Lee v. Weisman 1992

AuthorDaniel Brannen, Richard Hanes, Elizabeth Shaw
Pages145-150

Page 145

Petitioners: Robert E. Lee, et al.

Respondent: Daniel Weisman

Petitioners' Claim: That nonsectarian (not associated with a specific religion) prayers at public graduation ceremonies do not violate the First Amendment separation of church and state.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioners: Charles J. Cooper

Chief Lawyer for Respondent: Sandra A. Blanding

Justices for the Court: Harry A. Blackmun, Anthony M. Kennedy (writing for the Court), Sandra Day O'Connor, David H. Souter, John Paul Stevens

Justices Dissenting: William H. Rehnquist, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, Byron R. White

Date of Decision: June 24, 1992

Decision: Prayers at public school graduation ceremonies violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Significance: The decision ended an American tradition that dates back to 1868.

When American colonists left England in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, some were escaping the Church of England. The Church of England was an official church supported by the British government. The British government required its citizens to worship in the Church of England and to say approved prayers from its Book of Common Prayers.

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If people followed other religions or said other prayers, they violated criminal laws and were punished.

America's founders did not want the government to have religious power. They wanted every American to be free to choose his or her own religion. The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights protects this freedom. (The Bill of Rights, adopted in 1791, contains the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution.) The First Amendment says, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

The first part of this amendment, called the Establishment Clause, prevents the government from establishing an official religion or supporting one religion over others. It has been described as creating a "wall of separation between church and state." Although the First Amendment only refers to the federal government, state and local governments must obey it under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Due Process Clause prevents state and local governments from unlawfully taking away a person's right to life, liberty (or freedom) or property.

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Religion in public schools

Because state and local governments run public schools, the schools...

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