Engel+vs.+Vitale


 * Name: Jessica Plutino Gilleran**
 * Date: November 7, 2011**
 * Engel vs. Vitale **
 * Court Case: **


 * //What amendment did this case deal with and what does it say?//**


 * //This case dealt with the First Amendment. It says that the state of New York cannot make students recite a prayer at the start of each school day, but the question is, does this prayer violate the First Amendment? Yes it does. By providing the prayer to be said New York is officially approving religion which is not allowed. This idea of praying everyday before school is very unpopular to many people. Therefore this case dealt with the First Amendment and it said New York could not say students should say a prayer before the school day started.//**


 * //What is the background of the case? Summarize what happened!//**


 * //In this case a New York school decided that they were going to require a prayer to be said before the school day started. 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." This prayer is a nondenominational prayer which means that it doesn’t single out any specific religion when you recite it. A group of parents, of the students, sued this New York school because they thought that it was not necessary. This case was brought to a New York court, but then it got appealed to the Supreme Court. This prayer that was being said violated the Establishment Clause. Even though the prayer was voluntary and it was nondenominational it still didn’t protect it from breaking the Establishment Clause, part of the Constitution.//**


 * //What was the final decision of the Supreme Court and why did they decide this?//**
 * //The Supreme Court decided that it was unconstitutional for a government agency, like that New York school, with public employees, to require students to recite a prayer. This decision was made on June 25, 1962 and the Supreme Court rule 7 to 1. The Supreme Court made this decision because they wanted to avoid the start of a relationship between government and organized religion. People said that even though this prayer was//** **//nondenominational, people said that religion-based events or other religion based things should be kept to itself. People dealing with school should worry about school and not saying a religious prayer. It was said that that purely religious functions should be kept strictly to the people themselves and out of other peoples lives and events. It was also said that this court case was another step toward the securization of the United States as a country. “The framers of the Constitution meant we were to have freedom __of__ religion, not freedom __from__ religion”//**
 * Name: Kaitlyn Gow **
 * Date: November 13, 2011 **


 * Court Case: __Engel v. Vitale__ **
 * Have you ever heard of the first amendment? It gives citizens the freedom of press, religion, assembly, petition, and speech. In the court case Engel v. Vitale the first amendment was dealt with. The parents of ten students accused the school of violating the freedom of religion. So how did the case turn out in the end? **


 * In 1951 the New York State Board of Regents approved of a 22 word prayer for each morning in the all the public schools of New York. The Regents believed that the prayer could be useful in developing character. The parents of ten of the students at New Hyde Park school did not agree with the prayer. They filed suit in a New York State court trying to band the prayer. The state appeals court upheld the use of the prayer and said that “as long as the schools did not force any of the students to join in the prayer over their parent’s objection.” **


 * The parents **** disagreed. They thought the separation of church and state required the governments say in any religious actives like this. There for the regents’ prayer violated the 1st Amendment and should be banned from school. **


 * The Regents of New York State **** said they did not establish a religion. The prayer was for people who wanted to say it. They were not forcing any one to say anything. **


 * The court decided that the New York Regents’ prayer, to be against the law. It was a 7-1 majority. This decision was made on June 25, 1962. They made this decision because they did not want to start of a conflict between the government and religions people. People dealing with school should worry about school and not saying a religious prayer. There for the first amendment was violated. **

//**Name: Haley Aldrich**// //**Date: November 8, 2011**// //** Court Case: **// //**What amendment did this case deal with and what does it say?**// //**In the Engel vs. Vitale court case, it dealt with the 1st amendment. The court case was interfering with the first amendment, because it violated an important part in it. A school in New York was thought to interfere with this amendment, because it took time out of students, teachers, and super attendants, day to pray. That caused a problem because not all kids and adults that are in the school at that time, have the same religious beliefs.**// //**What is the background of the case? Summarize what happened!**// //**Back in the early 1960’s, it was just after World War II, and the United States was experiencing another period of time that communism was vastly spreading. The government made it so that all employees must take “loyalty oaths,” while the U.S Senator stated that there were communists in the government, and this is why they had to take these oaths. “Communist spies,” were called to give testimonies before the senate, McCarthy, could subcommittee. The hearings brought drama to the courts and the media, while our soldiers were being deployed, or sent, to Korea to fight against the communist threat.**// //**What was the final decision of the Supreme Court and why did they decide this?**// //**The court decided that the New York Regents’ prayer was unconstitutional, which meant that the prayer was unneeded. The court’s decision however, was not antireligious. This meant that the prayer was religious, and in the first amendment it states that people cannot be forced into a religion. It was found to only affirm the separation between states and churches.**//


 * Name: Benny Kane **
 * Date: 11/15/11 **


 * Court Case: **


 * // What amendment did this case deal with and what does it say? //**

The main amendment that this Supreme Court case dealt with was the first amendment. The first amendment states that: you have the freedom of speech, religion, assembly, press, and to petition. Like in the tinker case where in that case the freedom of speech was interfered with. In this cause the freedom of religion was also interfered with. This is what happened;


 * // What is the background of the case? Summarize what happened! //**

In this Supreme Court case, schools located in New York, approved of using a “nondenominational prayer” as a way to start off a day. Some of the parents stated that “the use of this official prayer in the public schools was contrary to their own and their children's beliefs, religions, or religious practices.” The school believed that the prayer was ok for everybody to use. In turn, the parents of the children took the school to court and the case was appealed up to the Supreme Court.


 * // What was the final decision of the Supreme Court and why did they decide this? //**

In this court case the prayer in the New York school was discontinued. The Supreme Court stated that the prayer was “unconstitutional”. It was a 6-1 majority vote. They didn’t want a conflict between the state and the government. So there for the prayer used in the morning for students is no longer used.

Name: Rachel Serfilippi Date: November 8, 2011


 * // Court Case: ENGEL V. VITALE (1962) //**

What amendment did this case deal with and what does it say?

The First Amendment is being interfered with by the Regents of the State of New York by having students pray in school every morning. By doing so they were encroaching upon the student’s freedom of religion. Many parents and children disliked the idea because they could not practice their own religion instead they had to practice this made up religion.

What is the background of the case? Summarize what happened!

New York declares that students were required to say a prayer each morning before class saying, //“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our country." Even though this is a nondenominational, prayer that gives no specific religion; the School was sued by a group of parents. It also violated the Establishment Clause. This case was then appealed to the Supreme Court. //

What was the final decision of the Supreme Court and why did they decide this?

Once this case reached the Supreme Court by appeal they ruled the morning prayer unconstitutional. They band the Regents of the State of New York of creating a morning prayer again. The Supreme Court did this in order to avoid a conflict between New York state government and the religious people. The First Amendment states that person or group of people can’t be forced into a religion they don’t practice or agree with. After this court the separation between church and state became even stronger.