Wisconsin v. Yoder

Petitioner

State of Wisconsin

Respondents

Jonas Yoder, Wallace Miller, Adin Yutzy

Petitioner's Claim

That three Amish parents violated state educational requirements by refusing to send their children to public school past the eighth grade.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

John W. Calhoun

Chief Lawyer for Respondents

William B. Ball

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., Warren E. Burger (writing for the Court), Thurgood Marshall, Potter Stewart, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

William O. Douglas (Lewis F. Powell, Jr., and William H. Rehnquist did not participate)

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

15 May 1972

Decision

That the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment exempted the Amish parents on religious grounds from obeying the state law.

Related Cases

• Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145 (1879).
• Meyer v. Nebraska, 262 U.S. 390 (1923).
• Pierce v. Society of Sisters, 268 U.S. 510 (1925).
• Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U.S. 296 (1940).

Sources

Fishman, Andrea R. "Worlds Together, Worlds Apart."Phi Delta Kappan, January 1996.