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Constitutional Law

West Virginia University

1983

Establishment clause

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Judge Hand's History: An Analysis Of History And Method In Jaffree V. Board Of School Commissioners Of Mobile County, Michael Kent Curtis Sep 1983

Judge Hand's History: An Analysis Of History And Method In Jaffree V. Board Of School Commissioners Of Mobile County, Michael Kent Curtis

West Virginia Law Review

In Jaffree v. Board of School Commissioners, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama upheld, against a constitutional challenge, teacher led school prayers. In the companion case of Jaffree v. James, the court upheld the Alabama Prayer Law which permitted state sanctioned prayers in public schools. The religious exercises and the Prayer Law were, of course, unconstitutional when viewed in light of decisions of the United States Supreme Court holding that the first amendment erected a wall of separation between church and state. When faced with direct and settled precedent, the lower federal courts generally follow …