Abington School District v. Schempp (1963) ended devotional exercises in
public schools because the First Amendment forbade the recognition of one
religion over others.
Establishment Clause
The first clause in the Bill of Rights states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.”
For approximately the first 150 years of the country’s existence, there was little debate over the meaning of this clause in the Constitution. As the citizenry became more diverse, however, challenges arose to existing laws and practices, and eventually, the Supreme Court was called upon to determine the meaning of the establishment clause.
Though not explicitly stated in the First Amendment, the clause is often interpreted to mean that the Constitution requires the separation of church and state.
Roger Williams, founder of Rhode Island, was the first public official to use this metaphor. He opined that an authentic Christian church would be possible only if there was “a wall or hedge of separation” between the “wilderness of the world” and “the garden of the church.” Williams believed that any government involvement in the church would corrupt the church.
It was not until after World War II that the Supreme Court interpreted the meaning of the establishment clause.
In Everson v. Board of Education (1947), the Supreme Court held that the establishment clause is one of the liberties protected by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, making it applicable to state laws and local ordinances. Since then the court has ruled in cases that involved required Bible reading in schools, religious displays on government property, display of the Ten Commandments in courtrooms, and the use of government funds to pay for religious schooling.
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of a case in which the
Washington Metro Transit Authority refused to allow an ad from the Catholic
Archdiocese on its bus because it contained religious content. However,
Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote a statement that refusing the religious ad
amounted to viewpoint discrimination.
Early Americans took oaths quite seriously. Then, as today, individuals who falsely testified under oath at trial were subject to perjury charges. Oaths had a special place because they had a religious connection. It was widely believed that individuals who believed in God and in rewards and punishments in the afterlife were unlikely to risk
Curtiss v. Strong, 4 Day 51 (1809), is a case decided by the Supreme Court of Errors of Connecticut that, while affirming the right of individuals of various religious persuasions to testify in court, denied that right to individuals who did not believe in a future state of rewards or punishments. It therefore upheld the
The Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution barring funding of religious entities bars the state from allowing a Catholic school to become a state charter school. The ruling in the case, Drummond v. Oklahoma Virtual Charter School Board, also explored how the action would violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
In 1965, the Supreme Court expanded the concept of religion that is
protected under the First Amendment in a case involving a conscientious
objector who did not believe in a single Supreme Being. In United States v.
Seeger, the Court moved away from requiring a theistic belief to qualify
for protection of religious freedom.
The Supreme Court in 2011 declined to hear a case in which a lower court
had ruled Utah Highway Patrol’s roadside crosses violated the establishment
clause of the First Amendment. Justice Clarence Thomas in Utah Highway
Patrol Association v. American Atheists dissented, saying jurisprudence on
the establishment clause needed a cleanup.
Supreme Court Justice David J. Brewer has long been known for his decision in Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States (1892). In that decision, while deciding that a law banning foreign laborers did not apply to a member of the clergy from England, he declared that the United States was a “Christian nation.”