...the Public Schools: Public Prayer or Private Action? The differences between private and government sponsored religious speech can be difficult, but necessary to determine when dealing with religion in the public school system. In Kountze Texas, a group of cheerleaders are suing the school district because a ban was placed on their usage of religious banners before the local public school’s football games. The cheerleaders created banners, like many high school cheerleaders do, but the message painted on their signs were statements such as, “And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us” The messages on the banners are religious speech and a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution. Yes, the United States Constitution does allow for the freedom of religion, but it also separates Church and State. The cheerleaders painted these signs for a school organized football game; the educational institution is a public one and must abide by the United States Constitution and the separation of church and state. If the school were private, religious connotations would be permissible, but being that the school is public, the signs created by the cheerleaders would be considered government sanctioned. The Establishment Clause in the First Amendment states, “congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” Throughout our nations history there has been much debate of what the framers of the Constitution meant by establishment. For instance...
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...Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, 530 US 290 (2000), Decided June 19, 2000 Question Presented: Does the Santa Fe ISD's policy allowing student-led prayer at football games violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment? Constitutional Provisions: Establishment Clause & Free Exercise Clause- 1st Amendment Facts of the Case: In 1995, the Does tried to put a restraining order on the ISD for violating the Establishment Clause at graduation ceremonies by allowing students to read Christian prayers from the stage. They also alleged that the ISD was encouraging students to join Baptist activities, berated those who held minority religious beliefs, gave out Gideon Bibles on school premises, and allowed students to read prayers over the public address system at games. The District...
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...3 RUNNING HEAD: INTELLIGENT DESIGN Intelligent Design Paper James L. Jones CRJ 311 Forensics Mrs. Rebecca Nieman Nov 17, 2012 Good evening everyone. My name is Mr. James Jones the superintendent of the El Paso County school district and the topic that I will be discussing in today’s speech is the concern of thought of being intelligent design into the school system. The intelligent design movement is a neo-creationist religious campaign for broad social, academic and political change to promote and support the idea of intelligent design, which asserts that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause, not a possibly undirected process such as natural selection. Its chief activities are a campaign to promote public awareness of this concept, the lobbying of policymakers to include its teaching in high school science classes, and legal action, either to defend such teaching or to remove barriers otherwise preventing it. The movement arose out of the previous Christian fundamentalist and evangelistic creation science movement in the United States, and is driven by a small group of proponents. The overall goal of the intelligent design movement is to overthrow materialism and atheism. Its proponents believe that society has suffered devastating cultural consequences from adopting materialism and that science is the cause of the decay into materialism because it seeks only natural explanations, and is therefore atheistic...
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...passed, the Balanced Treatment Act, that wherever evolutionary science was taught so must creationism science be taught. The court ruled this law unconstitutional on the primary basis that it violated the establishment clause under the first amendment of the constitution, and it failed the lemon test formed after a precedent case. The court's decision was seven to two, where Justice William J. Brennan wrote the majority opinion and the dissent was formed by Justice Antonin Scalia joined by Justice William Rehnquist. The first argument made by the majority was that it violated the establishment clause of the...
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...Violation of Freedom of Speech or of Establishment Clause Tony Carraro November 23, 2009 This decision was monumental in the United States because it not only allowed students to use their First Amendment rights but it also prevented instructors from punishing those students for their actions. The First Amendment rights were put in place for all Americans in all situations. Reciting the pledge is viewed as a patriotic act; however, it is not law. Having the student’s First Amendment rights taken away for this is not constitutional and that is just what the court ruled. However, this did not end the controversy. In 1992 the 7th circuit heard _Sherman v. Community Consolidated School District 21_. In this case the court ruled that that the recitation of the pledge in Illinois elementary schools did not violate the Establishment Clause. Judge Frank Easterbrook reasoned that “the Pledge is a secular rather than sectarian vow.” He also noted that historic figures such as Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln used “God” in many of their speeches and writings such as Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. In addition to that he pointed out that one has taken the oath on the bible since the beginning of the court system (). This was the second monumental decision made by the U.S. Supreme Court. By ruling in the favor of Newdow the court said that schools cannot force a kid to say the phrase “under God”. This was a positive ruling on the...
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...Case Brief and Analysis Title/ Citation: School District of Abington Township v. Schempp; Murray v. Curlett, 374 U.S. 203, 83 S.Ct. 1650 (1965). Facts: A. The Plaintiffs are Edward Schempp and his wife. B. The Defendant is the School District of Abington Township. C. The Plaintiff’s contention is that their 14th and 1st amendment rights to the Constitution have been violated by making students participate in religious activities daily in school. D. The Defendant’s defense is that students do not have to participate in reading of the bible or the national anthem. Parental consent to be excluded must be in a hand written note and given to the school. E. The Plaintiff filed a law suit in U.S. District Court. The District Court found in favor of the Schempp Family. The School District and State Superintendent then appealed to the Supreme Court. F....
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...heard and dismissed by the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania. When appealed to the United States Supreme Court in 1971, Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) was heard as three separate cases. The cases were filed in effort to contest the constitutionality of the Pennsylvania Nonpublic Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1968) and Rhode Island’s Salary Supplementation Act (1969), which allowed these states to provide financial aid to non-public, religiously affiliated schools. Summary This case was presented on the basis that the aforementioned Acts supported the advancement of religious ideology and established unconstitutional relationships between church and state in violation of the Establishment Clause of the First...
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...Engel v. Vitale: Background information: The New York public schools followed the Pledge of Allegiance and did a small prayer which was a form of displaying dependency on God. However, parents were upset and filed a complaint which said that by requiring a prayer, the Establishment Clause regarding the First Amendment was violated. This case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court. Engel v. Vitale: Chief Justice at the time: The Chief Justice at the time of Engel v. Vitale was Earl Warren. Overall, the court was mostly considered liberal compared to conservative. Engel v. Vitale: Major Question at the center of the case: The main question in Engel v. Vitale is whether school-sponsored nondenominational prayer in public schools violates...
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...Supreme Court Cases Involving Students Tinker v. Des Moines The court case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District of 1969, citation 393 U.S. 503 (1969), was heard by the Warren Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The case involved three students in Des Moines who held a meeting and decided to wear black arm bands to school in order to show support for the truce in the Vietnam War. The three students were John Tinker, Mary Beth Tinker, and Christopher Eckhardt. They met at Christopher Eckardt’s house, who was 16-years-old at the time, and made plans to wear the arm bands during the holiday season and intended to end the protest on New Year’s Day. An administrator had heard of the students plan before it happened and believed it would cause a disruption to the school. The administrator banned the arm bands that displayed support of the Vietnam War. Students were asked to remove the arm bands and if they did not, they would face suspension. In spite of the threat, the three students wore the arm bands to school anyways and refused to remove them. The students were suspended from school until the end of their protest. The parents of...
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...Intelligent Design is religion disguised as science, and as such, should not be taught in our public schools. Introduction The town of Dover, PA looks like any other small towns in central Pennsylvania, but in October 2004 when the local school board proposed a slight alteration to the high school biology curriculum a fault line erupted between those who think of intelligent design as science and something that should be taught alongside evolution, and those who think of it as religion disguised as science. As a science teacher myself, I was very interested in this subject, and how school districts nationwide are pushing initiatives recently to put intelligent design in their biology classes. These school districts are struggling with the dilemma of whether or not to teach creationism as an alternative view to evolution theory. If, as many scientific creationists believe, God's message is important in defining the content, aims, and conditions of educational practice, then creationism does belong in the classroom. However, those who propose that creationism is not science, and that "creation science" is a misnomer, are opposed to the intervention of religion into the public educational program; after all, public educational programs should be separate from concerns of the church. The Scientific...
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...long-protected separation of church and state, upheld in countless high court decisions. Extremely important to these legal debates is the “establishment clause”, which holds that the state, or any body of the state, cannot sanction any given religion over another. Court cases claiming violations of the establishment clause have been comprised primarily of suits brought against school districts, who, by extension, are arms of the...
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...Engel v. Vitale: Background information: The New York public schools followed the Pledge of Allegiance and did a small prayer which was a form of displaying dependency on God. However, parents were upset and filed a complaint which said that the Establishment Clause regarding the First Amendment was violated by requiring a prayer. This case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court. Engel v. Vitale: Chief Justice at the time: The Chief Justice at the time of Engel v. Vitale was Earl Warren. Overall, the court was mostly considered liberal compared to conservative. Engel v. Vitale: Major Question at the center of the case: The main question in Engel v. Vitale is whether school-sponsored nondenominational prayer in public schools violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment....
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...Due to the First Amendment of the Constitution and the religion clauses, public schools have to be very careful in how religion is approached as to not infringe upon an individual’s rights. There are however, ways in which religious topics can be introduced without requesting or influencing anyone to sway from their religion or infringing upon religious freedoms. For instance, the Bible can be utilized for teaching certain aspects as well as teaching about religion. The Anti-Defamation League website explains, “The Bible may be taught in a school, but only for its historical, cultural or literary value and never in a devotional, celebratory, or doctrinal manner, or in such a way that encourages acceptance of the Bible as a religious document…Programs that “teach about religion” are geared toward teaching students about the role of religion in the historical, cultural, literacy and social development of the United States and other nations. These programs should instill understanding, tolerance and respect for a pluralistic society.” (ADL.org, 2013...
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...DOES JESUS BELONG IN PARLIAMENT? AN EXAMINATION OF FREEDOM OF RELIGION PROVISIONS IN PUBLIC BODIES IN NEW ZEALAND, CANADA, AND THE UNITED STATES by ELIZABETH G. FOX 28 August 2009 1 I INTRODUCTION New Zealand does not have a state religion in the way that other countries do.1 The Church of England, for example, has its doctrine and prayer book ratified by Parliament and has the Queen as supreme authority over both ecclesiastical and civil matters.2 However, the central legislators of this country listen to the Speaker of the House open each Parliamentary session with the following prayer.3 Almighty God, humbly acknowledging our need for Thy guidance in all things, and laying aside all private and personal interests, we beseech Thee to grant that we may conduct the affairs of this House and of our country to the glory of Thy holy name, the maintenance of true religion and justice, the honour of the Queen, and the public welfare, peace, and tranquillity of New Zealand, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Is this appropriate in a country that professes no state church and the tolerance of all religions equally?4 Religious content has historically infiltrated governing and administrative bodies. However, with the cultural disestablishment of Christianity and the emergence of toleration for all faiths, there continues to be the presence and preference of a small set of religions by the State. The degree to which religion interacts with the State varies with...
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...Shantae Lovelace Strayer University SOC 205 Society, Law And Government Professor Gregory Smith March15, 2015 Each day elementary school teachers in the Elk Grove Unified School District lead their classes in a group recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Respondent, Michael Newdow, is an atheist whose daughter participates in that daily exercise. Because the Pledge contains the words "under God," he views the School District's policy as a religious indoctrination of his child that violates the First Amendment. A divided panel of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit agreed with Newdow. In light of the obvious importance of that decision, we granted certiorari to review the First Amendment issue and, preliminarily, the question whether Newdow has standing to invoke the jurisdiction of the federal courts. We conclude that Newdow lacks standing and therefore reverse the Court of Appeals' decision (Findlaw, n.d.). Summary of Court Case Petitioner school district requires each elementary school class to recite daily the Pledge of Allegiance. Respondent Newdow's daughter participates in this exercise. Newdow, an atheist, filed suit alleging that, because the Pledge contains the words "under God," it constitutes religious indoctrination of his child in violation of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses. He also alleged that he had standing to sue on his own behalf and on behalf of his daughter as "next friend." The Magistrate Judge...
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