Frazee v. Illinois Department of Employment Security et al.
Decided March 29, 1989. Byron Raymond White delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 87-1945 · 489 U.S. 829 (1989) · Cited 201 times
Holding
The denial of unemployment compensation benefits to appellant on the ground that his refusal to work was not based on tenets or dogma of an established religious sect violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment as applied to the States through the Fourteenth 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 9–0.
Majority · 9
“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.
- Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division · 450 U.S. 707 (1981)
- Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
- Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n of Fla. · 480 U.S. 136 (1987)
- Wisconsin v. Yoder · 406 U.S. 205 (1972)
- United States v. Seeger · 380 U.S. 163 (1965)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
- Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith · 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
- County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
- Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Byron Raymond White’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). 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).