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Home » Legal » High School Civil Liberties Project » Religious Liberty
Teacher ACLU Fact Sheet RELIGIOUS LIBERTY IN SCHOOL Landmark Case - Engel v. Vitale 370 U.S. 421 (1962) The Constitutional Question Is school-sponsored prayer a violation of the 1st amendment? Amendments Implicated 1st Amendment - “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” Backround The State Board of Regents, which had supervisory power over New York public schools, had become concerned about an apparent decline in the morality of school students and so began a program of "moral and spiritual training" in the schools. Every morning, students were to say the prayer, which was composed by the Regents themselves: “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country." Shortly after the practice of reciting the Regents' prayer was adopted by the School District, a group of ten parents were joined by the ACLU in a suit against the Board of Education of New Hyde Park, New York because they had adopted that prayer. The parents felt that the use of this official prayer was unconstitutional in the public schools and also was contrary to their beliefs, religions, or religious practices of those of their children. The Decision The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Union Free School District violated the First Amendment by directing the Districts' principals to cause the prayer to be said aloud by each class in the presence of a teacher at the beginning of each school day. Related Cases Lee v. Weisman – 1992 The Supreme Court ruled that the inclusion of prayer in a graduation ceremony sponsored or supervised by a public school violated the Establishment Clause. Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe. – (2000) The District's policy permitting student-led, student initiated prayer at football games violates the Establishment Clause. Web Links |
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