Wisconsin v. Yoder

Wisconsin v. Jonas Yoder, 406 U.S. 205 (1972), is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, in which the Court held that Amish children could not be placed under compulsory education past 8th grade. The Court ruled that the Amish parents' fundamental right to free exercise of religion outweighed the state's interest in educating their children. The case is often cited as a basis for parents' right to educate their children outside of traditional private or public schools.

Like Sherbert v. Verner, the Court in Yoder required the government accommodate religious exercise by applying strict scrutiny to a neutral law that burdened religious exercise. Yoder differs from Sherbert v. Verner because the compulsory school attendance law was non-discriminatory and did not include a mechanism for individualized exemptions. Later, in Employment Division v. Smith Justice Antonin Scalia wrote that Yoder involved a "hybrid right" composed of parental rights and free exercise.

The Amish, who prevailed in the case, were represented by William Ball.