Employment Division v. Smith

494 U.S. 872 · Decided April 17, 1990 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Employment Division v. Smith was decided on April 17, 1990 by a vote of 6–3. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. Justice Antonin Scalia 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

Employment Division, Department of Human Resources of Oregon, et al. v. Smith et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1989-061, docket 1989-061-01.

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Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

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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