Engel v. Vitale (1962)
Supreme Court Case-- Engel v. Vitale. Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962) [Establishment of Religion - Prayer in Public Schools].
Year of the Case -- 1962.
Author of the majority opinion - Justice Hugo Black
Members of the Court at the time of the decision:
Felix Frankfurter, Byron White, Potter Stewart, William O. Douglas, William Brennan, Jr., John M. Harlan, Hugo Black, Tom Campbell Clark (Members of the Supreme Court of the United States).
The parties to the case
The parties in the case include the William J. Butler, who argued the cause for petitioners, with him on the briefs was Stanley Geller. The petitioner was Steven Engel and four other parents from the Searington Elementary School in the Herricks school district in New York (DeWan).
Bertram B. Daiker argued the cause for respondents. With him on the briefs was Wilford E. Neier. These attorneys represented the school board. William Vitale was the school board president at the time (De Wan).
Porter R. Chandler argued the cause for intervenors-respondents. With him on the briefs were Thomas J. Ford and Richard E. Nolan.
Charles A. Brind filed a brief for the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York, as amicus curiae, in opposition to the petition for certiorari. (Engel Et Al. V. Vitale Et Al.).
G. Brief description identifying the facts of the case.
The case involves a group of parents who sued the New York Public School District for requiring students to start each school day with a recitation of the nondenominational prayer that the New York State Board of Regents had composed. The prayer read: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country." Both the state court and the New York Court of Appeals allowed the prayer to be recited (The Religious Freedom...
The prayer was written in 1951 in an effort to strengthen moral education in the schools. (School Prayer. 1962 - Engel v. Vitale).
H. Brief Description of the decision (Rule of Law).
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" (Engel v Vitale: Syllabus).
I. An opinion as to the historical significance of this decision:
The Supreme Court majority decision (5 to 2) cites the First Amendment, which prohibits the forming of any law that establishes a religion. The decision was of historical importance because it set the boundaries for school-sponsored prayer and in the process caused much confusion -- confusion that continues to the present time.
The confusion lies in the phrase "separation of Church and State." Many believe that the Supreme Court's decision serves as a reminder that prayer in the school is unconstitutional, but in reading the facts of the case, and the majority opinion as presented by Justice Hugo Black, the question is not whether prayer in school is unconstitutional, the question is whether the State has the right to compose a prayer to be recited within the public school system. "We think that by using its public school system to encourage recitation of the Regents' prayer, the State of New York has adopted a practice wholly inconsistent with the Establishment Clause [of the First Amendment]" (Justice Hugo Black, para 5). He goes on to note that James Madison and Thomas Jefferson opposed the creation of religious establishments by law…
