Sante Fe Independent School District v. Doe, 530 U.S.
290, 120 S.Ct. 2266, 147 L.Ed. 2d 295 (2000).
Students and their parents filed a § 1983 action against
school district, alleging that district’s policy of
permitting student-led, student-initiated prayer before
football games violated the Establishment Clause. The
Supreme Court held that: (1) student-led, student-
initiated invocations prior to football games did not
amount to private speech; (2) policy of permitting such
invocations was impermissibly coercive; and (3) policy
was invalid on its face.
Agostini v. Felton, 521 U.S. 203 (1997). Twelve
years after the Supreme Court held, in Aguilar v. Felton,
473 U.S. 402, that the Establishment Clause barred
New York City Board of Education from sending public
school teachers into parochial schools to provide remedial
education to disadvantaged children pursuant to
program mandated by Title I of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act, the Court overruled Aguilar
and held that the program did not violate the
Establishment Clause.
Zobrest v. Catalina Foothills School District, 509 U.S.
1 (1993). Parents of deaf student attending Catholic
high school brought action to require school district to
provide interpreter for the student. The Supreme Court
held that: (1) the Establishment Clause does not lay
down an absolute barrier to the placing of a public
employee in a sectarian school; and (2) providing services
of an interpreter, under the Individuals with Disabilities
Act, to a student attending a Catholic high school does
not violate the Establishment Clause.
Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the
Blind, 474 U.S. 481 (1986). The First Amendment does
not preclude state from extending assistance under state
vocational rehabilitation program to blind person who
chose to study at Christian college to become a pastor,
missionary, or youth director.
Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board v. Pinette,
515 U.S. 753 (1995). Held: State did not violate the
Establishment Clause by permitting private party to
display unattended cross on grounds of State Capitol.
Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District
v. Grumet, 512 U.S. 687 (1994). Taxpayers and
association of state school boards challenged constitu-
tionality of statute creating special school district for
practitioners of strict form of Judaism. Held: The statute
violated the Establishment Clause.
Lamb’s Chapel v. Center Moriches Union Free School
District, 508 U.S. 384 (1993). Church brought suit
alleging that school district violated its constitutional
rights by refusing church’s request to use school facilities
for religious-oriented film series on family values and
child-rearing. The Supreme Court held that: (1) school
district violated Free Speech Clause of First Amendment
by denying church access to school premises solely
because film dealt with the subject from a religious
standpoint; and (2) allowing church access to school
premises would not have been an establishment of
religion.Lee v. Weisman, 505 U.S. 577 (1992). Public school
student and her father sought permanent injunction to
prevent invocations and benedictions in form of prayer at
graduation ceremonies of city public schools. Held:
School could not provide for “nonsectarian” prayer to be
given by clergyman selected by school.Jimmy Swaggart Ministries v. Board of Equalization,
493 U.S. 378 (1990). Religious organization brought
action seeking refund of sales and use taxes paid under
protest. The Supreme Court held that imposition of sales
and use tax on religious organization did not result in
excessive entanglement between government and
religion, and thus did not violate Establishment Clause.County of Allegheny v. A.C.L.U., 492 U.S. 573
(1989). Civil liberties organization and certain
individuals brought suit against county and city,
challenging the constitutionality of a creche in the
county courthouse and a Chanukah menorah outside a
city and county building. The Supreme Court held that
the display of the creche violated the Establishment
Clause, but that the display of the menorah next to a
Christmas tree did not have the unconstitutional effect of
endorsing Christian and Jewish faiths.Texas Monthly, Inc. v. Bullock, 489 U.S. 1 (1989).
Publisher of nonreligious periodical challenged state
statute providing for a sales tax exemption for religious
periodicals. Held: The statute violated the Establish-
ment Clause, and the exemption was not required by the
Free Exercise Clause.Bowen v. Kendrick, 487 U.S. 589 (1988). Held: (1)
The Adolescent Family Life Act did not have “primary
effect of advancing religion,” though it provided for
grants to religious and other institutions providing
counseling on teenage sexuality without expressly
requiring that funds not be used for religious purposes.
Also, the Act did not necessarily entail any “excessive