Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty et al. v. Nyquist, Commissioner of Education of New York, et al.

Decided June 25, 1973. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 72-694 · 413 U.S. 756 (1973) · Cited 806 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 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.

• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Board of Ed. of Central School Dist. No. 1 v. Allen · 392 U.S. 236 (1968)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Tilton v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 672 (1971)
• Reuben Quick Bear v. Leupp · 210 U.S. 50 (1908)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• Illinois Ex Rel. McCollum v. Board of Ed. of School Dist. No. 71, Champaign Cty. · 333 U.S. 203 (1948)
• Epperson v. Arkansas · 393 U.S. 97 (1968)
• Zorach v. Clauson · 343 U.S. 306 (1952)
• Engel v. Vitale · 370 U.S. 421 (1962)
• Wisconsin v. Yoder · 406 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Two Guys From Harrison-Allentown, Inc. v. McGinley · 366 U.S. 582 (1961)
• Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market of Massachusetts, Inc. · 366 U.S. 617 (1961)

Cited by

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

• Mueller v. Allen · 463 U.S. 388 (1983)
• Meek v. Pittenger · 421 U.S. 349 (1975)
• Zelman v. Simmons-Harris · 536 U.S. 639 (2002)
• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Mitchell v. Helms · 530 U.S. 793 (2000)
• School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball · 473 U.S. 373 (1985)
• Roemer v. Board of Public Works of Md. · 426 U.S. 736 (1976)
• Wolman v. Walter · 433 U.S. 229 (1977)
• Edwards v. Aguillard · 482 U.S. 578 (1987)
• Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind · 474 U.S. 481 (1986)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue · 591 U.S. 464 (2020)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Bowen v. Kendrick · 487 U.S. 589 (1988)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Regan · 444 U.S. 646 (1980)
• Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division · 450 U.S. 707 (1981)
• Aguilar v. Felton · 473 U.S. 402 (1985)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• Hibbs v. Winn · 542 U.S. 88 (2004)
• Marsh v. Chambers · 463 U.S. 783 (1983)
• Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer · 582 U.S. 449 (2017)
• Agostini v. Felton · 521 U.S. 203 (1997)
• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
• Stone v. Graham · 449 U.S. 39 (1980)
• Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet · 512 U.S. 687 (1994)
• Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District · 509 U.S. 1 (1993)
• Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock · 489 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc. · 459 U.S. 116 (1982)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)

Official text

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

Explore from here

Lewis Franklin Powell Jr.’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

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).