Landmark Supreme Court Case: Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925)
Image: Oregon Encyclopedia
Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925) is the 49th landmark Supreme Court case, the third in the Education module, featured in the KTB Prep American Government and Civics Series designed to acquaint users with the origins, concepts, organizations, and policies of the United States government and political system. The goal is greater familiarization with the rights and obligations of citizenship at the local, state, national, and global levels and the history of our nation as a democracy. While there is overlap, these landmark cases are separated into cases addressing:
- Courts
- Foreign Policy
- Family
- Science & Technology
- Environment
- Public Safety
- Religion
- Death Penalty
- Healthcare
- Speech, Press, and Protest
- Elections
- Economics
- Criminal Justice
- Education
- Politics, Society, Freedom, and Equality
The Supreme Court
The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States. Article III of the U.S. Constitution created the Supreme Court and authorized Congress to pass laws establishing a system of lower courts. The Constitution elaborated neither the exact powers and prerogatives of the Supreme Court nor the organization of the Judicial Branch as a whole. Thus, it has been left to Congress and to the Justices of the Court through their decisions to develop the Federal Judiciary and a body of Federal law.
The number of Justices on the Supreme Court changed six times before settling at the present total of nine in 1869. Since the formation of the Court in 1790, there have been only 17 Chief Justices* and 102 Associate Justices, with Justices serving for an average of 16 years. On average a new Justice joins the Court almost every two years.
The Supreme Court of the United States hears about 100 to 150 appeals of the more than 7,000 cases it is asked to review every year. That means the decisions made by the 12 Circuit Courts of Appeals across the country and the Federal Circuit Court are the last word in thousands of cases.
Court of Appeals
In the federal court system’s present form, 94 district level trial courts and 13 courts of appeals sit below the Supreme Court. The 94 federal judicial districts are organized into 12 regional circuits, each of which has a court of appeals. The appellate court’s task is to determine whether or not the law was applied correctly in the trial court. Appeals courts consist of three judges and do not use a jury.
The appellate courts do not retry cases or hear new evidence. They do not hear witnesses testify. There is no jury. Appellate courts review the procedures and the decisions in the trial court to make sure that the proceedings were fair and that the proper law was applied correctly.
A court of appeals hears challenges to district court decisions from courts located within its circuit, as well as appeals from decisions of federal administrative agencies. In addition, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in specialized cases, such as those involving patent laws, and cases decided by the U.S. Court of International Trade and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
District Courts
The nation’s 94 trial courts are called U.S. District Courts. At a trial in a U.S. District Court, witnesses give testimony and a judge or jury decides who is guilty or not guilty — or who is liable or not liable. District courts resolve disputes by determining the facts and applying legal principles to decide who is right.
Trial courts include the district judge who tries the case and a jury that decides the case. Magistrate judges assist district judges in preparing cases for trial. They may also conduct trials in misdemeanor cases.
There is at least one district court in each state, and the District of Columbia. Each district includes a U.S. bankruptcy court as a unit of the district court.
Bankruptcy Courts
Federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases involving personal, business, or farm bankruptcy. This means a bankruptcy case cannot be filed in state court. Bankruptcy Appellate Panels (BAPs) are 3-judge panels authorized to hear appeals of bankruptcy court decisions. These panels are a unit of the federal courts of appeals, and must be established by that circuit. Five circuits have established panels: First Circuit, Sixth Circuit, Eighth Circuit, Ninth Circuit, and Tenth Circuit.
Pierce v. Society of Sisters (1925)
Society of Sisters Facts:
On November 7, 1922, the voters of Oregon passed an initiative amending Oregon Law Section 5259, the Compulsory Education Act. The citizens’ initiative was primarily aimed at eliminating parochial schools, including Catholic schools.
The Compulsory Education Act, before amendment, had required Oregon children between eight and sixteen years of age to attend public school. There were several exceptions incorporated in this Act:
- Children who were mentally or physically unable to attend school
- Children who had graduated from eighth grade
- Children living more than a specified distance by road from the nearest school
- Children being home-schooled or tutored (subject to monitoring by the local school district)
- Children attending a state-recognized private school
The Act was amended by the 1922 initiative, which would have taken effect on September 1, 1926, eliminated the exception for attendees of private schools. The act was promoted by populist nationalist groups such as the Knights of Pythias, the Federation of Patriotic Societies, the Oregon Good Government League, the Orange Order, and the Ku Klux Klan.
The Society of Sisters was an Oregon corporation which facilitated care for orphans, educated youths, and established and maintained academies or schools. The Sisters of the Holy Names and Hill Military Academy separately sued Walter Pierce, the governor of Oregon. The Sisters’ allege:
- The State of Oregon was violating specific First Amendment rights (such as the right to freely practice one’s religion).
- The law infringed on Fourteenth Amendment rights regarding protection of property (namely, the school’s contracts with the families) causing their business to suffer.
The schools won their case before a three-judge panel of the Oregon District Court, which granted an injunction against the Act. The defendants appealed their case directly to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Court heard the case on March 16 and 17, 1925.
Society of Sisters Questions and Answers:
Q: Did the Act violate the liberty of parents to direct the education of their children?
A: Yes. The Oregon statute arbitrarily set private schools off limits violating the liberty protected by due process of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Society of Sisters Conclusion
Unanimous decision holding the Oregon Compulsory Education Act, requiring attendance at public schools and forbidding private school attendance, unconstitutional under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The state is prevented from forcing children to go to public school as children are not just creatures of the state, and the traditional American understanding of the term liberty was the ability of parents or guardians to choose whether their children would accept instruction from public schools. Also, the passage of the revised Act was not a proper use of police power by the state and constituted unlawful interference with the freedom of both schools and families as evidenced by already suffering falling enrollment.
The decision significantly expanded coverage of the Due Process Clause in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution to recognize personal civil liberties. The case was cited as a precedent in Roe v. Wade (1972)
Pierce v. Society of Sisters: Oregon Debates Education from Daniel Kubishta on Vimeo.
Next Education Case: Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940)
Previous Education Case: Meyer v. Nebraska 1923
Next Case: Gitlow v. New York (1925)
