Bowen v. Roy

476 U.S. 693 · Decided June 11, 1986 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Bowen v. Roy was decided on June 11, 1986 by a vote of 8–1. The Court vacated the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Free exercise of religion” in the First Amendment area.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Bowen, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al. v. Roy et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1985-104, docket 1985-104-01.

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Source: Supreme Court Database, 2026 Release 01 (data file dated September 8, 2026). Imported into CaseTrail November 5, 2026. Coverage: decisions from the 1946 through 2025 Terms. Methodology · Report an error