the pandemic, did not violate separation of powers or the right to indictment by grand jury
People v. Pagano
Concurrence wrote that court should depart from federal Fourth Amendment precedent to retain the requirement that an anonymous tip be reliable both in its assertion of illegality and in its tendency to identify a determinant person
