Engel V. Vitale Case Summary

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Two Cases
Engel v. Vitale (1962) (Wilson, DiIulio & Bose 49) In New York the law requires that public schools are to open each day with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer which the students were to recognize their need for God (uscourts.gov). The students were allowed to excuse themselves from this activity if they found it to be objectionable (uscourts.gov). An adult guardian was angry and filed a suit of law he or she was stating the argument that the law was violating the Establishment of Clause for the First Amendment, as made available to the states via the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment (uscourts.gov). The issues presented here was whether or not school-sponsored corporate prayer in public schools did violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment (uscourts.gov). The ruling was “Yes” eight to one; and that it did violate the clause of the First Amendment (uscourts.gov). …show more content…
Kurtzman (1971) (Wilson, DiIulio & Bose 49) The Twelfth found colony Pennsylvania and the fifth found colony of Rhode Island absorbed these statutes that provided for the states to pay for aspects of non-secular, non-public education. “”“Pennsylvania’s statute was passed in the year nineteen and sixty-eight and provided funding for non-public school teachers’ salaries, books of texts, and curriculum for subjects” (oyez.org). “Rhode Island’s statute was passed in the year nineteen sixty-nine and provided state financial support for private schools in the form of supplementing fifteen percent of teachers’ annual salaries” (oyez.org). So the people from Pennsylvania and the case they were filing believed that the statute was violated. Appellant Lemon also had a child in a one of these public schools (oyez.org). The district court granted the state officials’ motion to dismiss the case.
In the Rhode Island case, the citizens wanted the statute in question declared unconstitutional. Court of the district founded in favor of the Rhode Islanders
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Supreme Court Case: Engel Vs Vitale

In the case Engel vs. Vitale, Steven Engel fought the New Hyde Park Schools and the president of the school board, William Vitale, over a prayer that the students recited every morning. The students that wished not to participate in the prayer could sit in their seats silently or leave the room while the other students prayed (Jeffrey Ohene Darko). Although the prayer was voluntary and non-denominational, Engel still believed it was unconstitutional. Engel believed the prayer violated the Establishment…

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