June 25: Banning School Prayer

By a vote of 7-1, the Supreme Court banned prayer from public schools on this date in 1962 in Engel v. Vitale. The case involved a non-denominational, so-called “Regent’s Prayer” that had been instituted in New York public schools in 1951 (“Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers and our Country”). The ACLU backed the parents of 10 students from New Hyde Park (including Steven I. Engel, a Jewish father) in arguing that this state-authored prayer was an unconstitutional establishment of religion. Supporting the ACLU with amicus briefs were the American Jewish Committeee (joined by the Anti‐Defamation League of B’nai B’rith), the Synagogue Council of America (joined by the National Community Relations Advisory Council), and the American Ethical Union. Twenty-two states attorneys general filed briefs supporting the constitutionality of the prayer.

“It is neither sacrilegious nor anti-religious to say that each separate government in this country should stay out of the business of writing or sanctioning official prayers and leave that purely religious function to the people themselves and to those the people choose to look to for religious guidance.” —Justice Hugo Black