Law Commons^™

Government Speech Doctrine—Legislator-Led Prayer's Saving Grace, Daniel M. Vitagliano

St. John's Law Review

(Excerpt)

This Note argues that Lund was decided incorrectly in part because the Fourth Circuit failed to analyze the type of speech at issue before assessing the constitutionality of the prayer practice. This Note is composed of four parts. Part I surveys the Supreme Court’s legislative prayer jurisprudence—Marsh and Town of Greece. Part II outlines Lund and Bormuth, and the Fourth and Sixth Circuits’ dissimilar applications of the Supreme Court’s precedent. Part III argues that courts must first classify legislative prayers as either government or private speech before assessing whether a prayer practice violates the Establishment Clause. It further argues …

Constitutional Law—Where Does It Fit? Solving The School Board Prayer Puzzle, Austin Reed

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Legislator-Led Prayer: A Harmless Historical Tradition Or An Unconstitutional Establishment Of Religion?, Krista Ellis

American University Journal of Gender, Social Policy & the Law

No abstract provided.

George Washington. Elena Kagan, And The Town Of Greece, New York: The First Amendment And Religious Minorities, Kermit V. Lipez

The Journal of Appellate Practice and Process

No abstract provided.

The Rising None: Marsh, Galloway, And The End Of Legislative Prayer, Nicholas C. Roberts

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Intentional Discrimination In Establishment Clause Jurisprudence, Caroline Mala Corbin

Articles

In Town of Greece, New York v. Galloway, the Supreme Court upheld a legislative prayer practice with overwhelmingly Christian prayers in part because the Court concluded that the exclusion of all other religions was unintentional. This requirement-that a religiously disparate impact must be intentional before it amounts to an establishment violation-is new for Establishment Clause doctrine. An intent requirement, however, is not new for equal protection or free exercise claims. This Essay explores the increased symmetry between the Establishment Clause, the Equal Protection Clause, and the Free Exercise Clause. It argues that many of the critiques of the intentional …

Is Prayer Constitutional At Municipal Council Meetings?, Thomas A. Schweitzer

Thomas A. Schweitzer

The author discusses Galloway v. Town of Greece, a case which challenges official prayers at town council meetings. To provide the necessary background information for understanding the issues in Galloway, the author begins with a brief discussion of two other cases, Lemon v. Kurtzman and Marsh v. Chambers. The author then examines the district and circuit court decisions in Galloway and the Establishment Clause issues posed by the case. Next, the author notes issues raised by other lower court decisions involving legislative prayer after Marsh. Towards the end of the article, to clarify and decide the constitutional issues, the author …

Symposium: Religious Pluralism, Civic Unity, And The Judicial Role, Richard Garnett

Richard W Garnett

Rick Garnett posted, as a guest author, to the SCOTUSblog Special Feature: Legislative prayer symposium Legislative prayer symposium the article Symposium: Religious pluralism, civic unity, and the judicial role on May 8.

The Curious Case Of Legislative Prayer: Town Of Greece V. Galloway, Ian C. Bartrum

Scholarly Works

This essay explores the Supreme Court's decision to reenter the debate over legislative prayers, and the Solicitor General's curious decision to enter the case in defense of Greece, New York's (somewhat dubious) practice. I suggest that the Court's decision, and the Solicitor's brief, can best be understood as part of larger conflict over Establishment Clause doctrine moving forward.

Just Like A Prayer?, Richard Garnett

Richard W Garnett

Rick Garnett was quoted in The American Prospect article Just Like a Prayer? on November 1, 2013 Quotations below: But Rick Garnett, a professor of law and political science at the University of Notre Dame, says that’s a stretch, even for Kennedy. “Sure, there are children who come to municipal government meetings, but there are a whole lot of tourists and children who come to Congress,” he says. “I don’t think the court will want to take that vague idea of peer pressure as coercion and expand it beyond the school context.” From Garnett’s perspective, this is a good thing. …

Is Prayer Constitutional At Municipal Council Meetings?, Thomas A. Schweitzer

Scholarly Works

The author discusses Galloway v. Town of Greece, a case which challenges official prayers at town council meetings. To provide the necessary background information for understanding the issues in Galloway, the author begins with a brief discussion of two other cases, Lemon v. Kurtzman and Marsh v. Chambers. The author then examines the district and circuit court decisions in Galloway and the Establishment Clause issues posed by the case. Next, the author notes issues raised by other lower court decisions involving legislative prayer after Marsh.

Towards the end of the article, to clarify and decide the constitutional issues, the author …

Allocating The Costs Of Parental Free Exercise: Striking A New Balance Between Sincere Religious Belief And A Child's Right To Medical Treatment , Paul A. Monopoli

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

Lee V. Weisman: Unanswered Prayers, Marilyn Perrin

Pepperdine Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Religion In Public Life And Official Pressure To Participate In Alcoholics Anonymous, Paul E. Salamanca

Law Faculty Scholarly Articles

If religion is an innate aspect of the human experience, it should not be surprising that Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.), a widely known and arguably religious support group for problem drinkers, has become a common and effective means of combating alcoholism. Also, it should not be surprising that probation officers, parole officers, judges, bar overseers, wardens, and myriad others exercising state authority routinely push individuals toward A.A. Arguably, however, official referral of problem drinkers to A.A. violates current interpretations of the Establishment Clause because of the quasi-religious nature of the program.

Although separationism helps both church and state, our Constitution does, …

Public Prayer And The Constitution, Ethan M. Posner

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Public Prayer and the Constitution by Rodney K. Smith

The Meaning Of "Religion" In The School Prayer Cases, Charles E. Rice

Journal Articles

It is not my purpose here to discuss the possible extensions of the school prayer decisions. Rather, I am concerned only with the thought that the unqualified incorporation of the broad definition of religion into the establishment clause is perhaps the root fallacy in the Court's reasoning. In order to avoid an institutionalization of agnosticism as the official public religion of this country, the Court ought to acknowledge that nontheistic religions are not entitled to such unqualified recognition under the establishment clause as to bar even a simple governmental affirmation that in fact the Declaration of Independence is true when …

Prayer, Public Schools And The Supreme Court, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

A more complete understanding of the case, while doing much to temper the initial outburst of disapproval, did not by any means dispel all criticism of the decision or allay all the apprehensions aroused by it. Believing that the Supreme Court's opinion was premised on a fundamentally erroneous interpretation of the establishment clause of the first amendment, Bishop James A. Pike headed a movement to amend the Constitution so as to restore what he regarded as the true and intended meaning of its pertinent language. In the meantime, the Supreme Court has agreed to review and has heard argument on …

The EngelCase From A Swiss Perspective, F. William O'Brien

Michigan Law Review

On June 25, 1962, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the State of New York, by using its public school system to encourage recitation of a prayer during classroom hours, had adopted a practice wholly inconsistent with that clause of the first amendment, applicable to the states by virtue of the fourteenth amendment, which prohibits laws respecting an establishment of religion. The opinion of the Court, written by Mr. Justice Black for himself and four other Justices, is interesting in that he rests the Court's decision exclusively upon the establishment clause. In previous decisions, the Court had …