Rachel Agostini, et al. v. Betty-Louise Felton et al.

Decided June 23, 1997. Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 96-552 · 521 U.S. 203 (1997) · Cited 1,924 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 5–4.

“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.

• Aguilar v. Felton · 473 U.S. 402 (1985)
• Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District · 509 U.S. 1 (1993)
• School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball · 473 U.S. 373 (1985)
• Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind · 474 U.S. 481 (1986)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Meek v. Pittenger · 421 U.S. 349 (1975)
• Rufo v. Inmates of Suffolk County Jail · 502 U.S. 367 (1992)
• Wolman v. Walter · 433 U.S. 229 (1977)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Bowen v. Kendrick · 487 U.S. 589 (1988)
• Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet · 512 U.S. 687 (1994)
• Browder v. Director, Dept. of Corrections of Ill. · 434 U.S. 257 (1978)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• Rodriguez De Quijas v. Shearson/American Express, Inc. · 490 U.S. 477 (1989)
• System Federation No. 91 v. Wright · 364 U.S. 642 (1961)
• Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp. · 496 U.S. 384 (1990)
• Payne v. Tennessee · 501 U.S. 808 (1991)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Pena · 515 U.S. 200 (1995)
• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist · 413 U.S. 756 (1973)
• Burnet v. Coronado Oil & Gas Co. · 285 U.S. 393 (1932)
• Board of Ed. of Central School Dist. No. 1 v. Allen · 392 U.S. 236 (1968)
• Mueller v. Allen · 463 U.S. 388 (1983)
• Hubbard v. United States · 514 U.S. 695 (1995)
• Bell v. Wolfish · 441 U.S. 520 (1979)
• Teague v. Lane · 489 U.S. 288 (1989)
• Seminole Tribe of Florida v. Florida · 517 U.S. 44 (1996)
• United States v. Gaudin · 515 U.S. 506 (1995)

Cited by

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

• Mitchell v. Helms · 530 U.S. 793 (2000)
• Zelman v. Simmons-Harris · 536 U.S. 639 (2002)
• Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer · 582 U.S. 449 (2017)
• Knick v. Township of Scott · 588 U.S. 180 (2019)
• Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization · 597 U.S. 215 (2022)
• Ramos v. Louisiana · 590 U.S. 83 (2020)
• Gamble v. United States · 587 U.S. 678 (2019)
• Franchise Tax Bd. of Cal. v. Hyatt · 587 U.S. 230 (2019)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue · 591 U.S. 464 (2020)
• Janus v. State, County, and Municipal Employees · 585 U.S. 878 (2018)
• Dickerson v. United States · 530 U.S. 428 (2000)
• Harris v. United States · 536 U.S. 545 (2002)
• National Cable & Telecommunications Assn. v. Brand X Internet Services · 545 U.S. 967 (2005)
• Mitchell v. United States · 526 U.S. 314 (1999)
• Eberhart v. United States · 546 U.S. 12 (2005)
• Horne v. Flores · 557 U.S. 433 (2009)
• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe · 530 U.S. 290 (2000)
• Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo · 603 U.S. 369 (2024)
• Sanchez-Llamas v. Oregon · 548 U.S. 331 (2006)
• Van Orden v. Perry · 545 U.S. 677 (2005)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Carson v. Makin · 596 U.S. 767 (2022)
• BLOM Bank SAL v. Honickman · 605 U.S. 204 (2025)
• Shurtleff v. Boston · 596 U.S. 243 (2022)

Official text

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

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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).