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Pierce1 was decided June 1, 1925 by a vote of 9-0.

Justice McReynolds delivered the unanimous opinion of the court.

Pierce’s decision reiterates the State’s right to require mandatory education of all children within certain age restrictions2 but upholds parents’ rights to choose the manner of the education as long as those choices fall within certain acceptable guidelines.3  The appeal was brought on “due process” grounds, making it a Fourteenth Amendment case.

I found this case while researching First Amendment cases but upon reading the syllabus and Justice McReynolds’ opinion I was confused as to why it was associated with First Amendment rights until I looked it up in The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court (Amazon, B&N)

kevin Case Review First Amendment, Fourteenth Amendment, Freedom of Religion, Fundamental Rights, Justice McReynolds, Oregon, Substantive Due Process, Supreme Court of the United States