City of Boerne v. P. F. Flores, Archbishop of San Antonio, and United States

Decided June 25, 1997. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 95-2074 · 521 U.S. 507 (1997) · Cited 1,926 times

Holding

RFRA exceeds Congress’ power.

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. 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.

• Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith · 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
• Oregon v. Mitchell · 400 U.S. 112 (1970)
• Katzenbach v. Morgan · 384 U.S. 641 (1966)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• City of Rome v. United States · 446 U.S. 156 (1980)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• South Carolina v. Katzenbach · 383 U.S. 301 (1966)
• Civil Rights Cases · 109 U.S. 3 (1883)
• Wisconsin v. Yoder · 406 U.S. 205 (1972)
• United States v. Lee · 455 U.S. 252 (1982)
• Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n of Fla. · 480 U.S. 136 (1987)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Washington v. Davis · 426 U.S. 229 (1976)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division · 450 U.S. 707 (1981)
• Fitzpatrick v. Bitzer · 427 U.S. 445 (1976)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena · 515 U.S. 200 (1995)
• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Helvering v. Hallock · 309 U.S. 106 (1940)
• United States v. Price · 383 U.S. 787 (1966)
• Hernandez v. Commissioner · 490 U.S. 680 (1989)
• Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States · 379 U.S. 241 (1964)
• Ex Parte Virginia · 100 U.S. 339 (1880)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Fullilove v. Klutznick · 448 U.S. 448 (1980)
• United States v. Guest · 383 U.S. 745 (1966)
• Gillette v. United States · 401 U.S. 437 (1971)
• United States v. REESE · 92 U.S. 214 (1876)
• Lassiter v. Northampton County Board of Elections · 360 U.S. 45 (1959)

Cited by

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

• Tennessee v. Lane · 541 U.S. 509 (2004)
• Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board v. College Savings Bank · 527 U.S. 627 (1999)
• Nevada Department of Human Resources v. Hibbs · 538 U.S. 721 (2003)
• Allen v. Cooper · 589 U.S. 248 (2020)
• Kimel v. Florida Board of Regents · 528 U.S. 62 (2000)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Board of Trustees of Univ. of Ala. v. Garrett · 531 U.S. 356 (2001)
• United States v. Morrison · 529 U.S. 598 (2000)
• Coleman v. Court of Appeals of Maryland · 566 U.S. 30 (2012)
• Allen v. Milligan · 599 U.S. 1 (2023)
• Trump v. Anderson · 601 U.S. 100 (2024)
• Cutter v. Wilkinson · 544 U.S. 709 (2005)
• Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder · 557 U.S. 193 (2009)
• Shelby County v. Holder · 570 U.S. 529 (2013)
• Alden v. Maine · 527 U.S. 706 (1999)
• Dickerson v. United States · 530 U.S. 428 (2000)
• College Savings Bank v. Florida Prepaid Postsecondary Education Expense Board · 527 U.S. 666 (1999)
• United States v. Georgia · 546 U.S. 151 (2006)
• Horne v. Flores · 557 U.S. 433 (2009)
• Health and Hospital Corporation of Marion Cty. v. Talevski · 599 U.S. 166 (2023)
• Pennsylvania Department of Corrections v. Yeskey · 524 U.S. 206 (1998)
• Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União Do Vegetal · 546 U.S. 418 (2006)
• Good News Club v. Milford Central School · 533 U.S. 98 (2001)
• Sabri v. United States · 541 U.S. 600 (2004)
• Eldred v. Ashcroft · 537 U.S. 186 (2003)
• Tanzin v. Tanvir · 592 U.S. 43 (2020)
• Ramirez v. Collier · 595 U.S. 411 (2022)
• Free Speech Coalition, Inc. v. Paxton · 606 U.S. 461 (2025)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1997). 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).