Case Categories: Public Schools and Religion

• Abington School District v. Schempp (1963)

  Abington School District v. Schempp (1963) ended devotional exercises in public schools because the First Amendment forbade the recognition of one religion over...

• Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet (1994)

  Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet (1994) said a school district created for disabled children of a religious sect violated the...

• Board of Education of the City of Cincinnati v. Minor (1872)

  Board of Education v. Minor (1872), a state supreme court decision, preceded later First Amendment debates in the Supreme Court about religious instruction in...

• Board of Education of the Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (1990)

  In Board of Education of the Westside Community Schools v. Mergens (1990) the Court upheld the Equal Access Act, which barred religious discrimination against...

• Chamberlin v. Dade County Board of Public Instruction (1964)

  Chamberlin v. Dade County Board of Public Instruction (1964) struck down Bible readings and prayers in the public schools based on First Amendment court...

• Cole v. Oroville Union High School District (2000)

  Cole v. Oroville Union High School District (9th Cir. 2000) used the coercion test to deny students' prayer at graduation because it could violate the First...

• Commonwealth v. Cooke (Mass.) (1859)

  Commonwealth v. Cooke (Mass. 1859) involved a student who refused to read a King James Bible. The First Amendment which protects such rights was not yet applied...

• Donahoe v. Richards (Maine Supreme Court) (1854)

  In Donahoe v. Richards (1854), the Maine Supreme Court considered a 15-year-old Roman Catholic girl's expulsion from public school for refusing to read the King...

• Elmbrook School District v. Doe (2014)

  The Court refused to hear Elmbrook School District v. Doe (2014), in which a circuit court said a graduation in a nondenominational church violated the First...

• Engel v. Vitale (1962)

  Engel v. Vitale (1962) ruled that school-sponsored prayer in public schools violated the First Amendment even though participation in the prayer was voluntary...

• Good News Club v. Milford Central School (2001)

  Good News Club v. Milford Central School decided that school districts cannot prohibit First Amendment free speech of groups seeking access to the district’s...

• Illinois ex rel. McCollum v. Board of Education (1948 )

  Illinois ex rel. McCollum v. Board of Education (1948) overturned an arrangement whereby public schools provided religious training during regular school hours...

• Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School District (1993)

  Lamb's Chapel v. Center Moriches School District (1993) said that a law banning a religious group from using a public school to show a religious film violated...

• Lee v. Weisman (1992)

  Lee v. Weisman (1992) ruled that public schools violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment when they lead students in public prayer at school...

• Nurre v. Whitehead (2010)

  Nurre v. Whitehead (2010) involved a student, who alleged her First Amendment rights were violated when the band could not perform a religious instrumental at...

• Pfeiffer v. Board of Education (1898)

  Pfeiffer v. Board of Education (1898) illustrates developments in the states regarding religious exercises in public schools, before the First Amendment was...

• Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000)

  In Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, the Court ruled that a school policy of beginning football games with student-led prayer violated the First...

• State ex rel. Weiss v. City of Edgerton (Wisc.) (1890)

  Weiss v. City of Edgerton (Wisc. 1890) prohibited Bible readings in public schools, relying on the state constitution before the First Amendment was applied to...

• Wallace v. Jaffree (1985)

  Wallace v. Jaffree (1985) struck down a state law requiring a minute of silence in public schools. The Court said the law had a religious purpose and violated...

• Widmar v. Vincent (1981)

  Widmar v. Vincent (1981) said that prohibiting religious use of the University of Missouri's buildings while allowing secular use violated the First Amendment...

• Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

  Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) addressed the First Amendment right of free exercise of religion in allowing parents to withdraw their children from school for...

• Zorach v. Clauson (1952)

  Zorach v. Clauson (1952) said the released time policy of New York violated neither the free exercise nor establishment clause of the First Amendment...