Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market of Massachusetts, Inc. (1960)
- Docket
- 11
- Decided
- 1960-01-01
- Category
- General
Summary
Question: Do statutes that require stores to close on Sundays violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by not respecting the establishment of religion and prohibiting free exercise as applied to the states? Conclusion: No. Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the opinion of the 6-3 majority. The court held that statutes requiring stores to stay closed on Sundays do not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. In this case, the statute in question does not prohibit the free exercise of religion. A statute does not violate the Equal Protection Clause simply because in practice it results in some inequality. The Court also concluded the statute was not for religious purposes, as the defendants contested. Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. delivered a dissenting opinion arguing the Sunday closing statute violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment because one religion is economically disadvantaged by it. In his separate dissent, Justice Potter Stewart agreed with Justice Brennan’s dissent and added that making a citizen chose between his faith and economic survival is a cruel choice as well as unconstitutional.