Establishment Clause Case Study

The complementary halves of the First Amendment with respect to religion are the Establishment Clause, which prevents the imposition of religion by the government, and the Free Exercise Clause, which prevents government imposition on religion. The original purpose of the Establishment Clause was to protect the state-sponsored churches from the authority of the national government. During the era of the American Revolution and the founding of the United States, many of the state legislatures supported churches and other religious institutions. This resulted in many political inequalities, as well as religious violence and coercion among the State citizens. In 1786, Thomas Jefferson, a major proponent of separation between Church and State,

Although the Good News Club claims that they are being discriminated for their opinions, this case raises the issue of a government run public school explicitly supporting religion. Both the District Court of New York as well as the Court of Appeals hold that the public school’s religious discrimination was constitutional because there is no separation between religion and the activities of the Good News Club. Despite the lower court's rulings the Supreme Court holds that the school created unconstitutional religious discrimination since religious groups may not be excluded from participating in a limited public forum, as long as the group is only performing permitted activities from a religious viewpoint. This case follows the both the narrow and literal interpretation of the Establishment Clause, which follow the belief that the government is simply not able to declare a national religion or provide government preferential support to a religion. On the other hand, supporters of Jefferson and Madison’s ideal on the wall of separation between church and state would favor that exclusion. Additionally this case examines the infringement of an individual's freedom of speech by

See Everson v. Board of Education,330 U. S. 1, 330 U. S. 16...In 1960, a report of the Legislative Research Council in Massachusetts stated: "In general, Sunday laws protect the public by guaranteeing one day in seven to provide a period of rest and quiet. Health, peace, and good order of society are thereby promoted. Such provision is essentially civil in character, and the statutes are not regarded as religious ordinances”

The Supreme Court holds this ideal above the particular economic consequences suffered by those represented in the lawsuit. This points to a larger trend of the Supreme Court when it overturns lower courts; it does this to prioritize public good over individual conflicts when it comes to the Establishment