The School Prayer Controversy: Pro-Con Arguments (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Aug. 26, 1985 |
| Report Number |
IB84081 |
| Authors |
Charles H. Whittier, Government Division |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
Summary:
In 1962, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that recitation of the New YorkRegents' prayer in the public schools violated the Establishment Clause ofthe First Amendment, made applicable to the States by the FourteenthAmendment [Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962)]. The following year theCourt held that daily devotional Bible reading and recitation of the Lord'sPrayer in the public schools was an unconstitutional establishment ofreligion [Abington School District v. Schempp and Murray v. Curlett, 374 U.S.203 (1963)]. A public reaction of unusual intensity greeted these decisionsand gave rise to numerous proposals in Congress to overrule or limit them andefforts in a number of states to restore school prayers. The gatheringmomentum of the issue in recent years resulted in proposals in the 98th and99th Congresses to permit some form of officially sanctioned school prayer,vocal or silent. The present controversy involves basic questions of publicpolicy affecting the meaning of church-state separation and the place ofreligion in public education and national life, which are reviewed in thisissue brief.
