ABSTRACT
In Wisconsin v. Yoder, 406 US 205, the US Supreme Court addressed whether application of Wisconsin's compulsory school-attendance law to members of the Amish religion violated their right to free exercise of religion as guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution and applied to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment. The parents contended that attendance at high school was contrary to the Amish religion and way of life. Noting that a hallmark of the Amish faith was life in a community separated from the modern world, the parents presented uncontroverted testimony that the values taught in high school conflicted with Amish values, especially by exposing Amish children to competitiveness, materialism, and worldliness. Finding that the law infringed the free exercise of religious belief, the Court next asked whether the state's interest in compelling education was sufficient to override the First Amendment.
