Wayte v. United States

470 U.S. 598 · Decided March 19, 1985 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Wayte v. United States was decided on March 19, 1985 by a vote of 7–2. The Court affirmed the lower court's decision. Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Conscientious objectors” 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

Wayte v. United States

SCDB identifiers: case 1984-052, docket 1984-052-01.

Related decisions

Other cases on “Conscientious objectors”

• Musser v. United States
  414 U.S. 31Decided November 12, 19736–3Per curiam
• Fein v. Selective Service System Local Board No. 7 of Yonkers
  405 U.S. 365Decided March 21, 19724–3Harry A. Blackmun
• Parisi v. Davidson
  405 U.S. 34Decided February 23, 19727–0Potter Stewart
• Clay v. United States
  403 U.S. 698Decided June 28, 19718–0Per curiam
• McGee v. United States
  402 U.S. 479Decided May 17, 19718–1Thurgood Marshall
• Ehlert v. United States
  402 U.S. 99Decided April 21, 19716–3Potter Stewart

See all

Cases on the same legal provision: First Amendment (speech, press, and assembly)

• Federal Election Commission v. National Conservative Political Action CommitteeLaw held unconstitutional
  470 U.S. 480Decided March 18, 19857–2William H. Rehnquist
• Zauderer v. Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the Supreme Court of OhioLaw held unconstitutional
  471 U.S. 626Decided May 28, 19855–3Byron R. White
• Brockett v. Spokane Arcades, Inc.Law held unconstitutional
  472 U.S. 491Decided June 19, 19856–2Byron R. White
• Dun & Bradstreet, Inc. v. Greenmoss Builders, Inc.
  472 U.S. 749Decided June 26, 19855–4Lewis F. Powell Jr.
• Cornelius v. NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
  473 U.S. 788Decided July 2, 19854–3Sandra Day O'Connor
• Regan v. Time, Inc.Law held unconstitutional
  468 U.S. 641Decided July 3, 19845–4Byron R. White

Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

• Federal Election Commission v. National Conservative Political Action CommitteeLaw held unconstitutional
  470 U.S. 480Decided March 18, 19857–2William H. Rehnquist
• Board of Education of Oklahoma City v. National Gay Task ForceLaw held unconstitutional
  470 U.S. 903Decided March 26, 19854–4
• Board of Trustees of the Village of Scarsdale v. Kathleen S. McCreary
  471 U.S. 83Decided March 27, 19854–4
• Wallace v. JaffreeLaw held unconstitutional
  472 U.S. 38Decided June 4, 19856–3John Paul Stevens
• Jensen v. QuaringLaw held unconstitutional
  472 U.S. 478Decided June 17, 19854–4
• McDonald v. Smith
  472 U.S. 479Decided June 19, 19858–0Warren E. Burger

See all

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