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prayer in school
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... In a 6-3 vote, Santa Fe Independent School District lost their right to have student-led prayer before their varsity football games. ...
The Santa Fe Independent School District v. ... The case originated in April of 1995 when two sets of students at a high school that was included in the Santa Fe Independent School District based on infringement of their rights pertaining to alleged actions that “the school district had maintained various policies and practices that violated the establishment of religion clause of the Federal Constitution’s First Amendment and (2) in particular, the school district had allowed students to read overtly Christian prayers at graduation ceremonies and home football games”. The controversy arose after the high school enacted a policy that would have allowed the students to hold two elections. ... The policy enacted by the Santa Fe Independent School District stated goals which were to “(a) solemnize the event, (b) promote good sportsmanship and student safety, and (c) establish the appropriate environment for the competition”. ...
The majority opinion filed by Justice Stevens agrees with Jane Doe (named changed for anonymity in court) that student-led prayer is not private speech that would be protected under the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause. ... ” The majority opinion also concluded that the school district is not taking a neutral approach to the student invocation. ... As Stevens comments, “The delivery of such a message – over the school’s public address system, by a speaker representing the student body, under the supervision of school faculty, and pursuant to a school policy that explicitly and implicitly encourages public prayer – is not properly characterized as ‘private’ speech”. ... Rehnquist further explains when he makes historical reference to our first president George Washington who declared a day of prayer for giving praise to an Almighty God. ... It is also possible that the election would not focus on prayer, but on public speaking ability or social popularity. ... Bradley states in an article in the National Review, “Let us say that your school district’s graduation speaker, or halftime entertainment, is not know to be pious. ... So long as there is no evidence that the school itself encouraged the public display of piety, had no reason to anticipate (and so could not have stopped) it, and in no way subsequently signaled its approval, the Constitution is not offended.” The policy does not require a student to give prayer, and with the context of the speech given by the student left to the student, this case is in no way different than Bradley’s reference to Whoopi Goldberg as a halftime speaker or graduation speaker. ... Phillip Muñoz states, “The Court’s decision makes publicly reading the preamble of the Texas constitution at a public school unconstitutional. ... However, with the ruling of the Court, the Texas constitution must be banned from public school settings on grounds of unconstitutionality. ... ’” Once again, with the most recent ruling of the Court, if the public address system at public high schools is used to play the national anthem, that school is also in violation of the Establishment Clause.
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Paper Information
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Title: prayer in school
Words: 2503
Rating: None
Pages: 10
submitted by: pepe15
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