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Frazee v. Illinois Department of Employment Security

489 U.S. 829 · Decided March 29, 1989 · Supreme Court of the United States

Record summary. This page is generated from the Supreme Court Database’s coded data about the case. It describes who decided what, not the Court’s reasoning. Read the opinion itself before relying on it. Not legal advice.

At a glance

Frazee v. Illinois Department of Employment Security was decided on March 29, 1989 unanimously (9–0). The Court reversed the lower court's decision and remanded the case. Justice Byron R. White wrote the opinion of the Court. SCDB classifies its main issue as “Free exercise of religion” in the First Amendment area.

Read the opinion

Case details

Citations
489 U.S. 829 · 109 S. Ct. 1514 · 103 L. Ed. 2d 914 · 1989 U.S. LEXIS 1671
Docket number
87-1945
Decided
March 29, 1989
Argued
March 1, 1989
Decision type
Opinion of the Court (orally argued)
Disposition
Reversed and remanded
Outcome for petitioner
The petitioning party received a favorable disposition
Vote
9–0 (unanimous)
Majority opinion
Byron R. White
Opinion assigned by
William H. Rehnquist
How the case arrived
Appeal
Issue area
First Amendment
Legal provision
First Amendment (free exercise of religion)
Type of law
Constitutional amendment
Decision direction (SCDB)
Liberal what this means

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Frazee v. Illinois Department of Employment Security et al.

SCDB identifiers: case 1988-063, docket 1988-063-01.

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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