Page "West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette" Paragraph 37

The majority opinion in Barnette is considered one of the Court's greatest and most sweeping statements about the fundamental freedoms established by the Bill of Rights.

After Barnette, the Court began to turn away from the belief-action doctrine altogether, creating religious exemption for believers of different creeds.

In Sherbert v. Verner ( 1963 ), for example, the Court upheld a Seventh-day Adventist's claim to unemployment benefits even though she declined to make herself available to work on Saturday ( her Sabbath ) as the law required.

In Wisconsin v. Yoder ( 1972 ), the Court upheld the right of Amish parents not to send their children to public schools past the eighth grade.