First Amendment Commons^™

School Vouchers And The Constitution - Permissible, Impermissible, Or Required?, Gary J. Simson

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Applying The Good News Club Decision In A Manner That Maintains The Separation Of Church And State In Our Schools, James L. Underwood

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

The Establishment Clause As A Structural Restraint: Validations And Ramifications, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

The opening phrase of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution provides, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The free exercise clause functions as an individual right with its purpose being to forestall personal religious harm. Its underlying principle is that in religious matters a person ought to be free of coercion caused by the government and thereby not made to suffer for cause of conscience. The function of the establishment clause is altogether different, for its purpose is to restrain government from using its powers to act on matters …

Zelman V. Simmons-Harris And The Private Choice Doctrine, Laura T. Rahe

Cleveland State Law Review

In Zelman, the Court examined the constitutionality of an Ohio pilot program that took effect in the Cleveland City School District. One of the program's provisions permitted parents to use a tuition voucher for their children to attend public or private schools, including religious schools. The statute authorizing the program ensured that participating private schools remained affordable for the most disadvantaged children, and required that the schools refrain from "advocat[ing] or foster[ing] unlawful behavior or teach[ing] hatred of any person or group on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin or religion." The Cleveland program exemplifies one attempt, informed by …

Religion, Establishment, And The Northwest Ordinance: A Closer Look At An Accommodationist Argument, Thomas Nathan Peters

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Church-State Constitutional Issues: Making Sense Of The Establishment Clause And That Godless Court?: Supreme Court Decision On Church-State Relationships (Book Reviews), Michael Ariens

Faculty Articles

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law: Establishment Clause V. Free Expression: Adler V. Duval County School Board, Ron Shinn

Oklahoma Law Review

No abstract provided.

Differentiating The Free Exercise And Establishment Clauses, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

The purpose of the Establishment Clause is not to safeguard individual religious rights. That is the role of the Free Exercise Clause, indeed its singular role. The purpose of the Establishment Clause, rather, is as a structural restraint on governmental power. Because of its structural character, the task of the Establishment Clause is to limit government from legislating or otherwise acting on any matter "respecting an establishment of religion." The powers that fall within the scope of the foregoing clause (denied to government, hence within the sole province of religion) and the powers outside this clause (hence, authority vested in …

Keeping The Sex In Sex Education: The First Amendment's Religion Clauses And The Sex Education Debate, Gary J. Simson, Erika A. Sussman

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Religion And Democracy, Steven H. Shiffrin

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Should citizens armed with religious reasons for public policy outcomes present those reasons in the public forum or otherwise rely on them in making decisions? Those questions have produced a flurry of scholarship, both within and outside of the law. Moreover, as Kent Greenawalt's work richly demonstrates, these related questions raise many more questions still. Do the answers to those questions differ, for example, if the citizen is a judge, a legislator, a columnist, a religious leader, or a "mere" voter? Are some religious reasons acceptable for presentation in a public forum, but not others?

If one holds a constricted …

Establishment Of Religion, Court Of Appeals: Park Slope Jewish Center V. Congregation B'Nai Jacob

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Concept Of Religion, Eduardo M. Peñalver

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

"The Liberal Agenda": Biblical Values And The First Amendment, Burton Caine

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

State V. Pendleton: Impermissible Delegations To Religious Institutions: Is Campbell University An Armed Church?, Stephen See

Campbell Law Review

This note will review the North Carolina Supreme Court's use and interpretation of Larkin and compare it with the interpretation of Larkin by other courts in cases that specifically follow Larkin.

The Wall Crumbles: A Look At The Establishment Clause Rosenberger V. Rector & Visitors Of The University Of Virginia, Paul L. Hicks

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Frreedom Of Religion

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Free Speech: The Status Of The First Amendment, Martin B. Margulies

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Back From The Brink: Part Ii, Joel M. Gora

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

Original Intent, History And Levy’S Establishment Clause. Book Review Of The Establishment Clause: Religion And The First Amendment, By Leonard W. Levy, Ruti Teitel

Articles & Chapters

No abstract provided.

The Establishment Clause As A Structural Restraint On Governmental Power, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

This Article inquires into whether the singular purpose of the Establishment Clause is to secure individual rights, as is conventionally believed, or whether its role is more properly understood as a structural restraint on governmental power. If the Clause is indeed structural in nature, then its task is to negate from the purview of civil governance all matters “respecting an establishment of religion.” Conceptualizing the role of the Establishment Clause as either rights-securing or structural has profound consequences for the nation's constitutional settlement concerning the interrelationship of government and religion.

The Establishment Clause And Nativity Scenes: A Reassessment Of Lynch V. Donnelly, Richard S. Myers

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Toward A General Theory Of The Establishment Clause, Daniel O. Conkle

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Religion And The Burger Court, Rex E. Lee

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Religion, State and the Burger Court by Leo Pfeffer

The Lemon Test Soured: The Supreme Court's New Establishment Clause Analysis, Kenneth M. Cox

Vanderbilt Law Review

This Recent Development argues that the Court's apparent trend toward basing establishment clause analysis on the pervasiveness or historical significance of government-supported religious activities represents an undesirable move away from strict examination of the questionable law or activity under the Lemon test. Part II briefly examines the theoretical bases of the establishment clause, then traces the Court's applications of each element of the Lemon analysis. Part III discusses the Marsh and Lynch decisions as the most recent Supreme Court additions to establishment clause doctrine. Finally, part IV analyzes two major effects of these decisions: first, the emergence of the historical …

Establishment Clause Limits On Governmental Interference With Religious Organizations, Carl H. Esbeck

Faculty Publications

In this article it will be argued that the establishment clause, properly viewed, functions as a structural provision regimenting the nature and degree of involvement between government and religious associations." The degree of involvement should be a limited one, although it is clear that the interrelationship need not nor cannot be eliminated altogether. Although the degree of desired separation has proven to be a continuing controversy, the goal of separation is not so divisive. The aim of separation of church and government is for each to give the other sufficient breathing space. The ordering principle is reciprocity in which "both …

Constitutional Law—Legislative Prayer Does Not Violate Establishment Clause, Caswell Bruton Blackard Iii

University of Arkansas at Little Rock Law Review

No abstract provided.

Reinterpreting The Religion Clauses: Constitutional Construction And Conceptions Of The Self, Susan H. Williams

Articles by Maurer Faculty

The first amendment guarantees freedom from "law[s] respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The apparent tension between the two clauses of this provision has generated judicial confusion and scholarly disagreement. The perceived conflict between the religion clauses is the product of a particular understanding of what is most fundamental about human identity and the human situation - an understanding that derives from classical liberal political theory and that assumes a sharp division between the individual and his community. This Note proposes an alternative to the liberal conception of human identity, one that encompasses both the …

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 …

Constitutional Law - First Amendment - State Licensing Regulation Which Delegates Veto Power To A Church Over The Approval Of Liquor Licenses Within A Specified Distance Of Such Church Violates The Establishment Clause, Mark C. Levy

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law - First Amendment - A Statute That Permits A Tax Deduction For Public As Well As Nonpublic School Tuition And Related Expenses Does Not Violate The Establishment Clause Of The First Amendment, J. Edward Goff

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.