McDaniel v. Paty

435 U.S. 618 · Decided April 19, 1978 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

McDaniel v. Paty was decided on April 19, 1978 unanimously (8–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger wrote the opinion announcing the judgment of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Free exercise of religion” in the First Amendment area. SCDB records that the Court declared a state or territorial law, regulation or constitutional provision unconstitutional.

Read the opinion

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

Case details

How the Justices voted

Did not participate: Harry A. Blackmun.

Full case caption

McDaniel v. Paty et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1977-067, docket 1977-067-01.

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Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

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  436 U.S. 293Decided May 23, 19788–1Warren E. Burger
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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