Engel v. Vitale
LAW CASE
WRITTEN BY: The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Engel v. Vitale, case in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 25, 1962, that voluntary prayer in public schools violated the U.S. Constitutionâs First Amendment prohibition of a state establishment of religion.
New York stateâs Board of Regents wrote and authorized a voluntary nondenominational prayer that could be recited by students at the beginning of each school day. In 1958â59 a group of parents that included Steven Engel in Hyde Park, New York, objected to the prayer, which read, âAlmighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy blessings upon us, our parents, our teachers, and our country,â and sued the school board president, William Vitale. The prayer, which proponents argued was constitutional because it was voluntary and promoted the free exercise of religion (also protected in the First Amendment), was upheld by New Yorkâs courts, prompting the petitioners to file a successful appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Engel et al. were supported by the American Civil Liberties Union, and briefs were filed on their behalf by the American Ethical Union and the American Jewish Committee, while the governments of some 20 states called on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the prayer.
Oral arguments took place on April 3, 1962. The Supreme Courtâs ruling was released on June 25 and found New Yorkâs law unconstitutional by a margin of 6â1 (two justices did not participate in the decision). Hugo L. Black wrote the Supreme Courtâs opinion, in which the majority argued âthat, by using its public school system to encourage recitation of the Regentsâ prayer, the State of New York has adopted a practice wholly inconsistent with the Establishment Clause.â The lone dissent came from Potter Stewart, who argued that the majority had âmisapplied a great constitutional principleâ and could not understand âhow an âofficial religionâ is established by letting those who want to say a prayer say it. On the contrary, I think to deny the wish of these school children to join in reciting this prayer is to deny them the opportunity of sharing in the spiritual heritage of our Nation.â The decision, the first in which the Supreme Court had ruled unconstitutional public school sponsorship of religion, was unpopular with a broad segment of the American public.