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Engel Vs. Vital Case Study

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The Controversy began back in 1962 after the Engel v. Vital case, that state sponsored school prayers would be banned in public school systems. Since this ruling, the rules regarding school prayer have been clarified. The First Amendment allows students to freely express themselves religiously but also separates it from government-sponsored religion. Students have the right to pray while not involved in a school-related activity. They also have the right to pray, converse, and even persuade other students regarding religion. School officials have been instructed to in no way promote or hinder student prayer or religious gatherings on school
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As seen in previous cases like Tinker vs. Des Moines, students have the right to political say, unless it causes disruption at school of students are promoting something that goes against the law. In the case of Tinker v Des Moines the students were not promoting anything illegal but showed their thought on the Vietnam War by wearing black armbands (Tinker). Argued in court by Kenneth W. Starr in the Morse v. Frederick case, he gave the idea that the foundation for school censorship was the case of Tinker v. Des Moines (Morse). The Justices responded back saying, that case was a different scenario as the students weren 't doing anything against the law while Frederick was encouraging the use of marijuana which was illegal (Morse).

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an you imagine yourself having to start your daily school routine with a prayer? This became a serious question to be taken up by the Supreme Court of the US, in November of 1951. Following an increase in in juvenile crime (many believe caused by the Korean War). The New York Board of Regents adopted a prayer to be recited in NY public schools (Dierenfield 67). The prayer was established because “...the regents believed that such a program would ensure that school children would acquire ‘respect for lawful authority and obedience to law’ ”

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The reasoning behind that decision was that the provision allowing students to absent themselves from that activity did not make that law constitutional. The purpose of the First Amendment was to prevent government interference with religion (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). Justice Douglas concurred with what the court had found. He took a broader view of the Establishment Clause, arguing that any type of public promotion of religion, including giving financial aid to religious schools, violates the establishment clause (Facts and Case Summary - Engel v. Vitale, n.d.). I would agree with this decision in some ways, but there are some that I do not agree with.

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The case of Everson v. Board of Education began when New Jersey issued a state law authorized schools to make rules for transporting students to and from public and private nonprofit schools. Ewing Township made students use the public bus as school transportation, and they reimbursed the parents for the cost of transportation. Everson filed a suit against the Board of Education, arguing that tax money collected for public schools was being used to pay the families of student that attended private schools that were affiliated with various religious groups. Everson believed the Board had violated the “constitutional guarantee against the ‘establishment’ of a religion contained in the 1st Amendment” (phschool.com). In violating the guarantee of the 1st Amendment, Everson thought the Ewing Township board had also violated the guaranteed right to separation of church and state.

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4. Engel v. Vitale In the case, Engel was sueing Vitale over the grounds that there should be no teacher led prayer in public school. My oipinion is that if someone wants to pray, they should be able to.

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669 Words | 3 Pages

Religion has always played a large role in society, grounding a lot of legal frameworks through religious values. One crucial moment that underlines religion and law occurred during the Supreme Court case Engel v. Vitale. The decision for the case was made in 1962 after a New York State law required a voluntary prayer to be practiced at the beginning of the school day. A parent sued on behalf of his child, arguing that the law violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, as made applicable to the states through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (United States Courts). Engel v. Vitale put a lot of pressure on the Supreme Court when recognizing the balance between government and religion.

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As we all know today’s school are a lot different than those in the 1960’s. During the 1960’s is was tradition to open each and every day with a nondenominational prayer, along with the Pledge of Allegiance. Today, prayer is accepted in schools as long as it is led by the student themselves, and not the teacher. In 1962 the case of Engel vs. Vitale went to the Supreme Court based off the idea of whether school sponsored prayer violates the First Amendment Establishment Clause. At this time there was a general law in New York State that required every school within the state to open each day with the Pledge of Allegiance, and a prayer that did not restrict denomination.

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“...they serve to advocate religion in violation of... the First Amendment...” (Court) This quote is saying that the school’s prayer was seen as a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment because of the government's involvement in all public schools. In the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, it states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." This reinforced that the Engel vs. Vitale court case was caused by a violation of the First Amendment, since the morning prayers could be seen as prohibiting.

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The federal government put this in place to keep the government from establishing a national religion and to stop it interfering with state religious issues by stating in the establishment clause, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion”. Since the schools reciting prayer in the morning were public schools run by the government, they were breaking the First Amendment. This led Steven Engel, along with other parents, suing the school for denying their First Amendment

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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.

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amend. I) is being violated. What this amendment does is protect us from government censorship and give us freedom of religion. Now, many people think that we do not have censorship in the US. However, this is not the case.

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I can’t fully express anything that I want and its due to the security and general welfare of other fellow peers. A lot of class work has to be censored and cant be used for the sole purpose of education. We too, students, are persons under the American Constitution . So so this extent, i can say that our government has altered the first amendment.

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408 Words | 2 Pages

The First Amendment in a School Setting The first amendment is a constitutional right inherited by every American citizen, but how far is it truly reaching? At school, it has always been a wonder to me about the rights we students have amongst our peers. While some students use the first amendment inappropriately at school, a student has the right to voice their opinion under the protection of the first amendment. This is because, as decided by the Supreme Court, students do not “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate” (Oyez, 1) therefore giving us this, some-what, shield of protection.

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bullying, homosexuality, and the spread of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) and other occurrences of immorality. The cons of reinstating prayer within the schools would violate the Establishment Clause because public schools are funded by the government, it would violate the separation of church and state because schools were built for education, not religious expressions. Students have been given the legal right to pray in non-disruptive ways (no singing, or chanting, or expression of healing). Students are not to highlight religious differences, by force or threat, it should remain neutral and currently, there is no doctrine that honors religions as a whole which violates one's own

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There are many views and opinions of the state of the United States on this subject. It has long been a puzzling issue that never seems to seize. America should have religious freedom, because it is a constitutional right to Americans. Prayer in school, gay marriage, and governmental control, are among some of the main issues in this topic.

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