Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind

Decided January 27, 1986. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 84-1070 · 474 U.S. 481 (1986) · Cited 288 times

Holding

On the record, extension of aid under the Washington vocational rehabilitation program to finance petitioner's training at the Christian college would not advance religion in a manner inconsistent with 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 9–0.

“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.

• Mueller v. Allen · 463 U.S. 388 (1983)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist · 413 U.S. 756 (1973)
• School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball · 473 U.S. 373 (1985)
• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Wolman v. Walter · 433 U.S. 229 (1977)
• Sloan v. Lemon · 413 U.S. 825 (1973)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Board of Ed. of Central School Dist. No. 1 v. Allen · 392 U.S. 236 (1968)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Rescue Army v. Municipal Court of Los Angeles · 331 U.S. 549 (1947)
• Meek v. Pittenger · 421 U.S. 349 (1975)
• New Haven Inclusion Cases · 399 U.S. 392 (1970)
• Russell v. Southard · 53 U.S. 139 (1851)

Cited by

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

• Mitchell v. Helms · 530 U.S. 793 (2000)
• Zelman v. Simmons-Harris · 536 U.S. 639 (2002)
• Agostini v. Felton · 521 U.S. 203 (1997)
• Rosenberger v. Rector & Visitors of University of Virginia · 515 U.S. 819 (1995)
• Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District · 509 U.S. 1 (1993)
• Locke v. Davey · 540 U.S. 712 (2004)
• Edwards v. Aguillard · 482 U.S. 578 (1987)
• Capitol Square Review & Advisory Board v. Pinette · 515 U.S. 753 (1995)
• Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet · 512 U.S. 687 (1994)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• Bowen v. Kendrick · 487 U.S. 589 (1988)
• Kansas v. Hendricks · 521 U.S. 346 (1997)
• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)

Official text

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

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1986). 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).