Widmar et al. v. Vincent et al.

Decided December 8, 1981. Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 80-689 · 454 U.S. 263 (1981) · Cited 1,319 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 8–1.

“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.

• Healy v. James · 408 U.S. 169 (1972)
• Tilton v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 672 (1971)
• Heffron v. International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Inc. · 452 U.S. 640 (1981)
• Niemotko v. Maryland · 340 U.S. 268 (1951)
• Sweezy v. New Hampshire Ex Rel. Wyman · 354 U.S. 234 (1957)
• Saia v. New York · 334 U.S. 558 (1948)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist · 413 U.S. 756 (1973)
• Hunt v. McNair · 413 U.S. 734 (1973)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Regents of the University of California v. Bakke · 438 U.S. 265 (1978)
• Police Dept. of Chicago v. Mosley · 408 U.S. 92 (1972)
• Cox v. Louisiana · 379 U.S. 536 (1965)
• Carey v. Brown · 447 U.S. 455 (1980)
• Illinois State Board of Elections v. Socialist Workers Party · 440 U.S. 173 (1979)
• Stone v. Graham · 449 U.S. 39 (1980)
• Roemer v. Board of Public Works of Md. · 426 U.S. 736 (1976)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Regan · 444 U.S. 646 (1980)
• Grayned v. City of Rockford · 408 U.S. 104 (1972)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Shelton v. Tucker · 364 U.S. 479 (1960)
• Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division · 450 U.S. 707 (1981)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Southeastern Promotions, Ltd. v. Conrad · 420 U.S. 546 (1975)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• Zorach v. Clauson · 343 U.S. 306 (1952)
• Engel v. Vitale · 370 U.S. 421 (1962)

Cited by

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

• Edwards v. Aguillard · 482 U.S. 578 (1987)
• Board of Ed. of Westside Community Schools (Dist. 66) v. Mergens · 496 U.S. 226 (1990)
• Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette · 515 U.S. 753 (1995)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Good News Club v. Milford Central School · 533 U.S. 98 (2001)
• Bender v. Williamsport Area School District · 475 U.S. 534 (1986)
• Christian Legal Soc. Chapter of Univ. of Cal., Hastings College of Law v. Martinez · 561 U.S. 661 (2010)
• Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. · 473 U.S. 788 (1985)
• Perry Education Ass'n v. Perry Local Educators' Ass'n · 460 U.S. 37 (1983)
• Arkansas Educational Television Commission v. Forbes · 523 U.S. 666 (1998)
• Mueller v. Allen · 463 U.S. 388 (1983)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue · 591 U.S. 464 (2020)
• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District · 508 U.S. 384 (1993)
• Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer · 582 U.S. 449 (2017)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• Minnesota State Board for Community Colleges v. Knight · 465 U.S. 271 (1984)
• Denver Area Educational Telecommunications Consortium, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission · 518 U.S. 727 (1996)
• Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier · 484 U.S. 260 (1988)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• United States v. Kokinda · 497 U.S. 720 (1990)
• Mitchell v. Helms · 530 U.S. 793 (2000)
• Marsh v. Chambers · 463 U.S. 783 (1983)
• Bowen v. Kendrick · 487 U.S. 589 (1988)
• 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)
• Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District · 509 U.S. 1 (1993)
• Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock · 489 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Zelman v. Simmons-Harris · 536 U.S. 639 (2002)
• Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist. · 597 U.S. 507 (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).