2. Religion and Education
More than two-thirds of the Supreme Court
establishment clause cases concern religion
and education.
The cases concerning the place of religion in
public education fall into two phases:
1.
2.
1948-1987: the Court applied a consistent
separationist logic.
Beginning in 1981 and escalating after 1990:
the Court used a new “equal access” logic.
3. Separationist Cases (1948-1987)
The Court used a strict separationist reading of
the establishment clause in its first modern
cases on religion and public education.
The famous 1925 Scopes monkey trial in
Tennessee featured William Jennings Bryan
and Clarence Darrow fighting valiantly over the
place of creation and evolution in the public
school.
After 1947, the Supreme Court systematically
barred religion from the public schools.
4. Separationist Cases
McCollum v. Board of Education (1948)
Engel v. Vitale (1962)
Abington Township School District v. Schempp
(1963)
Stone v. Graham (1980)
Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)
Edwards v. Aguillard (1987)
Lee v. Weisman (1992)
Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe
(2000)
5. Equal Access Cases (1981-2001)
The decisions in the cases on the place of
religion in the public schools – from McCollum
(1948) to Santa Fe (2000) are among the
Court’s most consistent applications of the
First Amendment religion clauses.
The results are unwavering – religion is not
permitted in the public school during
instructional time or at school-sponsored
events, save as an object of study in an
appropriate course.
6. Equal Access Cases (1981-2000)
However, there are concerns with these public
schools cases:
1.
2.
The need to educate students about religion.
To protect the student’s rights to religious
expression.
These concerns have helped drive the development
of a new line of equal access cases.
7. Equal Access Cases
Widmar v. Vincent (1981)
Board of Education v. Mergens (1990)
Lamb’s Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free
School District (1993)
Rosenberger v. University of Virginia (1995)
Good News Club v. Milford Central School
(2001)
