Cartoon Analysis #15

By: Erika Islas

Do you agree or disagree with praying in school?
First Amendment
Two Provisions concerning the First Amendment
The Establishment Clause
● The Establishment clause prohibits the government from "establishing" a
religion.
The Free Exercise Clause
● The Free Exercise Clause protects citizens' right to practice their religion as
they please, so long as the practice does not run afoul of "public morals" or
"compelling" governmental interest
Engel v. Vitale (1962)
Summary
● New York state’s Board of Regents wrote and authorized a voluntary prayer
that could be recited by students at the beginning of each school day.
● In 1958–59 a group of parents that included Steven Engel in Hyde Park, New
York, objected to the prayer.
● The prayer, which proponents argued was constitutional because it was
voluntary and promoted the free exercise of religion (also protected in the
First Amendment)
● U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 25, 1962, that voluntary prayer in public
schools violated the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment prohibition of a state
establishment of religion.
Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)
Summary
Ellery Schempp was a 16-year-old at a Pennsylvania high school, and he refused
to participate in mandatory Bible readings that occurred at the beginning of school
each day. His family, along with the family of student Bill Murray, sued, and the
court found that "state-sponsored devotional Bible readings in public schools
constitute an impermissible religious exercise by government."
 Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)
This case addressed whether schools can set aside a time for meditation or
personal reflection.

In Alabama, schools had “a period of silence for meditation.”

It did not endorse a specific religion or even specify that the silent time should be
used for religious reasons, but instead set it as a time of reflection. But later, state
legislators changed the statute to read a “period of silence for meditation or silent
prayer.”

With that addition, the Supreme Court ruled that the amendment to the law
violated the Establishment Clause.
What do you think?
 Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (1995)
This case was instituted by parents of two students, one Roman Catholic and one
Mormon, who objected to a school district policy that elected a classmate to say a
prayer at the stadium before football games. The Supreme Court ruled that
athletic events are school-sponsored, and therefore fall under the First
Amendment Establishment Clause. “The court made clear that there is not one
Constitution for football players and one for all other public-school students,” said
by the Religious Action Center
What do you think?
Brittnay McComb Speech 2006
What do you think?