Religion Law Commons^™

Wills - Religious Conditions In Restraint Of Marriage - Validity At Common Law And Effect Of Shelley V. Kraemer, Jack G. Armstrong S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Testator devised and bequeathed his property to his children, but with a proviso that the gift to any child who should marry a person not born in the Hebrew faith should lapse. Subsequent to the testator's death, the defendant married a woman who had been born a Roman Catholic. The other beneficiaries brought a proceeding to declare that the defendant had lost his rights under the will by reason of his marriage. The probate court granted a decree substantially as sought by the plaintiffs. On appeal, held, affirmed. This partial restraint on marriage is not so unreasonable as to …

Constitutional Law - Freedom Of Religion - Judicial Intervention In Disputes Within Independent Church Bodies, Julius B. Poppinga S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

It is the purpose of this comment to set forth the several principles applied by courts in determining controversies in independent church groups and to consider the constitutional implications of judicial intervention.

Constitutional Law - Church And State - Statute Requiring Religion To Be Taken Into Consideration In Adoption, David W. Swanson

Michigan Law Review

ln 1951, a Jewish couple obtained custody of illegitimate twins who were then two weeks old. In 1954, the couple formally sought to adopt the children. Although petitioners were otherwise qualified to act as parents, a Massachusetts statute provides that "in making orders for adoption, the judge when practicable must give custody only to persons of the same religious faith as that of the child." The twins' natural mother was Catholic but had consented in writing to adoption by the petitioners and to rearing of the children in the Jewish faith. The lower court found that several Catholic couples had …

Released Time And Religious Liberty: A Further Reply, Paul G. Kauper

Michigan Law Review

In his "Reply" to the writer's review of his excellent book, Mr. Pfeffer has singled out the part of the review in which the writer discussed the released-time problem and the position taken by Mr. Pfeffer with respect thereto. To prolong the arguments over this matter in the pages of this Review would he unprofitable, hut the writer feels that a few comments on Mr. Pfeffer's reply would not he out of order.

Release Time And Religious Liberty: A Reply, Leo Pfeffer

Michigan Law Review

In his generous article-review of this writer's book, Church, State, and Freedom, Paul G. Kauper justified the decision of the United States Supreme Court in Zorach v. Clauson on the basis of its prior decision in Pierce v. Society of Sisters. In the Pierce case, it will be remembered, the Supreme Court invalidated an Oregon statute whose purpose it was to require attendance of all children at public schools. In Zorach v. Clauson, the Court upheld the validity of a New York statute that permitted public schools to release children for one hour weekly to receive religious …

Constitutional Law-Church And State-Distribution Of Gideon Bible In Public Schools, Raymond R. Trombadore S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

The Gideons International, a non-profit religious corporation, applied by letter to the Board of Education of the Borough of Rutherford, New Jersey, for permission to distribute free copies of the Gideon Bible to pupils of the public schools of that community. By resolution passed at a regular meeting of the board, permission was granted for distribution to pupils whose parents requested copies of the Bible. Prior to distribution, suit for injunction was commenced by parents of Jewish and Catholic pupils to determine the validity of the distribution under the federal and New Jersey constitutions. The trial court found for defendants. …

Religious Education And The Historical Method Of Constitution Interpretation - A Review Article, Robert E. Rodes

Journal Articles

Confusion Twice Confounded is sufficiently typical of a growing body of literature to warrant more extensive treatment than is usually accorded in a book review. It analyzes at great length the opinions in the Everson and McCollum cases and criticizes them in the light of the historical background of the First Amendment. Everson, it will be recalled, derived from the Founding Fathers the doctrine that the Constitution required a "wall of separation between church and state," which was not breached by public payment of transportation to and from parochial schools. McCollum used the test laid down in Everson to invalidate …

Nonpreferential Aid To Religion Is Not An Establishment Of Religion, James M. O'Neill

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

No Law Respecting An Establishment Of Religion, Leo Pfeffer

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Dr. Pfeffer's Rebuttal, Leo Pfeffer

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Dr. O'Neill's Rebuttal, James M. O'Neill

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law-Judcial Powers-State Taxpayer Denied Standing As Party In Interest In Bible Reading Case, Frank M. Bowen, Jr. S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiffs sought a judgment to declare unconstitutional a New Jersey statute which required the reading of five verses of the Old Testament at the opening of each day in the public schools. Plaintiffs contended that the practice under the statute was an "establishment of religion" prohibited by the First Amendment and applicable to the several states through the "due process" clause of the Fourteenth Amendment Both plaintiffs were taxpayers of New Jersey, and one was also the parent of a child who had attended a public school, but had left school before the appeal was taken. The Supreme Court of …

And This, Too, O King, Shall Change And Pass Away, C. T. Graydon

South Carolina Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Establishment Of Religion Under The Constitution, William David Stout

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law-Due Process -Of Law-Freedom Of Religion- Voluntary Religious Classes Held In Public School Building During School Hours, E.C. V. Greenwood

Michigan Law Review

Appellant, a resident and taxpayer of the Champaign School District and parent of a child attending the public schools of the district, petitioned for a writ of mandamus to compel the district to discontinue religious classes held in the public schools during regular school hours. The classes in question were sponsored by a voluntary association of Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant faiths, but other religious groups were free to establish classes upon the same basis. Instructional materials, a chosen course of study, and religious teachers were made available to the program by the association. Although employed by the association, the teachers …

State Transportation Of Students To Parochial Schools--The Everson Case, John J. Hopkins

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Constitutional Law--Use Of State Funds For Transportation Of Children To Parochial Schools, John G. Prather

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Church, The State, And Mrs. Mccollum, Clarence Emmett Manion

Journal Articles

On March 8, 1948 the Supreme Court of the United States decided in substance that this language prohibits the tax-supported city school systems of the State of Illinois from assisting and encouraging general religious instruction. Just how a constitutional restriction against specified congressional action can possibly impede the activity of a local Illinois school board is an inglorious mystery of modern constitutional construction.

In one way or another however, and for one reason or many, the Court decided eight to one that when the First Amendment says "Congress" it means, among other things, a local school board and when it …

Judgments--Criteria Of Finality Of State Court Decrees For The Purpose Of Federal Review, John M. Veale S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

At the suit of the plaintiff, an incorporated religious organization, a permanent injunction issued from a lower state court enjoining the enforcement of certain ordinances of the defendant City of Los Angeles on the ground that they violated the plaintiff's religious liberty under the Constitutions of California and the United States. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court of California which sustained the ordinances as Constitutional and entered a judgment which provided " . . . the Judgment . . . in the above cause . . . is hereby reversed." On plaintiff's appeal, defendant questioned the jurisdiction of …

Excusing Of Public School Pupils For Religious Instruction, Thomas F. Broden

Journal Articles

The separation of Church and State, according to the precepts of the American form of constitutional government, imposes no duty on the public school system to erect a barrier of hostility and antagonism against religion or the churches. Accordingly, a regulation of the Board of Education excusing the weekly absences of pupils for the purpose of receiving religious instruction does not, it was held in People ex rel. Latimer et al. v. Board of Education of City of Chicago, do violence to the compulsory attendance law and is a reasonable rule for the practical administration of the public schools.

Constitutional Law-Freedom Of Speech And Religion-What Constitutes State Action, George Brody S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Appellant, a Jehovah Witness, attempted to distribute religious literature in Chickasaw, a town in Alabama, owned by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation. Appellant was told by the corporate authorities that the town was private property and that she would not be permitted to distribute her literature. She was also asked to leave and when she refused to do so was arrested and prosecuted under an Alabama trespass statute. In her defense, appellant contended that to apply this statute to her activities in Chickasaw would abridge her right to freedom of press and religion as guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment. She was …

Constitutional Law - Freedom Of Religion - Compulsory Flag Salute, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

The state of West Virginia enacted an amendment to its statutes in 1941 requiring all schools to conduct courses in history and civics for the purpose of fostering "the ideals, principles and spirit of Americanism," and pursuant thereto the Board of Education adopted a resolution ordering that the flag salute and declaration of allegiance should be a regular part of the program of activities in the public schools. Expulsion from school was provided for nonconformity- and until compliance the child was considered unlawfully absent from school and the parents were liable to fine and imprisonment for causing child delinquency. Appellees …

Constitutional Law-Right To Impose A License Tax Upon Dissemination Of Religious Literature - Jones V. Opelika Reversed, Michigan Law Review

Michigan Law Review

Petitioners were members of the religious sect "Jehovah's Witnesses," who "sold" and/ or donated religious tracts and literature, and in connection therewith used phonographs and records, in their door to door activities to spread their religious beliefs. They failed to obtain a license for the privilege of canvassing and soliciting, as required of all persons by an ordinance of the city of Jeannette, Pennsylvania, and were convicted and fined for violation thereof. Petitions for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania were denied; the case came before the United States Supreme Court on petition for writ of certiorari. …

Another Jehovah's Witness Case

Indiana Law Journal

Notes and Comments: Constitutional Law

Constitutional Law - Religious Freedom - Compulsory Salute And Pledge Of Allegiance To Flag By School Children -Validity, Dan K. Cook

Michigan Law Review

A Massachusetts statute imposed a duty upon each public school teacher to lead his pupils, at least once each week, in a salute and pledge of allegiance to the flag. Petitioner was in his third year as a pupil in the public schools, and, in obedience to his father's commands, refused to participate in the salute and pledge. For such refusal, the school committee expelled the petitioner from the school, and he thereupon submitted a petition for a writ of mandamus, to compel his readmission to the school. Held, that the writ be denied, inasmuch as the statute did …

God In The Constitution, Robert T. Donley

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Monograph On Religious Freedom, Benjamin G. Reeder

West Virginia Law Review

No abstract provided.

Religious Liberty In The American Law, Carl Zollman

Michigan Law Review

It remains to examine the application of this principle* to particu- 1 lar offenses. Statutes have been passed against blasphemy and offenders have been prosecuted under them. This, as said in a Massachusetts case, has not been done "to prevent or restrain the formation of any opinions or the profession of any religious sentiments whatever but to restrain and punish acts which have a tendency to disturb the public peace.185 To prohibit the open, public, and explicit denial of the-popular religion of a country is a necessary measure to preserve the tranquility of a government. Of this no person in …

Religious Liberty In The American Law, Carl Zollman

Michigan Law Review

When the convention which framed the federal constitution assembled in Philadelphia in 1787 religious tests as a qualification for office were actually a part of the constitutions of most of the thirteen original states.' While Massachusetts2 and%,Maryland3 required from certain state officers only a declaration of a belief in the Christian religion, the fundamental law of Georgia, New Hampshire, New Jersey and North Carolina4 limited such belief to the Protestant religion and was designed to require a positive and affirmative test and not merely the negative qualification of not being a Roman Catholic.0 The Delaware, North Carolina and Pennsylvania constitutions7 …

The Law In The United States In Its Relation To Religion, Edwin C. Goddard

Michigan Law Review

Man is a religious being. To him, everywhere and always, religion and religious institutions have been and, will be of prime concern. He is also a social being. As such he has always found it necessary to live in an organized society, under some form of government. Man never has lived to himself alone. Government is not an invention, a necessary evil, to which men submit. On the contrary, from the most primitive beginnings it has been man's natural though imperfect instrument for controlling and developing the social estate so essential to his very existence. And universally this government has …