THE MACHINE
YODER TRIAL
Wisconsin v. Yoder
1971
Background Information
Three Amish families sued the state of Wisconsin over its
requirement that children be enrolled in school until the age of
sixteen. The parents refused to comply by removing their children
from school after they completed the eighth grade and continued
their education at home, emphasizing domestic and farming skills.
Further education would present their children with too much
exposure to the "evil world."
The families claimed that their rights to freely exercising their
religion were not being respected. The Wisconsin Supreme Court
found in favor of the Amish parents.
Court Decision
Arguments were heard on December 8th, 1971. On May 15th 1972 the
Court ruled 6 to 1 that the compulsory education law in Winconsin
did indeed violate the Free Exercise Clause.
Justice Burger wrote in his majority opinion that the Amish have
a legitimate reason for removing their children from school prior
to their attending high school. The qualities emphasized higher
education (self-distinction, competitiveness, scientific
accomplishment, etc.) are contrary to Amish values.
The Court first determined that the beliefs of the Amish were
indeed religiously based and of great antiquity. Next, the Court
rejected the State's arguments that the Free Exercise Clause
extends no protection because the case involved "action"
or "conduct" rather than belief, and because the
regulation, neutral on its face, did not single out religion.
Instead, the Court went on to analyze whether a "compelling"
governmental interest required such "grave interference"
with Amish belief and practices. The governmental interest was
not the general provision of education, inasmuch as the State and
the Amish were in agreement on education through the first eight
grades and since the Amish provided their children with
additional education of a primarily vocational nature.
The State's interest was really that of providing two additional
years of public schooling. Nothing in the record, felt the Court,
showed that this interest outweighed the great harm which it
would do to traditional Amish religious beliefs to impose the
compulsory ninth and tenth grade attendance. Such attendance in
high school hinders the Amish community by depriving them of the
labor of their children and limiting their ability to instill
appropriate values in their adolescents.
In his dissent, Justice Douglas argued that the children should
have been heard on their desire to attend school and continue
with the Amish religion - the decision only relied upon the
interests of the state and parents, ignoring the primary party
affected. In addition, he questioned the wisdom in limiting
exemptions to laws like compulsory eduction to formal religious
communities. Other scholars later joined Douglas in arguing that
people with more individualistic moral choices based upon secular
grounds should not be granted less consideration in such matters.
Significance
The Court's Court Decision prevented states from asserting an
absolute right to institute compulsive high school education. By
preventing parents from removing their children from school, the
State was intruding into the family and preventing them from
instilling their faiths in their children. Unfortunately, the
potential interests and rights of the children were totally
ignored.