Taking Sides
...rst case to ever be decided based on ones First Amendment rights. But it wasn’t until 1962 and the U.S. Supreme Court case Engle v. Vitale that the debate rapidly began to heat up…and there was plenty to fuel that fire. Before the Engel case went to the Supreme Court, it was tried in three New York State courts; including the highest Court of Appeals. It was decided in all three courts that the recitation of the Regents Prayer was voluntary, and not in any way unconstitutional. “...a child is free to stand or not stand, recite or not recite, with no fear of punishment or discrimination from a teacher, or any other school official” (Justice William O. Douglas). Attorney Generals from 22 states felt strongly enough on the issue to file briefs in support of the prayer, naming this a case “of vital importance to the welfare of our Nation and to the preservation of its spiritual and moral heritage.” However, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the prayer was unconstitutional, and did indeed violate an individual’s First Amendment rights. The legal banishment of prayer in school came less than a year later in1963, with Abington v. Schempp. The ruling in this case was the same as the Engel case; that prayer in school violates the Establishment Clause and Free-Exercise Clause, thus making it unconstitutional. There are many complex interpretations of these two clauses’. It gets broken down…and broken down some more…and on and on. Simply put; the Establishment Clause ensures that the government cannot establish ONE specific religion for all people. The Free-Exercise Clause prohibits the government from punishing or discriminating against a person because of their beliefs. The federal government cannot FORCE an individual to accept our national heritage, or discrimi...