ENGEL V. VITALE
Year: 1962
Result: 6:1, favor Engel
Related Constitutional issue/amendment: 1st amendment (freedom of religion); Establishment Clause
Civil Rights or Civil Liberties: Liberties
Significance/Precedent: Prayer encouraged in public schools was deemed unconstitutional. Any government association with religion is seen as promoting the advancement of that religion in particular, which would directly violate the Establishment Clause. The court ruling served as a catalyst for other cases involving prayer in public school, such as Wallace v. Jaffree, Lee v. Weisman, and Santa Fe ISD v. Doe.
Quote from majority opinion: "For this reason, petitioners argue, the State's use of the Regents' prayer in its public school system breaches the constitutional wall of separation between Church and State. We agree with that contention, since we think that the constitutional prohibition against laws respecting an establishment of religion must at least mean that, in this country, it is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as a part of a religious program carried on by government."
6-word summary: public schools cannot have voluntary prayer
Result: 6:1, favor Engel
Related Constitutional issue/amendment: 1st amendment (freedom of religion); Establishment Clause
Civil Rights or Civil Liberties: Liberties
Significance/Precedent: Prayer encouraged in public schools was deemed unconstitutional. Any government association with religion is seen as promoting the advancement of that religion in particular, which would directly violate the Establishment Clause. The court ruling served as a catalyst for other cases involving prayer in public school, such as Wallace v. Jaffree, Lee v. Weisman, and Santa Fe ISD v. Doe.
Quote from majority opinion: "For this reason, petitioners argue, the State's use of the Regents' prayer in its public school system breaches the constitutional wall of separation between Church and State. We agree with that contention, since we think that the constitutional prohibition against laws respecting an establishment of religion must at least mean that, in this country, it is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as a part of a religious program carried on by government."
6-word summary: public schools cannot have voluntary prayer