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Substantive Due Process And Free Exercise Of Religion: Meyer, Pierce And The Origins Of Wisconsin V. Yoder, Jay S. Bybee

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In this paper the author examines the nature of parents' due process right to direct the education of their children and its relationship to the First Amendment. The article begins with the hardiest of the U.S. Supreme Court's early substantive due process decisions: Meyer v. Nebraska and Pierce v. Society of Sisters. Meyer struck down a Nebraska law forbidding the teaching of foreign language in public or private schools; Pierce struck down an Oregon law requiring attendance at public schools. Part I recounts that the laws in both cases were the result of complex forces, uniting groups as disparate …