Torcaso v. Watkins | |
---|---|
Argued April 24, 1961 Decided June 19, 1961 | |
Full case name | Torcaso v. Watkins, Clerk |
Citations | 367 U.S. 488 (more) 81 S.Ct. 1680, 6 L. Ed. 2d 982 |
Argument | Oral argument |
Case history | |
Prior | Judgment for respondent, Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Maryland; Judgment affirmed, Court of Appeals of Maryland, 223 Md. 49, 162 A. 2d 438 (1960) |
Subsequent | Reversed and remanded |
Holding | |
State governments cannot require a religious test for public office. | |
Court membership | |
| |
Case opinions | |
Majority | Black, joined by Warren, Douglas, Clark, Brennan, Whittaker, Stewart |
Concurrence | Frankfurter (in the result, no opinion) |
Concurrence | Harlan (in the result, no opinion) |
Laws applied | |
U.S. Constitution Amendments I, XIV |
Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488 (1961), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court reaffirmed that the United States Constitution prohibits states and the federal government from requiring any kind of religious test for public office, in this case as a notary public.