Civil Liberties
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- Engel v. Vitale
- Does a public school requirement that students participate in a nondenominational prayer violate the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, as applied to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment?
- Steven Engel says:The state, under the Fourteenth Amendment, does not have the power to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as part of a religious program carried on by government.
- William Vitale says:The government has many instances of fostering religion already. For example, the Pledge of Allegiance pledges to "one Nation under God." Therefore, our government institutions already establish us as religious people and a non-denominational prayer should be no different.
- Majority Opinion:"It is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as part of a religious program carried on by government."- Justice Douglas
- Dissenting Opinion:"The Court has misapplied a great constitutional principle... to deny (school children) the opportunity of sharing in the spiritual heritage of our nation."- Justice Stuart
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