Ronald W. Rosenberger, et al. v. Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia et al.

Decided June 29, 1995. Anthony McLeod Kennedy delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 94-329 · 515 U.S. 819 (1995) · Cited 1,827 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.

• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District · 508 U.S. 384 (1993)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind · 474 U.S. 481 (1986)
• Bowen v. Kendrick · 487 U.S. 589 (1988)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District · 509 U.S. 1 (1993)
• Board of Ed. of Westside Community Schools (Dist. 66) v. Mergens · 496 U.S. 226 (1990)
• Mueller v. Allen · 463 U.S. 388 (1983)
• Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Washington · 461 U.S. 540 (1983)
• Tilton v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 672 (1971)
• Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. · 473 U.S. 788 (1985)
• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist · 413 U.S. 756 (1973)
• Roemer v. Board of Public Works of Md. · 426 U.S. 736 (1976)
• Rust v. Sullivan · 500 U.S. 173 (1991)
• School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball · 473 U.S. 373 (1985)
• Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet · 512 U.S. 687 (1994)
• Hunt v. McNair · 413 U.S. 734 (1973)
• Ward v. Rock Against Racism · 491 U.S. 781 (1989)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Abood v. Detroit Board of Education · 431 U.S. 209 (1977)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Board of Ed. of Central School Dist. No. 1 v. Allen · 392 U.S. 236 (1968)
• Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock · 489 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier · 484 U.S. 260 (1988)
• Engel v. Vitale · 370 U.S. 421 (1962)

Cited by

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

• National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley · 524 U.S. 569 (1998)
• Mitchell v. Helms · 530 U.S. 793 (2000)
• Good News Club v. Milford Central School · 533 U.S. 98 (2001)
• Matal v. Tam · 582 U.S. 218 (2017)
• Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez · 561 U.S. 661 (2010)
• Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System v. Southworth · 529 U.S. 217 (2000)
• Iancu v. Brunetti · 588 U.S. 388 (2019)
• Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez · 531 U.S. 533 (2001)
• Walker v. Texas Div., Sons of Confederate Veterans, Inc. · 576 U.S. 200 (2015)
• Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer · 582 U.S. 449 (2017)
• Reed v. Town of Gilbert · 576 U.S. 155 (2015)
• Shurtleff v. Boston · 596 U.S. 243 (2022)
• United States v. American Library Assn., Inc. · 539 U.S. 194 (2003)
• Manhattan Community Access Corp. v. Halleck · 587 U.S. 802 (2019)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• Vidal v. Elster · 602 U.S. 286 (2024)
• Agostini v. Felton · 521 U.S. 203 (1997)
• Wood v. Moss · 572 U.S. 744 (2014)
• Garcetti v. Ceballos · 547 U.S. 410 (2006)
• Pleasant Grove City v. Summum · 555 U.S. 460 (2009)
• Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes · 523 U.S. 666 (1998)
• Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow · 542 U.S. 1 (2004)
• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe · 530 U.S. 290 (2000)
• Morse v. Frederick · 551 U.S. 393 (2007)
• Zelman v. Simmons-Harris · 536 U.S. 639 (2002)
• Locke v. Davey · 540 U.S. 712 (2004)
• Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Comm'n · 584 U.S. 617 (2018)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue · 591 U.S. 464 (2020)
• Barr v. American Assn. of Political Consultants, Inc. · 591 U.S. 610 (2020)
• Van Orden v. Perry · 545 U.S. 677 (2005)

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).