Religious exemptions from school rules
Perry v. Stacy Marteney
In brief
- Where it stands
- Petition Pending
Awaiting an order on the petition
- What it’s about
- The Perrys say officials disenrolled their daughter from West Virginia’s virtual public school because she was not fully vaccinated and denied their request for a religious exemption, while exempting some homeschooled and small-group students.
- What's at stake
- The Supreme Court has not resolved the Perrys’ First Amendment challenge and has not yet decided whether to review the Fourth Circuit’s ruling.
Summary: written with AI from the case record.
What it's about
The Fourth Circuit rejected their First Amendment claim, and the Perrys have asked the Supreme Court to review that ruling.
Their daughter attended virtual classes from home. The Perrys say state law exempted some homeschooled and small-group students from vaccination but not their daughter.
The case combines a challenge to West Virginia’s vaccination rule with questions about religious freedom and parents’ role in a child’s religious development.
Question presented
1. Whether a law that exempts people based on secular criteria but not religious reasons is subject to strict scrutiny and violates the First Amendment even when the religious burden is implicated by an act—like attending school or working—that is not itself religiously motivated. 2. Whether a law is subject to strict scrutiny under Mahmoud when it imposes a non-curricular requirement that substantially burdens parents’ rights to guide the religious development of their child.
What happens next
The next step is for the Court to decide whether to hear the case. No oral argument is scheduled.
Documents
Docket activity
Case data updated: title
New analysis added
AI analysis generated: Case Briefing
Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata
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Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
Case data updated: documents, description, document_url, proceeding_type
More questions
- What legal questions are in the Perrys’ petition?
- They ask whether the First Amendment requires strict scrutiny (the toughest level of court review) when a law gives secular but not religious exemptions, even if the affected activity is not religious, and whether that review also applies to non-curricular school rules that substantially burden parents’ religious guidance.
Sources
Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.