Carson v. Makin

Decided June 21, 2022. John Glover Roberts Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 20-1088 · 596 U.S. 767 (2022) · Cited 53 times

Holding

Maine’s “nonsectarian” requirement for otherwise generally available tuition assistance payments to parents who live in school districts that do not operate a secondary school of their own violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.

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 6–3.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).

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)
• Locke v. Davey · 540 U.S. 712 (2004)
• Cutter v. Wilkinson · 544 U.S. 709 (2005)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Zelman v. Simmons-Harris · 536 U.S. 639 (2002)
• Epperson v. Arkansas · 393 U.S. 97 (1968)
• Engel v. Vitale · 370 U.S. 421 (1962)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• Illinois Ex Rel. McCollum v. Board of Ed. of School Dist. No. 71, Champaign Cty. · 333 U.S. 203 (1948)
• McDaniel v. Paty · 435 U.S. 618 (1978)
• Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Assn. · 485 U.S. 439 (1988)
• Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission · 565 U.S. 171 (2012)
• Plyler v. Doe · 457 U.S. 202 (1982)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Agostini v. Felton · 521 U.S. 203 (1997)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division · 450 U.S. 707 (1981)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Larson v. Valente · 456 U.S. 228 (1982)
• Edwards v. Aguillard · 482 U.S. 578 (1987)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist · 413 U.S. 756 (1973)
• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe · 530 U.S. 290 (2000)
• Van Orden v. Perry · 545 U.S. 677 (2005)
• Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez · 531 U.S. 533 (2001)
• Norwood v. Harrison · 413 U.S. 455 (1973)
• Mitchell v. Helms · 530 U.S. 793 (2000)
• Agency for Int'l Development v. Alliance for Open Society Int'l, Inc. · 570 U.S. 205 (2013)

Cited by

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

• Catholic Charities Bureau, Inc. v. Wisconsin Labor and Industry Review Comm'n. · 605 U.S. 238 (2025)

Official text

Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)

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John Glover Roberts Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2022). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).