Religion and The Establishment Clause

Question 1

Everson

Answer 1

F: NJ authorized its local school boards to repay parents with children in private schools for the cost of bus transportation to the schools.
H: Upheld, the state could pay the fares as part of a general program under which it pays the fares of pupils attending public and other schools.
Requirements: state must be neutral in its relations with groups of religious believers and non-believers
Establishment Clause meaning: neither a state nor the federal government can set up a church. Neither can pass laws which aid one religion, aid all religions, or prefer one religion over another. Neither can force nor influence a person to go to or to remain away from church against his will or force him to profess a belief or disbelief in any religion. No person can be punished for entertaining or professing religious beliefs or disbeliefs, for church attendance or non-attendance. No tax in any amount can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion. Neither a state nor the federal government can, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa. The clause is intended to erect a wall of separation between church and state.
Define Religion:
-definition is expansive for the free exercise clause, and less so for the establishment clause

Question 2

Seeger

Answer 2

Test for religion: whether a given belief that is sincere and meaningful occupies a place in the life of its possessor parallel to that filled by the orthodox belief in god of one who clearly qualifies for the exemption (exemption from military service to any person who by reason of religious training and belief, is conscientiously opposed to participation in way in any from)
-commentators drawing on modern theology suggest that religion must involve “ultimate concern” or belief in “extra temporal consequences” or in a “transcendent reality”
A religious belief system features:
-belief in a supreme being
-belief in a transcendent reality
-a moral code
-a worldview accounting for people’s role in the universe
-sacred rituals
-worship & prayer
-a sacred text
-membership in a social organization
(but there is no single feature or set of features that constitutes the essence of religion)

Question 3

Lemon Test

Answer 3

to determine whether statute violates the establishment clause:
-the statute must have a secular legislative purpose
-its principal or primary effect must be one that neither advances nor inhibits religion
-the statute must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion

Question 4

The Anti Coercion Principle

Answer 4

Lee:
F: school principals in public school in Providence are permitted to invite members of the clergy to offer invocation and benediction prayers as part of the formal graduation ceremonies for middle and high schoolers.
I: whether including clergical members who offer prayers as part of the official school graduation ceremony is consistent with the religion clauses of the 1st amendment.
H: No, the state’s involvement in the school prayers violates the central principles that the government may not coerce anyone to support or participate in religion or its exercise, or otherwise act in a way which “establishes a state religion or religious faith, or tends to do so.” The principal’s decision is as if a state statute decreed that the praters must occur. The students had no real alternative which would have allowed them to avoid the fact of appearance or participation. The principal also controlled the content of the prayer. 1st amendment religion clauses mean that religious beliefs and religious expression are too precious to be either proscribed or prescribed by the state. Standing for the prayer was both respectful and showed participation. The government may not use social pressure to enforce orthodoxy than it may use more direct means. The Constitution forbids the state to exact religious conformity from a student as the price of attending her own high school graduation. 1st amendment says the state can’t require one of its citizens to forfeit his or her rights & benefits as the price of resisting conformance to state-sponsored religious practice.

Question 5

The Non Endorsement Principle and De Facto Establishments

Lynch

Answer 5

F: Pawtucket erects a Christmas display every year as part of its observance of Christmas. The display is located in the heart of the shopping district. All components of the display are owned by the city.
I: whether the crèche violates the establishment clause. Whether there is a secular purpose for Pawtucket’s display of the crèche. Whether Pawtucket is endorsing Christianity.
H: there is insufficient evidence that the inclusion of the crèche is a purposeful or surreptitious effort to express some kind of subtle government advocacy of a particular religious message. The display is sponsored by the city to celebrate the holiday and to depict the origins of the holiday. These are legitimate secular purposes. The benefit to any religion is indirect, remote and incidental.
C: Must examine the subjective & objective components of the message communicated by a government action.
Purpose: must have secular purpose. Does the government intend to convey a message of endorsement or disapproval of religion? No, the inclusion of the crèche was only a celebration of the public holiday through its traditional symbols.
Effect: government practice must not have the effect of communicating a message of government endorsement or disapproval of religion (intentional or unintentional). The typical museum setting negates any message of endorsement of that context.
D: the primary effect of including a nativity scene is to place the government imprimatur of approval of the particular religious beliefs exemplifies by the crèche. Other beliefs are not viewed as significantly worthy. The nativity scene is the chief symbol of the Christian belief. It deals with a central element of Christian dogma.

Question 6

Pledge of Allegiance

religion

Answer 6

Pros:
-the phrase ‘under god’ in the pledge does not convert its recital into a religious exercise. It is a declaration of belief in allegiance and loyalty to the U.S. flag and the Republic.
-example of permissible ceremonial deism
Cons:
-entails an affirmation that god exists

Question 7

Cross as War Memorial

Religion

Answer 7

Pros:
-cross not emplaced to promote a Christian message. It is a symbol often used to honor or respect heroic acts, noble contributions, and patient striving
Cons:
-the cross conveys an inescapable sectarian message. It is a symbol of one particular sacrifice which carries deeply significant meaning for the Christian faith.

Question 8

School Prayer Cases

Answer 8

Engel: no part of the business of government is to compose official prayers for any group of people
Wallace: the question to consider is whether the state has conveyed or attempted to convey the message that children should use the moment of silence for prayer
Larson: compelling interest and narrowly tailored preferences (strict scrutiny)
Impermissible Purpose Test: determine purpose by examining text, legislative history and implementation of the statute. The government must have a primary secular purpose.

Question 9

he Establishment Clause; The Free Exercise Clause

Answer 9

Latter-Day Saints v. Amos
F: §702 of Civil Rights Act of 1964 exempts religious organizations from Title XII’s prohibition against discrimination in employment on the basis of religion.
I: whether applying 702’s exemption to secular nonprofit activities of religious organizations violates the Establishment Clause.
H: No, strict scrutiny is not applied to a statute that passes the Lemon Test:
-permissible legal purpose to alleviate significant governmental interference with the ability of religious organizations to define and carry out their religious missions. Minimize governmental interference with the decision-making process in religions.
-the government itself has not advanced religion through its own activities and influence
Has Congress chosen a rational classification to further a legitimate end? 702 is rationally related to the legitimate purpose of alleviating significant governmental interference with the ability of religious organizations to define and carry out their religious missions.
Texas Monthly v. Bullock
F: unconstitutional – a statute that exempted religious publications from a state sales tax
H: where benefits confined to religious organizations only, they cannot have appeared other than as state sponsorship of religion. This subsidy is targeted at writings that promulgate the teachings of religious faiths.
Board of Ed. v. Grumet
F: Jews in NY didn’t like to leave their village. They had to send their handicapped kids to public school, but found it unsatisfactory. NY made a statute saying their village was its own school district.
H: unconstitutional. This singled out a particular religious sect for special treatment and violated the principle that neutrality as among religious must be honored.

Question 10

Required Accommodations:

Freedom to act on behalf is not absolute. Conduct remains subject to regulation for the protection of society

Answer 10

Braunfeld
F: Penn. Law requiring businesses be closed on Sundays was challenged by Jews.
H: constitutional. The statute merely makes the practice of Judaism more expensive. Striking down legislation which imposes only an indirect burden on the exercise of religion would restrict the legislature.
Sherbert
F: Sherbert was fired because she wouldn’t work on Saturday, her church’s Sabbath. She couldn’t find any other work and didn’t qualify for unemployment compensation.
H: denial of unemployment compensation violated the free exercise clause. It imposes a burden on the free exercise of religion. The ruling forces her to choose between following her religion and forgoing benefits or abandoning her beliefs and finding work. Exemptions could be administered without undermining the unemployment compensation system.
Wisconsin v. Yoder
F: Yoder, an Amish, was fined for taking his kids out of school after middle school. Kids had to go to school until 16.
H: the conviction violated the free exercise clause. Compulsory high school education requiring the Amish to perform acts undeniably at odds with fundamental tenets of their religious beliefs and carried a threat of undermining the Amish community. Amish showed their alternative education was adequate in relation to the state’s interest.
Dept. of Human Resources v. Smith
F: Smith was fired for taking peyote. He sought unemployment benefits which were denied.
I: whether the free exercise clause permits the state of Oregon to include religiously inspired peyote use within the reach of its general criminal prohibition on use of that drug and thus permits the state to deny unemployment benefits to persons dismissed from their jobs because of such religiously inspired use.
H: if prohibiting the exercise of religion is not the object of a regulation, but merely the incidental effect of a generally applicable and valid provision, the 1st amendment is not offended.
C: strict scrutiny should be applied. Compelling interest and narrowly tailored to achieve that interest (Sherbert Test). State has a significant interest in controlling drug use.
D: states interest is really only symbolic preservation of an unenforced prohibition. Religious use of peyote has never harmed anyone. The Native Americans restrictions and supervision of its members use of peyote obviates the state’s health and safety concerns.