Abington School District v. Schempp
SUMMARY
In the case of Abington School District v. Schempp, a Pennsylvania law forced public school students to start class with the reading of ten Bible verses. In Abington, the verses were broadcasted over the intercom system. If teachers did not participate, they were fired and students who did not participate were segregated from the rest of the class. HISTORY A family, the Schempps, took offense to this regulation since it had contradicted the religious practices they instilled in their children. They had made an effort to reach out to a federal court with their case. In 1958, a court with three judges heard the case and ruled that the law had violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and interfered with the Free Exercise Clause. Local officials helped them appeal the case to the U.S Supreme Court, which was also dealing with the cases of Murray v. Curlett and Engel v. Vitale, which also dealt with religious practices in public schools. ARGUMENTS The school district defended with the claims that reading the bible provided a proper moral climate for the students and that it had no religious nature. They also argued that the Establishment Clause only prevented an official state religion. The Schempps argued that the school district had no right to require students to read the passages, even if the students were able to be excused with a note from a parent. |
The Schempps
THE DECISION
In 1963, the Warren Court concluded that the exercise violated the Establishment Clause and that no one may be forced to profess belief or disbelief in any religion, nor can they pass laws that aid all religions as against nonbelievers. Justice Clark wrote, “Required exercises are not mitigated by the fact that individual students may be absent themselves upon parent request, for that fact furnishes no defense to a claim of unconstitutionality under the Establishment Clause.” |