Susan Tave Zelman, Superintendent of Public Instruction of Ohio, et al. v. Doris Simmons-Harris et al.

Decided June 27, 2002. William Hubbs Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 00-1751 · 536 U.S. 639 (2002) · Cited 320 times

Holding

The program does not offend the Establishment Clause.

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 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.

• Mitchell v. Helms · 530 U.S. 793 (2000)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Mueller v. Allen · 463 U.S. 388 (1983)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist · 413 U.S. 756 (1973)
• Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind · 474 U.S. 481 (1986)
• Agostini v. Felton · 521 U.S. 203 (1997)
• Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District · 509 U.S. 1 (1993)
• Board of Ed. of Central School Dist. No. 1 v. Allen · 392 U.S. 236 (1968)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Meek v. Pittenger · 421 U.S. 349 (1975)
• School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball · 473 U.S. 373 (1985)
• Wolman v. Walter · 433 U.S. 229 (1977)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Engel v. Vitale · 370 U.S. 421 (1962)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Plessy v. Ferguson · 163 U.S. 537 (1896)
• Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette · 515 U.S. 753 (1995)
• Tilton v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 672 (1971)
• Troxel v. Granville · 530 U.S. 57 (2000)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Gitlow v. New York · 268 U.S. 652 (1925)
• Regan v. Taxation With Representation of Washington · 461 U.S. 540 (1983)
• Edwards v. Aguillard · 482 U.S. 578 (1987)
• Illinois Ex Rel. McCollum v. Board of Ed. of School Dist. No. 71, Champaign Cty. · 333 U.S. 203 (1948)

Cited by

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

• Van Orden v. Perry · 545 U.S. 677 (2005)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue · 591 U.S. 464 (2020)
• Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer · 582 U.S. 449 (2017)
• Carson v. Makin · 596 U.S. 767 (2022)
• American Legion v. American Humanist Assn. · 588 U.S. 29 (2019)
• Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow · 542 U.S. 1 (2004)
• Hein v. Freedom From Religion Foundation, Inc. · 551 U.S. 587 (2007)
• Town of Greece v. Galloway · 572 U.S. 565 (2014)
• McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Ky. · 545 U.S. 844 (2005)
• Shurtleff v. Boston · 596 U.S. 243 (2022)
• Cutter v. Wilkinson · 544 U.S. 709 (2005)
• Locke v. Davey · 540 U.S. 712 (2004)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2002). 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).