Employment Division v. Smith, Supreme Court, 1990 Facts of the Case Alfred Smith and Galen Black, two Native Americans and members of the Native American Church, were fired from their jobs as counselors at a private drug rehabilitation organization because they had ingested peyote, a powerful hallucinogen, as part of a religious ceremony. The Oregon […]

Wisconsin v. Yoder, Supreme Court, 1972 Facts of the Case Three Amish fathers, Jonas Yoder, Wallace Miller, and Adin Yutzy, were prosecuted under a Wisconsin law that required all children to attend public or private school until age 16. The Amish community objected, arguing that high school attendance was contrary to their religious beliefs and […]

Wallace v. Jaffree, Supreme Court, 1985 Facts of the Case In 1981, the Alabama State Legislature passed a law authorizing a one-minute period of silence in all public schools “for meditation or voluntary prayer.” This statute was an amendment to a previous law that allowed for a moment of silence for meditation. Ishmael Jaffree, a […]

Engel v. Vitale, Supreme Court, 1962 Facts of the Case In 1951, the New York State Board of Regents composed a non-denominational prayer to be recited voluntarily by students at the beginning of each school day. The prayer read: “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our […]

Obergefell v. Hodges, Supreme Court, 2015 Facts of the Case James Obergefell and John Arthur, a same-sex couple, legally married in Maryland. They subsequently moved to Ohio, a state that did not recognize their marriage. When Arthur died, Ohio refused to list Obergefell as the surviving spouse on the death certificate. Obergefell, along with other […]

Zelman v. Simmons-Harris, Supreme Court, 2002 Facts of the Case In response to the failing public school system in Cleveland, Ohio, the state established the Ohio Pilot Project Scholarship Program. This program provided vouchers to low-income parents, allowing them to send their children to participating private schools, including religious schools, or to other public schools […]

Planned Parenthood v. Casey, Supreme Court, 1992 Facts of the Case In 1982, Pennsylvania enacted the Abortion Control Act, which imposed several restrictions on a woman’s right to obtain an abortion. These included informed consent, a 24-hour waiting period, parental consent for minors, and spousal notification. Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania challenged the constitutionality of […]

Brown v. Board of Education, Supreme Court, 1954 Facts of the Case In the early 1950s, several African American children, including Linda Brown, were denied admission to public schools attended by white children under laws permitting or requiring racial segregation. The cases came from Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Delaware and were consolidated under Brown […]

Plessy v. Ferguson, Supreme Court, 1896 Facts of the Case In 1892, Homer Plessy, who was seven-eighths white and one-eighth black, deliberately violated Louisiana’s Separate Car Act, which mandated separate railway cars for whites and blacks. Plessy sat in a “whites-only” car and was arrested when he refused to move to a car designated for […]