Stone v. Graham

449 U.S. 39 · Decided November 17, 1980 · Supreme Court of the United States

At a glance

Stone v. Graham was decided on November 17, 1980 by a vote of 5–4. The Court reversed the lower court's decision. The decision was issued per curiam (an unsigned opinion of the Court). SCDB classifies its main issue as “Establishment of religion” in the First Amendment area. SCDB records that the Court declared a state or territorial law, regulation or constitutional provision unconstitutional.

Read the opinion

• CourtListener (Free Law Project) — opinion text
• Library of Congress — official U.S. Reports scan

Case details

How the Justices voted

Full case caption

Stone et al. v. Graham, Superintendent of Public Instruction of Kentucky

SCDB identifiers: case 1980-005, docket 1980-005-01.

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Cases on the same legal provision: First Amendment (establishment of religion)

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Same Term, same area (First Amendment)

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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