Wisconsin v. Yoder
E5192
First Amendment case
U.S. Supreme Court case
compulsory education case
landmark case
religious freedom case
Wisconsin v. Yoder is a landmark 1972 U.S. Supreme Court case that held compulsory school attendance laws could not be applied in a way that violated Amish parents’ religious freedom.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed convictions of Amish parents | 1 |
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
First Amendment case
ⓘ
U.S. Supreme Court case ⓘ compulsory education case ⓘ landmark case ⓘ religious freedom case ⓘ |
| appliedToStatesThrough | Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ |
| citation | 406 U.S. 205 ⓘ |
| concurringOpinionBy |
Lewis F. Powell Jr.
ⓘ
surface form:
Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. (joined later jurisprudentially in related contexts)
Justice William O. Douglas (in part and dissenting in part) ⓘ |
| constitutionalProvision |
First Amendment to the United States Constitution
ⓘ
surface form:
First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Free Exercise Clause ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| court | Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ |
| decisionDate | 1972-05-15 ⓘ |
| educationLevelAtIssue | attendance at public or private high school after eighth grade ⓘ |
| fullName | Wisconsin v. Yoder self-link ⓘ |
| holding |
Compulsory school attendance laws may not be applied in a manner that unduly burdens the free exercise of religion when the state cannot show a sufficiently compelling interest.
ⓘ
Free Exercise Clause ⓘ
surface form:
The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the State of Wisconsin from compelling Amish parents to send their children to formal high school after the eighth grade.
|
| impact |
influenced later statutory protections such as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)
ⓘ
strengthened constitutional protection for religiously motivated objections to generally applicable laws prior to Employment Division v. Smith ⓘ |
| legalIssue |
compulsory school attendance beyond eighth grade
ⓘ
free exercise of religion ⓘ state interest in education ⓘ |
| lowerCourtDisposition |
Wisconsin v. Yoder
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
surface form:
Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed convictions of Amish parents
|
| majorityOpinionBy |
Warren E. Burger
ⓘ
surface form:
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger
|
| originatingStateCourt | Wisconsin Supreme Court ⓘ |
| petitioner |
Wisconsin
ⓘ
surface form:
State of Wisconsin
|
| reasoningKeyPoint |
the Amish community had a long-established, successful alternative mode of vocational and religious education
ⓘ
the marginal benefit of two additional years of formal schooling did not justify the substantial burden on Amish religious practice ⓘ |
| recognizedRight | right of Amish parents to direct the religious upbringing and education of their children ⓘ |
| religiousGroupInvolved |
Amish
ⓘ
surface form:
Conservative Amish Mennonite Church
Amish ⓘ
surface form:
Old Order Amish
|
| respondent |
Adin Yutzy
ⓘ
Jonas Yoder ⓘ Wallace Miller ⓘ |
| standardApplied |
compelling interest test
ⓘ
strict scrutiny ⓘ |
| stateLawChallenged | Wisconsin compulsory school attendance law requiring attendance until age 16 ⓘ |
| subjectMatter |
education law
ⓘ
parental rights ⓘ religious liberty ⓘ |
| SupremeCourtDisposition | Affirmed the judgment of the Wisconsin Supreme Court ⓘ |
| term | 1971 Term ⓘ |
| topic |
U.S. constitutional law
ⓘ
church-state relations ⓘ parental control over education ⓘ |
| vote | 7-0 on the central holding with two Justices not participating in the main opinion structure ⓘ |
Referenced by (10)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Wisconsin Supreme Court reversed convictions of Amish parents
Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division
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relatedCase
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Wisconsin v. Yoder
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