| Engel v. Vitale | ||||||
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 Supreme Court of the United States |
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| Argued April 3, 1962 Decided June 25, 1962 |
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| Full case name | Steven I. Engel, et al. v. William J. Vitale, Jr., et al.' | |||||
| Citations | 370 U.S. 421 (more) 82 S. Ct. 1261; 8 L. Ed. 2d 601; 1962 U.S. LEXIS 847; 20 Ohio Op. 2d 328; 86 A.L.R.2d 1285 |
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| Prior history | 191 N.Y.S.2d 453 (Sup. Ct. 1959), aff'd, 206 N.Y.S.2d 183 (App. Div. 1960), aff'd, 176 N.E.2d 579 (N.Y. 1961) | |||||
| Subsequent history | 186 N.E.2d 124 (N.Y. 1962) | |||||
| Holding | ||||||
| Government-directed prayer in public schools, even if it is denominationally neutral and non-mandatory, violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. | ||||||
| Court membership | ||||||
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| Case opinions | ||||||
| Majority | Black, joined by Warren, Douglas, Clark, Harlan, Brennan | |||||
| Dissent | Stewart | |||||
| Frankfurter and White took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. | ||||||
| Laws applied | ||||||
| U.S. Const. amend. I | ||||||
Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that determined that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and require its recitation in public schools.
Contents |
The case was brought by the families of public school students in New Hyde Park, New York who complained the prayer to "Almighty God" contradicted their religious beliefs. They were supported by groups opposed to the school prayer including rabbinical organizations, Ethical Culture, and Judaic organizations. The prayer in question was:
Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country. Amen.
The plaintiffs argued that opening the school day with such a prayer (even if students are not required to recite it) violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution (as applied to the states through the Fourteenth), which says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion." The governments of twenty-two states[1] signed on to an amicus curiae brief urging affirmance of the New York Court of Appeals decision that upheld the constitutionality of the prayer. The American Ethical Union, the American Jewish Committee, and the Synagogue Council of America each submitted briefs urging the Court to instead reverse and rule that the prayer was unconstitutional.
In an opinion delivered by Justice Hugo Black, the Court ruled that government-directed prayer in public schools was an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause. This was decided in a vote of 6-1, because before the decision could be announced, Justice Felix Frankfurter suffered a cerebral stroke that forced him to retire, and Justice Byron White took no part in the case.[2]
The Court explained the importance of separation between church and state by giving a lengthy history of the issue, beginning with the sixteenth century in England. It then stated that school's prayer is a religious activity by the very nature of it being a prayer, and that prescribing such a religious activity for school children violates the Establishment Clause. The program, created by government officials to promote a religious belief, was therefore constitutionally impermissible.
The Court rejected the defendant's arguments that people are not asked to respect any specific established religion; and that the prayer is voluntary. The Court held that the mere promotion of a religion is sufficient to establish a violation, even if that promotion is not coercive. The Court further held that the fact that the prayer is vaguely worded enough not to promote any particular religion is not a sufficient defense, as it still promotes a family of religions (those that recognize "Almighty God"), which still violates the Establishment Clause.
In his dissent, Potter Stewart argued that the Court's background narratives regarding England, the Book of Common Prayer, and the separation of church and state were irrelevant, as England had then and has now an established religion (Church of England). Stewart believed that the real issue was on prohibiting those who want to begin a school day with prayer from doing so. Moreover, he argued that phrases like, "the wall of separation," are nowhere in the Constitution and the Court used them uncritically. Stewart then listed the religious references in the three branches of the federal government and on American coins, in the National Anthem, in the Pledge of Allegiance, and in one of the court's recent decisions, Zorach v. Clauson. He argued that neither these examples, nor the voluntary prayer in New York established a religion.
Engel became the basis for several subsequent decisions limiting government-directed prayer in school. In Wallace v. Jaffree (1985), the Supreme Court ruled Alabama's law permitting one minute for prayer or meditation was unconstitutional. In Lee v. Weisman (1992), the court prohibited clergy-led prayer at high school graduation ceremonies. Lee v. Weisman, in turn, was a basis for Santa Fe ISD v. Doe (2000), in which the Court extended the ban to school sanctioning of student-led prayer at high school football games.
| ←United States Supreme Court | Engel
v. Vitale Syllabus |
| Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case that determined that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and require its recitation in public schools, even when it is non-denominational and students may excuse themselves from participation. — Excerpted from Engel v. Vitale on Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. |
| Court Documents |
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| Opinion of the
Court |
| Concurring Opinion Douglas |
| Dissenting Opinion Stewart |
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| Linked cases: 472 U.S. 38 505 U.S. 577 530 U.S. 290 |
Because of the prohibition of the First Amendment against the
enactment of any law "respecting an establishment of religion,"
which is made applicable to the States by the Fourteenth Amendment,
state officials may not compose an official state prayer and
require that it be recited in the public schools of the State at
the beginning of each school day -- even if the prayer is
denominationally neutral and pupils who wish to do so may remain
silent or be excused from the room while the prayer is being
recited. Pp. 422-436.
   | Oyez.org - Engel v. Vitale, U.S. Supreme Court Case Summary & Oral Argument |
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