Wisconsin v. Yoder et al.

Decided May 15, 1972. Warren Earl Burger delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 70-110 · 406 U.S. 205 (1972) · Cited 3,250 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 7–0.

“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.

• Prince v. Massachusetts · 321 U.S. 158 (1944)
• Sherbert v. Verner · 374 U.S. 398 (1963)
• Reynolds v. United States · 98 U.S. 145 (1879)
• Meyer v. Nebraska · 262 U.S. 390 (1923)
• West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette · 319 U.S. 624 (1943)
• Welsh v. United States · 398 U.S. 333 (1970)
• Braunfeld v. Brown · 366 U.S. 599 (1961)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Jacobson v. Massachusetts · 197 U.S. 11 (1905)
• United States v. Seeger · 380 U.S. 163 (1965)
• Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District · 393 U.S. 503 (1969)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• United States v. Ballard · 322 U.S. 78 (1944)
• In Re WINSHIP · 397 U.S. 358 (1970)
• In Re GAULT · 387 U.S. 1 (1967)
• Brown v. Board of Education · 347 U.S. 483 (1954)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Eisenstadt v. Baird · 405 U.S. 438 (1972)
• Schneider v. State (Town of Irvington) · 308 U.S. 147 (1939)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• Ginsberg v. New York · 390 U.S. 629 (1968)
• Haley v. Ohio · 332 U.S. 596 (1948)
• Martin v. City of Struthers · 319 U.S. 141 (1943)
• Gillette v. United States · 401 U.S. 437 (1971)
• Tilton v. Richardson · 403 U.S. 672 (1971)
• Rowan v. United States Post Office Department · 397 U.S. 728 (1970)
• Cleveland v. United States · 329 U.S. 14 (1946)

Cited by

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

• Mahmoud v. Taylor · 606 U.S. 522 (2025)
• Employment Div., Dept. of Human Resources of Ore. v. Smith · 494 U.S. 872 (1990)
• Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
• Lyng v. Northwest Indian Cemetery Protective Assn. · 485 U.S. 439 (1988)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue · 591 U.S. 464 (2020)
• Troxel v. Granville · 530 U.S. 57 (2000)
• McDaniel v. Paty · 435 U.S. 618 (1978)
• Bowen v. Roy · 476 U.S. 693 (1986)
• Fulton v. Philadelphia · 593 U.S. 522 (2021)
• Moore v. City of East Cleveland · 431 U.S. 494 (1977)
• Thomas v. Review Board of the Indiana Employment Security Division · 450 U.S. 707 (1981)
• Parham v. J. R. · 442 U.S. 584 (1979)
• United States v. Lee · 455 U.S. 252 (1982)
• Gonzales v. O Centro Espírita Beneficente União Do Vegetal · 546 U.S. 418 (2006)
• Goldman v. Weinberger · 475 U.S. 503 (1986)
• San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez · 411 U.S. 1 (1973)
• Plyler v. Doe · 457 U.S. 202 (1982)
• City of Boerne v. Flores · 521 U.S. 507 (1997)
• Bob Jones University v. United States · 461 U.S. 574 (1983)
• H. L. v. Matheson · 450 U.S. 398 (1981)
• Hodgson v. Minnesota · 497 U.S. 417 (1990)
• Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer · 582 U.S. 449 (2017)
• Runyon v. McCrary · 427 U.S. 160 (1976)
• Johnson v. Robison · 415 U.S. 361 (1974)
• Smith v. Organization of Foster Families for Equality & Reform · 431 U.S. 816 (1977)
• Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow · 542 U.S. 1 (2004)
• Federal Communications Commission v. Pacifica Foundation · 438 U.S. 726 (1978)
• Hobbie v. Unemployment Appeals Comm'n of Fla. · 480 U.S. 136 (1987)
• Kadrmas v. Dickinson Public Schools · 487 U.S. 450 (1988)
• Ambach v. Norwick · 441 U.S. 68 (1979)

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).