Walz v. Tax Commission of the City of New York

Decided May 4, 1970. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 135 · 397 U.S. 664 (1970) · Cited 1,430 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 7–1.

“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)
• Zorach v. Clauson · 343 U.S. 306 (1952)
• Engel v. Vitale · 370 U.S. 421 (1962)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Torcaso v. Watkins · 367 U.S. 488 (1961)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Presbyterian Church in US v. Mary Elizabeth Blue Hull Memorial Presbyterian Church · 393 U.S. 440 (1969)
• Illinois Ex Rel. McCollum v. Board of Ed. of School Dist. No. 71, Champaign Cty. · 333 U.S. 203 (1948)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• Grosjean v. American Press Co. · 297 U.S. 233 (1936)
• Board of Ed. of Central School Dist. No. 1 v. Allen · 392 U.S. 236 (1968)
• A. Magnano Co. v. Hamilton · 292 U.S. 40 (1934)
• Jackman v. Rosenbaum Co. · 260 U.S. 22 (1922)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Flast v. Cohen · 392 U.S. 83 (1968)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Meyer v. Nebraska · 262 U.S. 390 (1923)
• Roth v. United States · 354 U.S. 476 (1957)
• Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. Chicago · 166 U.S. 226 (1897)
• Gitlow v. New York · 268 U.S. 652 (1925)
• Braunfeld v. Brown · 366 U.S. 599 (1961)
• Bell's Gap Railroad v. Pennsylvania · 134 U.S. 232 (1890)
• Hamilton v. Regents of the University of California · 293 U.S. 245 (1934)
• Maryland & Virginia Eldership of the Churches of God v. Church of God at Sharpsburg, Inc. · 396 U.S. 367 (1970)

Cited by

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

• Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock · 489 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist · 413 U.S. 756 (1973)
• Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer · 582 U.S. 449 (2017)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue · 591 U.S. 464 (2020)
• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Carson v. Makin · 596 U.S. 767 (2022)
• Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet · 512 U.S. 687 (1994)
• Marsh v. Chambers · 463 U.S. 783 (1983)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints v. Amos · 483 U.S. 327 (1987)
• Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison · 520 U.S. 564 (1997)
• Mitchell v. Helms · 530 U.S. 793 (2000)
• Larson v. Valente · 456 U.S. 228 (1982)
• Gillette v. United States · 401 U.S. 437 (1971)
• Jimmy Swaggart Ministries v. Board of Equalization of California · 493 U.S. 378 (1990)
• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
• Edwards v. Aguillard · 482 U.S. 578 (1987)
• Bob Jones University v. United States · 461 U.S. 574 (1983)
• Mueller v. Allen · 463 U.S. 388 (1983)
• Roemer v. Board of Public Works of Md. · 426 U.S. 736 (1976)
• Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division · 450 U.S. 707 (1981)
• Tilton v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 672 (1971)
• McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Ky. · 545 U.S. 844 (2005)
• Bowen v. Kendrick · 487 U.S. 589 (1988)
• School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball · 473 U.S. 373 (1985)
• Larkin v. Grendel's Den, Inc. · 459 U.S. 116 (1982)
• Aguilar v. Felton · 473 U.S. 402 (1985)

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).