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Engel V Vitale

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On June 25, 1962, a Supreme Court case, Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421, was decided. The lawsuit was brought to the United States Supreme Court by parents (of students who attended schools in the Herricks School District) who complained that a nondenominational prayer instituted by the New York Board of Regents in their district was unconstitutional. The parents argued that the prayer, although optional, violated their First Amendment Rights. When the 6-1 (two justices did not vote) decision was made, it was ruled that voluntary prayer in public schools violates the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. One concurring opinion was given, and the single judge that did not vote the same as the rest provided …show more content…

In 1951, the following prayer was written that was intended to be recited each morning as part of the regents’ Statement of Moral and Spiritual Training in the Schools: “Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country.” Because the regents made the recitation of the prayer each day entirely optional to the school boards and the individual families of students, many New York school districts shunned the prayer because of their eclectic student bodies. Not only was the state religiously and ethnically diverse, but religious instruction in state schools was declared unconstitutional by the 1948 Supreme Court decision in the McCollum vs. Board of Education case. Because of the constantly increasing controversy about religious teaching in public schools, at least 90% of New York districts were not using the prayer by the late 1950s. Then, in 1958, five parents (of varying religions and ethnicities) of students within the district filed a lawsuit to stop the use of the prayer in their schools. The families believed, even though the students could be individually excused from the recitation, that the difficulty of being granted permission to be excused from the room during the regents’ prayer made the recitation feel extremely obligatory. Furthermore, they said the prayer certainly violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the

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Vitale. The case of Engel v. Vitale was brought up by a group of families from New Hyde park, New York, they were up against the voluntary prayer written by the state board to God, in other words, the study board wrote a Christian prayer up for public students who wants it. A group of parent under their leader Steven Engel(a jihadist) were not Christians and they believed this prayer contradicted their religion, they argued opening a public school with such prayer violates the clause of the first Amendment and the fourteenth amendment. At the end of this case, the court ruled government- written prayers may not be recited in public schools because it violates the first amendment. However these public school students were given a choice they were not forced to pray this prayer, moreover, this particular prayer was not sponsored by taxpayer’s money.

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The issue in this case was whether school-sponsored nondenominational prayer in public schools violates the Establishment clause of the first amendment (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). This case dealt with a New York state law that had required public schools to open each day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a nondenominational prayer in which the students recognized their dependence upon God (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). This law had also allowed students to absent themselves from this activity if they found that it was objectionable. There was a parent that sued the school on behalf of their child. Their argument was that the law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as made applicable

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Taking place in 1962, Engel v. Vitale was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that raised the issue of school-sponsored prayer in public schools. Steven Engel, a New York parent, along with a group of other parents, was completely against any sort of prayer, whether voluntary or not, in public schools. Engel, a person of Jewish faith, and his group were supported by various Jewish organizations in their fight against the New Hyde Park school board. William Vitale, the president of this school board, was supported by twenty-two states through an amicus curiae brief. The case spurred from Vitale and other parents’ concerns with the fact that every day, after reciting the pledge of allegiance, students of New York State schools were given the option to recite a prayer,

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The first major case brought to notice was West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette. Before this court decision, it was common for children to be expelled from school for not comply with the pledge. The Board of education wanted the pledge to become a regular part of public schooling and refusing to obey was an Act of insubordination which ended in expulsion. If the child still did not conform, they would be considered unlawfully

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These decisions also made it so job discrimination in federally funded programs were not allowed. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court announced a resolution that changed the way students went to school. At the end of the Brown v. Board of Education case, the Supreme Court said that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" (Morrison 19). Chief Justice Earl Warren said, "We conclude that in the field of public education, the doctrine of separate but equal has no place" (Somervill

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In 1962, during the case of Engel v Vitale, the Supreme Court ruled that starting off school days with a prayer sponsored by school officials was in violation of the Establishment Clause. Justice

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Prayer in public schools became an issue in 1960. A woman by the name of Madalyn Murray O’Hair sued the Baltimore, Maryland school system, because her son William J Murray was allegedly being forced to participate in prayer at the public school he attended. The American Atheist Organization, alongside Madalyn’s actions consequently led to the Supreme Court ruling in the 1960s. On June 17, 1963, the Supreme Court published its ruling on the case. The Supreme Court ruled that Bible reading and prayer in schools were unconstitutional.

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But that soon ended why people wanted to start sueing the school for teaching religious views. The majority voted no. Its been 50 years to be exact since the U.S Supreme Court ruled out that government-endorsed prayer in public schools. No public schools are allowed to mention religion or practice religion , learn about the bible, read the bible ,

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Weisman the courts said graduation prayers were a violation of the Establishment Clause (http://www.timetoast.com/timelines/religion-in-public-schools--2). I feel like this is a topic that affects everyone in the community because learning about religions teaches compassion and tolerance of people who may be of a different faith. Warren Nord believed this too he was known as many as a pioneer trying to get religion education back as a part of curriculum in our schools, he said ‘‘humans are moral beings existing in a web of obligations with other persons and God, and some practices and policies are right or wrong in themselves and not subject to cost-benefit analysis’’ He’s also been quoted as to saying the following ‘‘virtually every religious tradition has placed special emphasis on compassion and the duty to help the poor and oppressed’’ Feinberg, W. (2013). The way Nord explains his plan for religion in schools is as follows ‘‘on various live religious and secular traditions’’: Taking religion seriously can be

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The boundaries of the First Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom to exercise religion and prohibits establishment of a national religion, have been continuously tested since the very creation of the amendment. A primary area of concern when discussing religious freedom involves incorporation in public school systems. When debating religion in schools, one can consider a hypothetical situation to aid in making a decision. For example, one could consider a public high school student who plans to give a graduation speech in which Jesus Christ is mentioned, and a school that reviews the speech and makes the student remove all of these mentions. One could ask the question, “Is this constitutional?” and consider past documents and court

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