Noël Merino - Religion

Elizabeth Des Chenes, Managing Editor

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Religion / Noel Merino, book editor.

p. cm. -- (Teen rights and freedoms)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-7377-5831-3 (hardcover : alk. paper)

1. Religion in the public schools--Law and legislation--United States. 2. Prayer in the public schools--Law and legislation--United States. 3. Freedom of religion-United States. 4. Freedom of speech--United States. 5. United States. Supreme Court. I. Merino, Noel.

KF4162.W485 2011 344.73'0796--dc22

2011015668

Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 15 14 13 12 11

Marci Hamilton

A law professor recounts the evolution of the separation between church and state codified in the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Jack Feerick

A writer explores how the protection of religious liberty and freedom from religion came about at Americas founding and continues to evolve in an increasingly diverse country.

Ira C. Lupu, David Masci, and Robert W. Tuttle

Two law professors and a researcher explore several key court decisions in the battle over religion in the classroom, involving issues such as prayer, Bible study, and holiday displays.

Hugo Black

The US Supreme Court concluded that any state law re quiring public schoolchildren to recite a religious prayer violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Tom C. Clark

The US Supreme Court concludes that reading passages from the Bible in public school is a violation of the First Amendment demand that the government not advance any particular religion.

David Niose

A lawyer interviews one of the student plaintiffs from the 1963 Abington Township v. Schempp case, who defends the continued separation of church and state.

Kent Demaret

A journalist reports that one of the student plaintiffs from the 1963 US Supreme Court case disallowing religious practices now regrets his involvement in the case and supports school prayer.

Warren E. Burger

The US Supreme Court finds that requiring school after the eighth grade may be unconstitutional if it interferes with the free exercise of religion, such as with the Amish.

Per Curiam opinion

The US Supreme Court contends that displaying the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, even if financed privately, violates the First Amendment.

John Paul Stevens

The US Supreme Court determined that a state statute authorizing a moment of silence in public schools was unconstitutional because the intent was to promote voluntary prayer.

Anthony Kennedy

The US Supreme Court ruled that public school officials may not allow a religious leader to give a nonsectarian prayer at a school event where there is a captive audience, such as graduation.

John Paul Stevens

The US Supreme Court ruled that a school policy allowing a prayer at football games, led by a student who was elected by other students, is unconstitutional.

Cathy Young

A writer contends that secularists want religious speech to be restricted and anti-secularists want speech against religion to be restricted, showing neither wants truly free speech about religion.

Nat Hentoff

A writer claims that the US Supreme Court is not doing an adequate job of protecting the First Amendment rights of students when their expression has a religious component.

Rob Boston

The assistant director of communications for Americans United for Separation of Church and State argues that people need to remain vigilant against religion in public schools.

In the truest sense freedom cannot be bestowed, it must be achieved.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, September 16, 1936

T he notion of children and teens having rights is a relatively recent development. Early in American history, the head of the householdnearly always the father-exercised complete control over the children in the family. Children were legally considered to be the property of their parents. Over time, this view changed, as society began to acknowledge that children have rights independent of their parents, and that the law should protect young people from exploitation. By the early twentieth century, more and more social reformers focused on the welfare of children, and over the ensuing decades advocates worked to protect them from harm in the workplace, to secure public education for all, and to guarantee fair treatment for youths in the criminal justice system. Throughout the twentieth century, rights for children and teensand restrictions on those rightswere established by Congress and reinforced by the courts. Todays courts are still defining and clarifying the rights and freedoms of young people, sometimes expanding those rights and sometimes limiting them. Some teen rights are outside the scope of public law and remain in the realm of the family, while still others are determined by school policies.

Each volume in the Teen Rights and Freedoms series focuses on a different right or freedom and offers an anthology of key essays and articles on that right or freedom and the responsibilities that come with it. Material within each volume is drawn from a diverse selection of primary and secondary sources journals, magazines, newspapers, nonfiction books, organization newsletters, position papers, speeches, and government documents, with a particular emphasis on Supreme Court and lower court decisions. Volumes also include first-person narratives from young people and others involved in teen rights issues, such as parents and educators. The material is selected and arranged to highlight all the major social and legal controversies relating to the right or freedom under discussion. Each selection is preceded by an introduction that provides context and background. In many cases, the essays point to the difference between adult and teen rights, and why this difference exists.