Alabama V. Jaffree ( 1985 ) - 1737 Words

Wallace, Governor of Alabama v. Jaffree (1985): Central Question: Does the Alabama statute 16-1-20.1, allowing a period of silence for meditation or voluntary prayer violate the First Amendment Establishment Clause that is applied to the states by the Fourteenth Amendment? Facts of the Case: The case of Wallace v. Jaffree calls into question the constitutionality of an Alabama statute that authorized teachers to lead a one-minute period of silence for â€Å"meditation or voluntary† prayer in all public schools. Ishmael Jaffree, the parent of three students in the Mobile County Public School system filed a complaint that two of his three children had been â€Å"subjected to various acts of religious indoctrination,† as a result of Alabama statute 16-1-20.1 and asked for an injunction prohibiting Mobile County schools from â€Å"maintaining or allowing the maintenance of regular religious prayer services.† The purpose of Jaffree’s complaint was to prohibit the devotional services occurring in his children’s school and the consequent mockery of his children that occurred when they refused to recite the prayers to â€Å"Almighty God† (Stevens, 40). This type of law in Alabama public schools was not the first of its kind. Prior to sta tute 6-11-20.1, Alabama passed law 16-1-20 authorizing one minute of silence in public schools for meditation. After the authorization of statute 16-1-20.1 came 16-1-20.2, which allowed teachers to lead â€Å"willing students† in a prayer (Stevens, 40). Opinion of theShow MoreRelatedFreedom Of Religion : Establishment Clause2428 Words   |  10 Pages1st Amendment Freedom of Religion: Establishment Clause Court Case Significance Everson v. Board of Education (1947) A law created in New Jersey compensated parents who sent their children to public or catholic school on the public bus transportation. It was challenged and thought it was going against the Establishment Clause which prohibits the government to make any law in favor of a religion, but Justice Black said that any sort of events like riding the bus to a catholic place or protecting itRead MoreThe Constitution Best Suitable For Palestine2283 Words   |  10 Pagesof power. The Judiciary in the USA can declare any law unconstitutional if it is deemed to go against the rights guaranteed in the constitution. Similarly, in Marbury v. Madison it was held by the US Supreme court that a ‘law repugnant to the Constitution is void’ . Furthermore, in Wallace v. Jaffree, the courts held that the Alabama state law was unconstitutional as it infringed the first amendment of the US constitution and set aside the law. However, under the current interim Palestine constitutionRead MoreEss ay on To Pray or Not to Pray2778 Words   |  12 Pagesrecited; and that it not be composed by a priest, even if the language itself were inexplicit, as such a prayer would be considered blasphemous for a Jew to recite. (Feinstein 196-8) In 1985, the Supreme Court declared the Alabama school practice of moments of silence unconstitutional in the case of Wallace v. Jaffree, recognizing them as organized prayer by stealth. In 1986, in Providence, Rhode Island, Merith Weisman, a Jewish junior high student, was made to participate in a prayer ceremonyRead More The Removal of Prayer from Public Schools Essay4217 Words   |  17 PagesSpiritual Training in the Schools. In 1962, the United States Supreme Court was called upon to interpret the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution citing the Regent’s Prayer in violation (Engel v. Vitale). In a 6 to 1 decision (with 2 remaining neutral) the Supreme Court decided that the Regent’s Prayer, which was to be said aloud by each student in the presence of a teacher at the beginning of each school day, was unconstitutional: â€Å"Almighty