The Development of the Freedom of Religion in Public Schools

1658 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on separation of church and state

The Development of the Freedom of Religion in Public Schools

President Jefferson had written that the freedom of religion clause in the Constitution was aimed to build "a wall of separation between Church and State." This wall still stands the only matter at hand here is that in several areas the Supreme Court has modified its profiles.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…." This clause has come a long way in how our government settles with cases concerning religion. The Establishment Clause generally means that government CANNOT authorize a church, pass laws that aid or favor one religion over another, pass laws that favor religious belief over non belief, and force a person to profess a belief. In all, government must stay neutral when it comes to religion and cannot be entangled with any religion.

"…..or prohibit the free exercise of thereof." This is the second religion clause. It is the Free Exercise Clause. This clause protects the rights of individuals to worship and believe as they wish. It also means that people cannot be compelled by government to act opposite to their religious beliefs, unless the belief violates a valid law.

Religion has brought about a lot of controversy since the day it was first incorporated into the Constitution. The position was clear that the government would be separate from religion, the unclear part was how to paraphrase the clauses. The House and the Senate both had different language presented. The debates in Congress conformed little assistance in how to interpret the religious clauses. The intent of Madison and Jefferson were fairly clear. What wasn't clear was if the others in Congress voted on the language and those in Stat...

... middle of paper ...

...t deny "equal access" to student groups based upon "religious, political, philosophical, or other content."

Lee v. Weisman, 112 SCt. 2649 (1992) - Court finds prayer at public school graduation ceremonies violates the establishment clause and is therefore unconstitutional.

Lamb's Chapel et al. v. Center Moriches Union Free School District, 508 U.S. 384 (1993) - Court says that school districts cannot deny churches access to school premises after-hours, if the district allowed the use of its building to other groups.

Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet, (1994) - Court states that the New York State Legislature cannot create a separate school district for a religious community.

Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, (2000) - Court rules that student-led prayers at public school football games violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Show More
Related

  • Abington V. Schempp Case Study

    731 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Schempp family, whose kids went to school in the township, followed Unitarianism, and did disagree with some of the ideas in the Bible. However, they did not want their children to miss prayer because they would miss the important announcements that followed. They brought the case to a state court, and the court ruled that prayer in fact did violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. Next, they appealed to the Supreme Court.

    Read More

  • Board Of Education V Pico Summary

    581 Words  | 2 Pages

    Therefore, the respondents took the case to court (Island Trees…). The holding, the court’s decision, by a 5-4 vote, was “The First Amendment limits the power of local or school boards to remove library books from junior high schools and high schools” (Island Trees…). The court also said that the Board of Education “should not intervene in ‘the daily operations of school systems’ unless ‘basic constitutional values’ were ‘sharply implicate[d]”(qtd. in Board of Education, Island). The dissent consisted of Burger, Powell, Rehnquist, and O’Connor; the concurrence consisted of Blackmun and White (Island Trees…).

    Read More

  • Jackson V. Birmingham Board Of Education Case Study

    933 Words  | 2 Pages

    Board of Education (1954) which was a case of racial segregation of children that were discriminated against in public schools that violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Next, Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools (1992) the Court decided that monetary damages of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 which demonstrated sexual harassment and abuse by a teacher (Chicago-Kent College of Law, 2015b). Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education (1999) held a lawsuit under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 that was against sexual harassment, denying a student of equal opportunity the school provided and subjecting them to facing discrimination in an elementary environment (Chicago-Kent College of Law, 2015a).

    Read More

  • Significance of The Free Exercise Clause

    598 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment states “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. Meaning, Congress cannot forbid or ban the exercises or beliefs of any religion. However, the government can in fact interfere with religions practices. This means that the government cannot prohibit the beliefs of any religion, but can intervene in certain practices.

    Read More

  • Elk Grove Unified School District V Newdow Summary

    1838 Words  | 4 Pages

    Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow case is a litigation that was brought by an atheist father seeking for a determination of the constitutionality of the practice of recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance by public school students since it contained the phrase “under God.” The Supreme Court had two major issues to determine i.e. whether Newdow had the legal standing to challenge the constitutionality of the practice and school board’s policy and whether the phrase “under God” was an infringement of the Establishment Clause of the country’s constitution. In its ruling, the Supreme Court argued that Michael Newdow did not have the legal standing to file the litigation since he was a non-custodial parent.

    Read More

  • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for redress of grievances.

    Read More

  • Prayer in School: One Hypocrisy of Our Democracy

    1961 Words  | 4 Pages

    The reason Jefferson choose the expression "separation of church and state" was because he was addressing a Baptist crowd; a church of which he was not a member. Jefferson wanted to remove all fears that the government would make laws to the church.

    Read More

  • Analysis of the First Amendment

    1702 Words  | 4 Pages

    The free exercise clause is also part of the first amendment stating that “prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. This clause limits and prohibits the congress to regulate people’s religion. Even though it is not generally accepted, minority groups with different religions can practice their faith and not be subject to any disciplinary action for doing so. Citizens can practice their religion freely, and the government cannot enforce a law prohibiting the exercise of this religion. This clause was in issue in the court case Tucaso v. Watkins stating in Gaustad’s reading “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land”. Tucaso refused to declare his belief in God, which resulted in his appointment to Nota...

    Read More

  • Education V. Barnette Case

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    The West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette Case in March 11, 1943 created much controversy throughout the United States. This case questioned whether a flag salute law for school children violated the First, the right to freedom of speech and freedom of religion. In 1941 the West Virginia State Board of Education made it a mandatory action for all students to salute the American flag at the beginning of each school day and recite the Pledge of Allegiance. If students did not cooperate it would lead to harsh punishment (findlaw).

    Read More

  • First Amendment Rights of Public School Students

    1088 Words  | 3 Pages

    The case specifics involve a student who made a provocative speech to the school body and received a three-day suspension. The schools yet again where given the right to violate his first amendment rights by not letting him give the speech which is not justifiable because the first amendment is supposed to give him all the rights that would allow him to make that speech. One huge case that involves vast majority of most students is the case named Board of Education of Independent School District #92 of Pottawatomie County v. Earls 2002.

    Read More

  • Reflections On The First Amendment

    1819 Words  | 4 Pages

    “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” (First Amendment Center, 2008)

    Read More

  • The separation of church and state

    1183 Words  | 3 Pages

    The legal basis for religious freedom cases is founded in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” From this statement, two schools of interpretation were born.

    Read More

  • Santa Fe Independent School District V. Doe Case Summary

    952 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Supreme Court case, Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, was argued on March 29, 2000, in Texas (Santa Fe Independent School Dist. v. Doe). The verdict was decided on June 19, 2000 by the Supreme Court. The case questioned the constitutionality of the school’s policy that permitted student-led, student initiated prayer at football games. The Supreme Court justices had to take the Establishment Clause of the first amendment into account when making their decision (Cornell University Law School). The case originated in the Santa Fe Independent School District, located in Texas. The District was against Doe, a Mormon and a Catholic family involved within the District. The purpose of the case was to determine if the school policy was in violation of the first amendment’s Establishment Clause which creates a divide between religion and government. The first amendment freedom of religion was the right at stake in regards to the Establishment Clause that defines a line between church

    Read More

  • Religion in Public Schools

    1403 Words  | 3 Pages

    Prohibiting School Prayer Threatens Religious Liberty. Civil Liberties. Ed. James D. Torr. -. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003.

    Read More

  • Executive Branch In Public Schools

    702 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Supreme Court ruled on two landmark cases related to prayer in schools. Public schools cannot sponsor Bible reading (Abington versus Schempp, 1963). The Lemon case of 1971 specified public schools may not teach courses in religion only public school courses.

    Read More

More about The Development of the Freedom of Religion in Public Schools

Open Document