Zorach et al. v. Clauson et al., Constituting the Board of Education of the City of New York, et al.

Decided April 28, 1952. William Orville Douglas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 431 · 343 U.S. 306 (1952) · Cited 831 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 6–3.

“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.

• Illinois Ex Rel. McCollum v. Board of Ed. of School Dist. No. 71, Champaign Cty. · 333 U.S. 203 (1948)
• Cantwell v. Connecticut · 310 U.S. 296 (1940)
• Everson v. Board of Ed. of Ewing · 330 U.S. 1 (1947)
• Brown v. Western R. Co. of Ala. · 338 U.S. 294 (1949)
• Stromberg v. California · 283 U.S. 359 (1931)
• Murdock v. Pennsylvania · 319 U.S. 105 (1943)
• Doremus v. Board of Ed. of Hawthorne · 342 U.S. 429 (1952)
• American Surety Co. v. Baldwin · 287 U.S. 156 (1932)
• Chastleton Corp. v. Sinclair · 264 U.S. 543 (1924)

Cited by

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

• Lynch v. Donnelly · 465 U.S. 668 (1984)
• Board of Ed. of Kiryas Joel Village School Dist. v. Grumet · 512 U.S. 687 (1994)
• Walz v. Tax Comm'n of City of New York · 397 U.S. 664 (1970)
• Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock · 489 U.S. 1 (1989)
• Welsh v. United States · 398 U.S. 333 (1970)
• School District of Grand Rapids v. Ball · 473 U.S. 373 (1985)
• Meek v. Pittenger · 421 U.S. 349 (1975)
• Van Orden v. Perry · 545 U.S. 677 (2005)
• Torcaso v. Watkins · 367 U.S. 488 (1961)
• Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist. · 597 U.S. 507 (2022)
• Lemon v. Kurtzman · 403 U.S. 602 (1971)
• Bender v. Williamsport Area School District · 475 U.S. 534 (1986)
• County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union · 492 U.S. 573 (1989)
• Wallace v. Jaffree · 472 U.S. 38 (1985)
• Marsh v. Chambers · 463 U.S. 783 (1983)
• McCreary County v. American Civil Liberties Union of Ky. · 545 U.S. 844 (2005)
• Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow · 542 U.S. 1 (2004)
• Espinoza v. Montana Dept. of Revenue · 591 U.S. 464 (2020)
• McGowan v. Maryland · 366 U.S. 420 (1961)
• Lee v. Weisman · 505 U.S. 577 (1992)
• Larson v. Valente · 456 U.S. 228 (1982)
• Committee for Public Education & Religious Liberty v. Nyquist · 413 U.S. 756 (1973)
• Engel v. Vitale · 370 U.S. 421 (1962)
• Gillette v. United States · 401 U.S. 437 (1971)
• McDaniel v. Paty · 435 U.S. 618 (1978)
• Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pa. v. Casey · 505 U.S. 833 (1992)
• Agostini v. Felton · 521 U.S. 203 (1997)
• Widmar v. Vincent · 454 U.S. 263 (1981)
• Trammel v. United States · 445 U.S. 40 (1980)
• Epperson v. Arkansas · 393 U.S. 97 (1968)

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).