| Wisconsin v. Yoder | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued December 8, 1971 Decided May 15, 1972 | |
| Full case name | State of Wisconsin v. Jonas Yoder, Wallace Miller, and Adin Yutzy |
| Citations | 406 U.S. 205 (more) 92 S. Ct. 1526; 32 L. Ed. 2d 15; 1972 U.S. LEXIS 144 |
| Argument | Oral argument |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Defendants convicted, Green County, Wisconsin Circuit Court; reversed, 182 N.W.2d 539 (Wis. 1971); cert. granted, 402 U.S. 994 (1971). |
| Subsequent | None |
| Holding | |
| The Wisconsin Compulsory School Attendance Law violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment because required attendance past the eighth grade interfered with the right of Amish parents to direct the religious upbringing of their children. Supreme Court of Wisconsin affirmed. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Majority | Burger, joined by Brennan, Stewart, White, Marshall, Blackmun |
| Concurrence | Stewart, joined by Brennan |
| Concurrence | White, joined by Brennan, Stewart |
| Dissent | Douglas |
| Powell and Rehnquist took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amend. I; Wis. Stat. § 118.15 (Wisconsin Compulsory School Attendance Law) | |
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Wisconsin v. Jonas Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972), is the case in which the United States Supreme Court found that Amish children could not be placed under compulsory education past 8th grade. The parents' fundamental right to freedom of religion was determined to outweigh the state's interest in educating their children. The case is often cited as a basis for parents' right to educate their children outside of traditional private or public schools.[1][2]
Like Sherbert v. Verner, the Court in Yoder required the government accommodate religious exercise by applying strict scrutiny to a neutral law that burdened religious exercise.[3] Yoder differs from Sherbert v. Verner because the compulsory school attendance law was non-discriminatory and did not include a mechanism for individualized exemptions. Later, in Employment Division v. Smith Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that Yoder involved a "hybrid right" composed of parental rights and free exercise.[4][5][6]
The Amish, who prevailed in the case, were represented by William Ball.
- ^ "State of WISCONSIN, Petitioner, v. Jonas YODER et al". LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
- ^ "Wisconsin v. Yoder". Oyez. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
- ^ Tribe, Laurence H. (1978). American Constitutional Law. p. 821-866.
American courts certainly do not require—indeed, they do not even permit—government to be totally oblivious to religion; the United States Supreme Court has upheld government action that 'accommodates the public service to...spiritual needs', and has on occasion held such accommodation to be required by the first amendment's free exercise clause.
- ^ Breidenbach, Michael D.; Anderson, Owen (2020). The Cambridge Companion to the First Amendment and Religious Liberty. Cambridge University Press. p. 239. ISBN 978-1-108-41747-1.
- ^ "The Time Has Come to Overrule Wisconsin v. Yoder". Retrieved July 4, 2024.
- ^ "Laws Neutral to Religious Practice from the 1960s through the 1980s". Library of Congress. Retrieved July 4, 2024.