Sherbert v. Verner et al., Members of South Carolina Employment Security Commission, et al.

Decided June 17, 1963. William Joseph Brennan Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 526 · 374 U.S. 398 (1963) · Cited 2,650 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 7–2.

“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.

• Braunfeld v. Brown · 366 U.S. 599 (1961)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Speiser v. Randall · 357 U.S. 513 (1958)
• Flemming v. Nestor · 363 U.S. 603 (1960)
• Engel v. Vitale · 370 U.S. 421 (1962)
• Torcaso v. Watkins · 367 U.S. 488 (1961)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Prince v. Massachusetts · 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
• Reynolds v. United States · 98 U.S. 145 (1879)
• Jacobson v. Massachusetts · 197 U.S. 11 (1905)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• American Communications Assn. v. Douds · 339 U.S. 382 (1950)
• Cleveland v. United States · 329 U.S. 14 (1946)
• National Ass'n for the Advancement of Colored People v. Button · 371 U.S. 415 (1963)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Thomas v. Collins · 323 U.S. 516 (1945)
• Smith v. California · 361 U.S. 147 (1959)
• Grosjean v. American Press Co. · 297 U.S. 233 (1936)
• Wieman v. Updegraff · 344 U.S. 183 (1952)
• Martin v. City of Struthers · 319 U.S. 141 (1943)
• United States v. Ballard · 322 U.S. 78 (1944)
• Talley v. California · 362 U.S. 60 (1960)
• Cammarano v. United States · 358 U.S. 498 (1959)
• Fowler v. Rhode Island · 345 U.S. 67 (1953)
• United States v. Schwimmer · 279 U.S. 644 (1929)
• Follett v. Town of McCormick · 321 U.S. 573 (1944)
• Hannegan v. Esquire, Inc. · 327 U.S. 146 (1946)
• 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.

• Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith · 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
• Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division · 450 U.S. 707 (1981)
• Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n of Fla. · 480 U.S. 136 (1987)
• Bowen v. Roy · 476 U.S. 693 (1986)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue · 591 U.S. 464 (2020)
• McDaniel v. Paty · 435 U.S. 618 (1978)
• Wisconsin v. Yoder · 406 U.S. 205 (1972)
• Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Assn. · 485 U.S. 439 (1988)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• Welsh v. United States · 398 U.S. 333 (1970)
• Maher v. Roe · 432 U.S. 464 (1977)
• Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União Do Vegetal · 546 U.S. 418 (2006)
• Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer · 582 U.S. 449 (2017)
• City of Boerne v. Flores · 521 U.S. 507 (1997)
• Johnson v. Robison · 415 U.S. 361 (1974)
• Wyman v. James · 400 U.S. 309 (1971)
• Goldman v. Weinberger · 475 U.S. 503 (1986)
• Harris v. McRae · 448 U.S. 297 (1980)
• United States v. Lee · 455 U.S. 252 (1982)
• Elrod v. Burns · 427 U.S. 347 (1976)
• United States v. O'Brien · 391 U.S. 367 (1968)
• California v. LaRue · 409 U.S. 109 (1972)
• District of Columbia v. Heller · 554 U.S. 570 (2008)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Hardison · 432 U.S. 63 (1977)
• Wilkie v. Robbins · 551 U.S. 537 (2007)
• Board of Regents of State Colleges v. Roth · 408 U.S. 564 (1972)
• Connick Ex Rel. Parish of Orleans v. Myers · 461 U.S. 138 (1983)

Official text

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

Explore from here

William Joseph Brennan 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).