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West Virginia v. Barnette
The Free Speech clause of the First Amendment prohibits public schools from forcing students to salute the American flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance. District Court affirmed. -
McCollum v. Board of Education
The use of public school facilities by religious organizations to give religious instruction to school children violates the no-establishment-of-religion clause of the First Amendment. -
Zorach v. Clausen
Released time programs are acceptable if the instruction takes place away from the school campus, for 1 hour per week, and with no public funding. -
Engel v. Vitale
Government-directed prayer in public schools violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, even if the prayer is denominationally neutral and students may remain silent or be excused from the classroom during its recitation. -
Abington School District v. Schempp
The Court decided 8–1 in favor of the respondent, Edward Schempp, and declared sanctioned organized Bible reading in public schools in the United States to be unconstitutional. -
Epperson v. Arkansas
States may not require curricula to align with the views of any particular religion -
Lemon v. Kurtzman
For a law to be considered constitutional under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, the law must have a legitimate secular purpose, must not have the primary effect of either advancing or inhibiting religion, and must not result in an excessive entanglement of government and religion -
Wisconsin v. Yoder
The Wisconsin Compulsory School Attendance Law violated the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment because required attendance past the eighth grade interfered with the right of Amish parents to direct the religious upbringing of their children. Supreme Court of Wisconsin affirmed. -
Stone v. Graham
A Kentucky statute requiring the posting of a copy of the Ten Commandments, purchased with private contributions, on the wall of each public classroom in the State is unconstitutional because it lacks a secular legislative purpose. -
Wallace v. Jaffee
State endorsement of prayer activities in schools is prohibited by the First Amendment. -
Edwards v. Aguillard
Teaching creationism in public schools is unconstitutional because it attempts to advance a particular religion. -
Lee v. Weisman
Including a clergy-led prayer within the events of a public high school graduation violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment -
Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe
Student-led, student-initiated prayer at football games violates the Establishment Clause. -
Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow
A noncustodial parent did not have standing in federal court to allege that his child's school violated the Establishment Clause by leading students in the recital of the phrase "one nation under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance. The issue of whether "one nation under God" is constitutional, however, was not ruled on -
Kitsmiller v. Dover Area School District
Teaching intelligent design in public school biology classes violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States (and Article I, Section 3 of the Pennsylvania State Constitution) because intelligent design is not science and "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents."