Bob Jones University v. United States

Decided May 24, 1983. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 81-3 · 461 U.S. 574 (1983) · Cited 803 times

Holding

Neither petitioner qualifies as a tax-exempt organization under 501(c)(3).

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

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.

• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Bob Jones University v. Simon · 416 U.S. 725 (1974)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Wisconsin v. Yoder · 406 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Runyon v. McCrary · 427 U.S. 160 (1976)
• United States v. Lee · 455 U.S. 252 (1982)
• Commissioner v. Tellier · 383 U.S. 687 (1966)
• Norwood v. Harrison · 413 U.S. 455 (1973)
• Commissioner v. Portland Cement Co. of Utah · 450 U.S. 156 (1981)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Prince v. Massachusetts · 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
• Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division · 450 U.S. 707 (1981)
• Plessy v. Ferguson · 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
• Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Curran · 456 U.S. 353 (1982)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Catholic Bishop · 440 U.S. 490 (1979)
• Gillette v. United States · 401 U.S. 437 (1971)
• Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co. · 158 U.S. 601 (1895)
• Tank Truck Rentals, Inc. v. Commissioner · 356 U.S. 30 (1958)
• United States v. Wise · 370 U.S. 405 (1962)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Loving v. Virginia · 388 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Reynolds v. United States · 98 U.S. 145 (1879)
• Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. Federal Communications Commission · 395 U.S. 367 (1969)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Harris v. McRae · 448 U.S. 297 (1980)
• Herman & MacLean v. Huddleston · 459 U.S. 375 (1983)
• Cooper v. Aaron · 358 U.S. 1 (1958)
• Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan · 458 U.S. 718 (1982)

Cited by

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

• Bowen v. Roy · 476 U.S. 693 (1986)
• Allen v. Wright · 468 U.S. 737 (1984)
• Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock · 489 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Immigration & Naturalization Service v. Chadha · 462 U.S. 919 (1983)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• Kimbrough v. United States · 552 U.S. 85 (2007)
• Patterson v. McLean Credit Union · 491 U.S. 164 (1989)
• Food & Drug Administration v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp. · 529 U.S. 120 (2000)
• Hernandez v. Commissioner · 490 U.S. 680 (1989)
• Lindahl v. Office of Personnel Management · 470 U.S. 768 (1985)
• Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Assn. of United States, Inc. v. State Farm Mut. Automobile Ins. Co. · 463 U.S. 29 (1983)
• Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith · 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
• City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co. · 488 U.S. 469 (1989)
• Schweiker v. Chilicky · 487 U.S. 412 (1988)
• Department of the Interior v. Klamath Water Users Protective Ass'n · 532 U.S. 1 (2001)
• United States v. Virginia · 518 U.S. 515 (1996)
• United States v. Riverside Bayview Homes, Inc. · 474 U.S. 121 (1985)
• Guardians Assn. v. Civil Serv. Comm'n of New York City · 463 U.S. 582 (1983)
• Cardinal Chemical Co. v. Morton International, Inc. · 508 U.S. 83 (1993)
• Carchman v. Nash · 473 U.S. 716 (1985)
• Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. United States Army Corps of Engineers · 531 U.S. 159 (2001)
• Heckler v. Mathews · 465 U.S. 728 (1984)
• Rapanos v. United States · 547 U.S. 715 (2006)
• Traynor v. Turnage · 485 U.S. 535 (1988)
• Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez · 561 U.S. 661 (2010)
• Jimmy Swaggart Ministries v. Board of Equalization of California · 493 U.S. 378 (1990)
• Dickman v. Commissioner · 465 U.S. 330 (1984)
• Secretary of the Interior v. California · 464 U.S. 312 (1984)
• United States v. Providence Journal Co. · 485 U.S. 693 (1988)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1983). 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).