Board of Education of the Westside Community Schools, Etc., et al. v. Bridget C. Mergens, by and Through Her Next Friend, Daniel N. Mergens, et al.

Decided June 4, 1990. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 88-1597 · 496 U.S. 226 (1990) · Cited 566 times

We don’t yet publish a summary of this opinion — read the official text below for the Court’s holding and reasoning.

How the Justices voted

Decided 8–1.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier · 484 U.S. 260 (1988)
• Edwards v. Aguillard · 482 U.S. 578 (1987)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Illinois Ex Rel. McCollum v. Board of Ed. of School Dist. No. 71, Champaign Cty. · 333 U.S. 203 (1948)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Bender v. Williamsport Area School District · 475 U.S. 534 (1986)
• Bethel School District No. 403 v. Fraser · 478 U.S. 675 (1986)
• United States v. James · 478 U.S. 597 (1986)
• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Amos · 483 U.S. 327 (1987)
• Board of Ed., Island Trees Union Free School Dist. No. 26 v. Pico · 457 U.S. 853 (1982)
• Mallard v. United States Dist. Court for Southern Dist. of Iowa · 490 U.S. 296 (1989)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Meyer v. Nebraska · 262 U.S. 390 (1923)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. · 473 U.S. 788 (1985)
• Keyishian v. Board of Regents of Univ. of State of NY · 385 U.S. 589 (1967)
• Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist · 413 U.S. 756 (1973)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Catholic Bishop · 440 U.S. 490 (1979)
• Pavelic & LeFlore v. Marvel Entertainment Group, Div. of Cadence Industries Corp. · 493 U.S. 120 (1989)
• Tony and Susan Alamo Foundation v. Secretary of Labor · 471 U.S. 290 (1985)
• Rostker v. Goldberg · 453 U.S. 57 (1981)
• Walters v. National Assn. of Radiation Survivors · 473 U.S. 305 (1985)
• Stone v. Graham · 449 U.S. 39 (1980)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette · 515 U.S. 753 (1995)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Good News Club v. Milford Central School · 533 U.S. 98 (2001)
• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe · 530 U.S. 290 (2000)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue · 591 U.S. 464 (2020)
• Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc. · 547 U.S. 47 (2006)
• Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist. · 597 U.S. 507 (2022)
• Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez · 561 U.S. 661 (2010)
• Agostini v. Felton · 521 U.S. 203 (1997)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement v. Johnson Controls, Inc. · 499 U.S. 187 (1991)
• Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District · 509 U.S. 1 (1993)
• Shurtleff v. Boston · 596 U.S. 243 (2022)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: the U.S. Reports via govinfo.gov; authoring Justice and vote lineup from the Supreme Court Database (Washington University). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).