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Legal Research Knowledge Base
A litigation-weighted database of the cases that define the private domain — church autonomy, PMAs, trust law, ministries, and First Amendment protections.
100 cases found
80 U.S. 679 (1871)
Foundational church-autonomy decision holding that civil courts will not adjudicate matters of church doctrine, governance, or membership discipline.
426 U.S. 696 (1976)
Reaffirmed and extended Watson, holding that civil courts cannot review the substance of ecclesiastical decisions, including a church's reorganization and removal of bishops.
344 U.S. 94 (1952)
Held that a state statute transferring control of a church from one hierarchical authority to another violates the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause.
565 U.S. 171 (2012)
Recognized the 'ministerial exception' shielding religious organizations from employment-discrimination claims by ministers.
591 U.S. __ (2020)
Expanded the ministerial exception, holding that teachers at religious schools counted as 'ministers' regardless of formal title.
357 U.S. 449 (1958)
Cornerstone freedom-of-association case holding that compelled disclosure of an association's membership lists violates the First Amendment.
319 U.S. 624 (1943)
Held that students cannot be compelled to salute the flag or recite the Pledge of Allegiance, establishing protection against compelled speech.
268 U.S. 510 (1925)
Held that a state law compelling all children to attend public school unreasonably interfered with parents' liberty to direct their children's upbringing and with the right of private and religious schools to exist.
310 U.S. 296 (1940)
Foundational Free Exercise case that incorporated the Free Exercise Clause against the states and established that religious liberty includes both belief and action.
508 U.S. 520 (1993)
Held that city ordinances targeting Santeria religious animal sacrifice were not neutral or generally applicable and failed strict scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause.
393 U.S. 440 (1969)
Established the 'deferral' doctrine, barring civil courts from resolving church property disputes by interpreting doctrinal departure.
443 U.S. 595 (1979)
Permitted the 'neutral principles of law' approach, allowing courts to resolve church property disputes using secular legal documents without doctrinal inquiry.
483 U.S. 327 (1987)
Upheld the religious organization exemption under Title VII, permitting religious nonprofits to prefer co-religionists in hiring for secular as well as religious positions.
592 U.S. __ (2020)
Granted injunctive relief against New York's COVID-19 capacity restrictions on religious services, holding they likely violated the Free Exercise Clause.
435 U.S. 618 (1978)
Held that a state statute denying ministers the right to serve as delegates to a constitutional convention violated the Free Exercise Clause.
450 U.S. 707 (1981)
Held that courts may not judge the religious merit of an individual's belief, and that denying unemployment benefits for religious resignation violated free exercise.
98 U.S. 145 (1879)
Foundational Free Exercise case establishing the belief-conduct distinction, holding that religious belief is protected but religiously motivated conduct may be regulated.
364 U.S. 479 (1960)
Held that a state cannot compel teachers to disclose every organization they have belonged to, as it burdens freedom of association.
361 U.S. 516 (1960)
Extended NAACP v. Alabama, holding that a city licensing tax requiring disclosure of NAACP branch membership violated freedom of association.
515 U.S. 557 (1995)
Held that forcing parade organizers to include a group whose message they disagreed with violated the First Amendment right to shape expressive content.
530 U.S. 640 (2000)
Held that applying a state public-accommodations law to force the Boy Scouts to accept a gay scoutmaster violated the organization's First Amendment right of expressive association.
371 U.S. 415 (1963)
Struck down a state law barring an association's solicitation and financing of litigation on behalf of its members, holding that collective legal action for civil-rights ends is a mode of expression and association protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
558 U.S. 310 (2010)
Held that the government may not ban independent political expenditures by corporations and other associational entities, establishing that such organizations hold First Amendment speech rights of their own.
296 U.S. 344 (1935)
Established the criteria distinguishing an association (taxable as a corporation) from a trust for federal income tax purposes.
17 U.S. 518 (1819)
Foundational case holding that a corporate charter is a private contract protected by the Contract Clause, establishing the autonomy of private organizations from state interference.
300 U.S. 5 (1937)
Edward Tyler Blair was entitled to all the income from a trust his father created, and in 1923 assigned portions of that income right to his own children. When the Commissioner of Internal Revenue argued Blair still owed the tax on that income himself, the Supreme Court held that a beneficiary's right to trust income is a present, real equitable property interest, separate and distinct from the trustee's legal title to the trust property, and real enough that the beneficiary can transfer it like any other property.
397 U.S. 664 (1970)
Upheld property-tax exemptions for religious organizations, holding they avoid government entanglement with religion and reflect a long historical tradition.
461 U.S. 574 (1983)
Held 8-1 that the IRS could deny tax-exempt status to a religious educational institution whose racially discriminatory policies, though rooted in sincere religious belief, violated a fundamental national public policy against racial discrimination in education.
330 U.S. 1 (1947)
Foundational Establishment Clause case incorporating the clause against the states and articulating the no-aid framework.
430 U.S. 705 (1977)
Held that a state cannot compel an individual to display a state motto on a license plate that conflicts with their beliefs.
536 U.S. 639 (2002)
Upheld Ohio's school voucher program against an Establishment Clause challenge because it was neutral toward religion and directed aid to religious schools only through the independent, genuine choices of parents, not government design.
585 U.S. 878 (2018)
Held that requiring public-sector employees who are not union members to pay mandatory 'agency shop' fees to a union violates the First Amendment by compelling them to subsidize speech on matters of public concern, expressly overruling Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977).
418 U.S. 241 (1974)
Struck down a Florida 'right of reply' statute that compelled newspapers to print political candidates' responses to editorial criticism, holding that government cannot compel a publisher's exercise of editorial judgment.
424 U.S. 319 (1976)
Established the three-part balancing test for determining what process is due in administrative proceedings before deprivation of a protected interest.
397 U.S. 254 (1970)
Held that the termination of welfare benefits requires a pre-termination evidentiary hearing, establishing procedural due process protections for government benefits.
395 U.S. 784 (1969)
Held that the Fifth Amendment's protection against double jeopardy applies to state criminal proceedings through the Fourteenth Amendment, expressly overruling Palko v. Connecticut's contrary holding on that point.
262 U.S. 390 (1923)
Struck down a Nebraska law banning foreign-language instruction to young schoolchildren, recognizing that the Fourteenth Amendment's liberty interest includes a parent's right to direct their child's education and upbringing.
374 U.S. 398 (1963)
Established the Sherbert test, requiring strict scrutiny for government burdens on religious practice and mandating a compelling interest for any such burden.
406 U.S. 205 (1972)
Held that Amish families could withdraw children from formal schooling after eighth grade, applying the Sherbert compelling-interest test to protect religious practice.
573 U.S. 682 (2014)
Held that closely held for-profit corporations may be exempt from the ACA contraceptive mandate under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
593 U.S. __ (2021)
Held that COVID-19 home-gathering restrictions triggering strict scrutiny could not be upheld where comparable secular activities were treated more favorably.
494 U.S. 872 (1990)
Held that a neutral law of general application does not violate the Free Exercise Clause merely because it burdens religious practice; targeted laws face strict scrutiny.
593 U.S. 522 (2021)
Held that where a government program permits individualized exemptions, denial of a religious exemption is subject to strict scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause.
597 U.S. 507 (2022)
Held that a public school coach's post-game prayer was protected private religious speech and that the school's suppression was not justified by Establishment Clause concerns.
582 U.S. __ (2017)
Held that a state could not exclude a church from a neutral public-benefit program solely because of its religious status.
Held that a state tax-credit scholarship program could not exclude religious schools solely because of their religious character.
596 U.S. __ (2022)
Held that a state tuition-aid program could not exclude schools solely because they used funds for religious instruction.
546 U.S. 418 (2006)
Unanimously held that RFRA barred the federal government from prohibiting a church's sacramental use of a controlled substance without proving a compelling interest specific to that church, not just a generalized interest in uniform drug enforcement.
319 U.S. 105 (1943)
Struck down a flat license tax applied to door-to-door distribution of religious literature, holding that a state cannot condition the exercise of First Amendment rights on payment of a tax.
456 U.S. 228 (1982)
Held that a state charity-registration statute that discriminated among religious denominations was subject to strict scrutiny under the Establishment Clause.
82 U.S. 131 (1872)
Companion to Watson addressing the limits of civil-court review over church membership decisions while recognizing procedural boundaries.
440 U.S. 490 (1979)
Held that the National Labor Relations Act does not extend to teachers in church-operated schools, avoiding constitutional questions of government entanglement with religion.
280 U.S. 1 (1929)
Decided on appeal from the Supreme Court of the Philippine Islands (then a U.S. territory), the Court held that a claimant lacked the qualifications required for a church chaplaincy under the canon law in force at the time of his application, while articulating the enduring rule that civil courts must defer to church tribunal decisions on ecclesiastical matters absent fraud, collusion, or arbitrariness.
592 U.S. 43 (2020)
Unanimously held that RFRA's authorization of 'appropriate relief against a government' permits individuals to sue federal officials in their individual capacities for money damages, not just injunctive relief.
468 U.S. 609 (1984)
Held that a state public-accommodations law requiring the Jaycees to admit women did not violate the freedom of expressive association, distinguishing intimate/expressive associations from commercial ones.
372 U.S. 539 (1963)
Held that a state legislative committee could not compel an NAACP officer to produce membership records absent a substantial showing of relevance to a compelling state interest.
323 U.S. 516 (1945)
Held unconstitutional a state registration requirement applied to a union organizer before he could speak to solicit members, protecting associational solicitation as speech.
408 U.S. 169 (1972)
Held that a public college's denial of official recognition to a student group violated the group's First Amendment right of association absent a showing that the group would disrupt campus order.
407 U.S. 163 (1972)
Held that a private club's racially discriminatory practices were not state action despite state liquor licensing, affirming private club autonomy.
427 U.S. 347 (1976)
Held that dismissals of public employees based on political affiliation violate the First Amendment, protecting freedom of political association.
427 U.S. 160 (1976)
Held that private schools may not racially discriminate in admissions under 42 U.S.C. § 1981, limiting the scope of private association rights.
110 U.S. 330 (1884)
Foundational trust case establishing the separation of legal and equitable interests and the rights of beneficiaries against trustees.
265 U.S. 144 (1924)
Defined the characteristics of a business trust and distinguished it from a partnership or corporation for federal tax purposes.
446 U.S. 458 (1980)
Held that trustees of a business trust are the real parties in interest and may sue in their own names for trust assets.
577 U.S. 378 (2016)
Held that for diversity jurisdiction, an unincorporated entity sued in its own name (such as a real estate investment trust) takes the citizenship of all its members, not just its trustees, correcting the assumption that anything labeled a 'trust' automatically carries only its trustees' citizenship.
249 U.S. 223 (1919)
Held that a real estate trust was not taxable as a joint-stock association under the Income Tax Act of 1913, because its certificate holders had no joint action or control over the fund and no partnership-like relationship with one another.
387 U.S. 456 (1967)
Held that when federal tax consequences turn on state-created trust or property rights, a federal court or agency is not bound by a lower state court's determination of those rights and need only give it 'proper regard.'
455 U.S. 252 (1982)
Held that religious belief does not exempt individuals from generally applicable tax obligations, balancing free exercise with civic duties.
490 U.S. 680 (1989)
Held that fixed 'donations' required for Scientology auditing and training were not deductible charitable contributions under the Internal Revenue Code.
493 U.S. 378 (1990)
Held that a state sales-and-use tax on the sale of religious materials by a ministry did not violate the Free Exercise or Establishment Clauses.
489 U.S. 1 (1989)
Held that a tax exemption benefiting only religious publications, without a secular counterpart, violated the Establishment Clause.
357 U.S. 513 (1958)
Struck down a state requirement that veterans sign a loyalty oath disclaiming advocacy of government overthrow as a condition of a property tax exemption, holding the scheme impermissibly shifted the burden of proof onto the claimant regarding protected speech.
581 U.S. 468 (2017)
Unanimously held that pension plans maintained by church-affiliated hospital networks qualify for ERISA's 'church plan' exemption even though the plans were established by the hospitals themselves rather than by a church, so long as a principal-purpose organization associated with a church maintains them.
403 U.S. 602 (1971)
Struck down state programs subsidizing salaries and materials at religious schools and announced a three-part test for Establishment Clause claims: secular legislative purpose, a primary effect that neither advances nor inhibits religion, and no excessive government entanglement with religion.
463 U.S. 388 (1983)
Upheld a Minnesota tax deduction for tuition, textbook, and transportation expenses, available to all parents regardless of whether their children attended public, private, or religious school, against an Establishment Clause challenge, even though most parents claiming it had children in religious schools.
407 U.S. 67 (1972)
Held that the government may not seize property through replevin statutes without prior notice and an opportunity for a hearing.
405 U.S. 538 (1972)
Held that property rights are protected by the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses, establishing property as a fundamental civil right.
540 U.S. 712 (2004)
Held that a state scholarship program could exclude devotional theology degrees without violating the Free Exercise Clause.
343 U.S. 306 (1952)
Held that releasing public school students for off-site religious instruction did not violate the Establishment Clause, recognizing accommodation of religion.
471 U.S. 290 (1985)
Unanimously held that a religious foundation's commercial businesses were covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act and that workers receiving in-kind support were 'employees' entitled to minimum wage, rejecting the argument that labeling them religious 'volunteers' exempted the enterprise from generally applicable labor law.
544 U.S. 709 (2005)
Unanimously upheld RLUIPA's requirement that state prisons accommodate inmates' religious exercise against a claim that the statute itself violates the Establishment Clause by favoring religion, while noting that particular applications could still raise constitutional concerns if enforced without regard to security or in a way that favors some faiths over others.
460 F.2d 553 (5th Cir. 1972)
Held that Title VII does not reach the employment relationship between a church and its ministers, originating the 'ministerial exception' later adopted nationwide as constitutionally required by the Supreme Court.
366 U.S. 599 (1961)
Held that Sunday closing laws did not violate the Free Exercise Clause despite burdening Orthodox Jewish merchants, an important pre-Sherbert balancing case.
321 U.S. 158 (1944)
Held that a parent's religious freedom does not permit a child to engage in prohibited labor, establishing limits on religious liberty.
536 U.S. 150 (2002)
Held that a municipal ordinance requiring a permit for door-to-door canvassing violated the First Amendment rights of anonymous speech and religious advocacy.
561 U.S. 661 (2010)
Held that a public law school's 'all-comers' policy for recognized student groups did not violate the First Amendment rights of a religious association.
413 U.S. 455 (1973)
Held that a state may not lend free textbooks or provide other tangible assistance to private schools that discriminate on the basis of race, because such aid significantly facilitates and reinforces private discrimination.
55 U.S. (14 How.) 589 (1852)
Held that members of a communal religious society who contractually renounced individual property ownership in exchange for lifetime communal support had made a valid, enforceable agreement, and their heirs acquired no claim to a share of society assets.
187 U.S. 8 (1902)
Held that descendants of deceased members of a communal religious society had no proprietary claim to society assets, since members who signed community-of-goods agreements had irrevocably relinquished individual property rights.
234 U.S. 640 (1914)
Held that a religious order was entitled to the estate of a deceased member who, under his vow of poverty, had agreed that his earnings and property would belong to the order, since he retained the right to leave the order at any time.
919 F.3d 420 (7th Cir. 2019)
Upheld the federal tax exclusion for clergy housing allowances under 26 U.S.C. §107(2) against an Establishment Clause challenge, preserving a major tax benefit for ordained ministers nationwide.
211 F.3d 137 (D.C. Cir. 2000)
Upheld the IRS's revocation of a church's §501(c)(3) exemption after it took out newspaper ads opposing a presidential candidate, rejecting Free Exercise, Establishment Clause, and selective-prosecution challenges to the revocation.
472 U.S. 38 (1985)
Struck down an Alabama moment-of-silence statute because the legislature's own record showed its sole purpose was to endorse prayer, violating the Establishment Clause's requirement of a secular legislative purpose.
475 U.S. 1 (1986)
Held, in a plurality opinion, that a state order requiring a utility to include a third-party advocacy group's newsletter in its own billing envelopes violates the First Amendment by compelling the utility to associate with and help disseminate speech it disagrees with.
302 U.S. 319 (1937)
Established the 'ordered liberty' test for deciding which Bill of Rights protections apply to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment — the foundation of modern selective-incorporation doctrine.
615 F. Supp. 2d 1210 (D. Or. 2009)
Following the Supreme Court's reasoning in Gonzales v. O Centro Espirita Beneficente Uniao do Vegetal (2006), the district court held that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act required the government to permit the Church of the Holy Light of the Queen, a Santo Daime congregation, to import and drink its ayahuasca-based sacrament, because the government failed to show a compelling interest in banning the substance for this specific religious use, or that outright prohibition was the least restrictive means available.
396 U.S. 367 (1970)
A per curiam dismissal for want of a substantial federal question, affirming that a state court's use of religion-neutral property and corporate law — without resolving any underlying doctrinal dispute — to decide a church property fight did not violate the First Amendment.
401 U.S. 1 (1971)
Held that a state could not deny bar admission to an applicant solely for refusing to answer a question about membership in organizations advocating government overthrow, protecting associational privacy against licensing inquiries.
60 U.S. (19 How.) 126 (1856)
Held that a member of the Harmony Society who accepted a payment on leaving the communal religious society could not later sue for a larger share, and declined to second-guess the society's internal handling of his departure.
372 F. Supp. 770 (E.D. Cal. 1974)
Held that a church qualified for federal tax exemption as a religious organization notwithstanding its unconventional practice of issuing honorary ordinations and church charters, since civil courts will not weigh the orthodoxy or sincerity of religious doctrine.