Wisconsin v. Yoder

Notable Items:

Petitioner: State of Wisconsin
Respondent: Jonas Yoder, Wallace Miller, and Adin Yutzy
Venue: Supreme Court of the United States
Opinion of the Court: Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

Issue(s) Before the Court:

Does Wisconsin's compulsory school attendance law impinge upon the Free Exercise of Religion?

Petitioner's Claim(s):

Wisconsin's compulsory school attendance law required them to cause their children to attend public or private school until reaching age 16.

Respondent's Claim(s):

... compulsory attendance law violated their rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
... their children's attendance at high school, public or private, was contrary to the Amish religion and way of life.

Holding(s) and Disposition:

Held: We affirm the judgment of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin.
Disposition:

Material Facts:

Wisconsin's compulsory school attendance law required them to cause their children to attend public or private school until reaching age 16.
... respondents declined to send their children, ages 14 and 15, to public school after they completed the eighth grade.
The children were not enrolled in any private school, or within any recognized exception to the compulsory attendance law ....
A full recounting of the facts is available below
A majority of the [Wisconsin Supreme] court was of the opinion that the State had failed to make an adequate showing that its interest in "establishing and maintaining an educational system overrides the defendants' right to the free exercise of their religion."

Procedural History:

On complaint of the school district administrator for the public schools, respondents were charged, tried, and convicted of violating the compulsory attendance law ....
... the trial court ... denied the motion to dismiss the charges.
The Wisconsin Circuit Court affirmed the convictions.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court, however, sustained respondents' claim under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, and reversed the convictions.
Wisconsin Supreme Court holding that respondents' convictions ... were invalid ....
A majority of the [Wisconsin Supreme] court was of the opinion that the State had failed to make an adequate showing that its interest in "establishing and maintaining an educational system overrides the defendants' right to the free exercise of their religion."
we granted the writ of certiorari

Rationale

Majority Opinion (Burger, Brennan, Stewart, White, Marshall, Blackmun)

A full description of the rationale is available below

Stewart Concurrance (Brennan)

White Concurrance (Brennan, Stewart)

Douglas Dissenting in Part

[Let the Child Decide]
And if an Amish child desires to attend high school, and is mature enough to have that desire respected, the State may well be able to override the parents' religiously motivated objections.
Recent cases, however, have clearly held that the children themselves have constitutionally protectible interests.
It is the future of the student, not the future of the parents, that is imperiled by today's decision.
Action which the Court deemed to be antisocial could be punished even though it was grounded on deeply held and sincere religious convictions.
The court below brushed aside the students' interests with the offhand comment that, "[w]hen a child reaches the age of judgment, he can choose for himself his religion."

Full Recounting of Facts

Wisconsin's compulsory school attendance law required them to cause their children to attend public or private school until reaching age 16.
... respondents declined to send their children, ages 14 and 15, to public school after they completed the eighth grade.
The children were not enrolled in any private school, or within any recognized exception to the compulsory attendance law ....
On complaint of the school district administrator for the public schools, respondents were charged, tried, and convicted of violating the compulsory attendance law ....
... their children's attendance at high school, public or private, was contrary to the Amish religion and way of life.
... the trial court ... denied the motion to dismiss the charges.
A list of the material facts is available above

Majority Full Argument

[Section I: Balancing]
Thus, a State's interest in universal education, ..., is not totally free from a balancing process when it impinges on fundamental rights and interests, ... Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment, and the traditional interest of parents with respect to the religious upbringing of their children ....
The invalidation of financial aid to parochial schools by government grants for a salary subsidy for teachers Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U. S. 602 (1971); Tilton v. Richardson, 403 U. S. 672 (1971). See also Everson v. Board of Education, 330 U. S. 1, 330 U. S. 18 (1947).
... only those interests of the highest order and those not otherwise served can overbalance legitimate claims to the free exercise of religion. Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U. S. 398 (1963); McGowan v. Maryland, 366 U. S. 420, 366 U. S. 459 (1961)
[Section II: ]
[Section III: ]
[Section IV: ]
[Section V: ]
... the First and Fourteenth Amendments prevent the State from compelling respondents to cause their children to attend formal high school to age 16.
... there is no basis for assuming that, in this related context, reasonable standards cannot be established concerning the content of the continuing vocational education of Amish children under parental guidance ...
Affirmed.
The core of the rationale is available above