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Establishment Clause Should Not Be Allowed In School Essay

602 Words3 Pages

Overview- The state of New York required every school to begin the day reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and saying a nondenominational prayer. This law allowed students to not participate in the pray if it went against their belief. One of the student’s parents sued the school for violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. The majority claimed that even though this law allowed students to not participating, the purpose of the First Amendment was to separate government with religion. The people believed that since there was a numerous different religion in the school, the school should not promote just one belief. Justice Douglas stood up against any religion being involved in schools. Justice Stewart explained what the Establishment Clause really stood for, which was to prohibit state-sponsored churches.
Constitutional Issue- This case involves the Constitution because it relates to the First Amendment. This student and others believed that prayer in school goes against what the Establishment Clause was created for. The Establishment clause was made to removed influencing religion in the government or vise-versa. However, because of this Clause, not only was religion taken out of the government but completely out of schools today. Today, schools are not allowed to hold a moment of …show more content…

It found that the New York’s law was unconstitutional because it violated the First Amendment regarding the Establishment Clause. Hugo Black wrote the opinion of the majorities views of this subject, they stated that the practice of reciting this prayer did not follow the Establishment Clause. However, Potter Stewart argued that this act was allowing school students to express the spiritual heritage of our Nation. Although there were many other individuals supporting prayer in schools, Engel won the case and the court found the New York’s law

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The Supreme Court case of Engel v. Vitale’s decision was based on the establishment clause. The case of Engel v. Vitale struck down state organized prayer in school. The prayer had government endorsement and was thus considered unconstitutional. The Supreme Court case of Oregon v. Smith used the free exercise clause the basis of their decision.

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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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