Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Decision (Engel v Vitale)

1) Supreme Court ruled, 6-1, in favor of the objecting parents.

First Amendment (Engel v Vitale)

"no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"

Background (Engel v Vitale)

- The First Amendment to the Constitution protects the right to religious worship yet also shields Americans from the establishment of state-sponsored religion. - This is a case about whether public schools may also play a role in teaching faith to God through the daily recitation of prayer.

Dissent (Engel v Vitale)

1) Prayer was voluntary 2) Saw it as non-denominational; not an official religion.

Arguments for Engel

1) School-sponsored prayer violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment as applied to the states. 2) Government cannot favor religion over another. "Almighty God" refers and favors monotheistic religions 3) Government is forcing a belief in organized religion 4) If didn't participate students would be singled out for beliefs 5) Barnette and McCollum, the Supreme Court made it clear that public schools cannot promote specific religions over others

West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) (Engel v Vitale)

1) All public schools included a salute of the American flag as a part of their activities. 2) If students did not participate, they could be charged with "insubordination" and punished. 3) Jehovah's Witnesses, cited a religious objection to saluting the flag, claiming that it was equivalent to "idolatry." 4) The Supreme Court ruled that the mandatory salute was unconstitutional, that you can't require people to express ideas that they disagree with

Majority(Engel v Vitale)

1) School-sponsored prayer was unconstitutional because it violated the Establishment Clause. 2) The Court rejected the claim that the prayer was nondenominational and voluntary 3) Establishment Clause was to prevent the government from setting up a particular religious sect of church as the "official" church.

Facts (Engel v Vitale)

1) Teachers voluntarily recited this school-provided prayer, which had been drafted by the state education agency, the New York Regents. 2) The prayer was said aloud in the presence of a teacher, who either led the recitation or selected a student to do so. Students were not required to say this prayer out loud 3) Two Jewish families (including Stephen Engel) argued that reciting the daily prayer at the opening of the school day in a public school violated the First Amendment's Establishment Clause 4) New York Courts upheld, the objecting families then asked the Supreme Court to review the case.

Arguments for Vitale

1) prayer safeguards the religious heritage of the nation. 2) Prayer is non-denominational and does not imply preference of any one religion over others 3) Voluntary, not mandatory 4) In previous cases the Supreme Court did not strike references to God down as violations of the First Amendment.

McCollum v. Board of Education (1948) (Engel v Vitale)

1) public school violated the Establishment Clause when it allowed the school to teach religious instruction during school hours on school property. 2) court ruled in an 8-1 decision this violated the Establishment Clause by establishing a government preference for certain religions

Issue? (Engel v Vitale)

Does the recitation of a prayer in public schools violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment?