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Theories of constitutional interpretation
Court cases quizlet
Court cases quizlet
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Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow: The Supreme Court case in Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow result in a unanimous ruling that the phrase “under God” may remain in the Pledge of Allegiance as narrated in public school classrooms. The court made the decision because the atheist father did not have grounds to sue the school district on behalf of his daughter. While the ruling was made on the Flag Day, it did not meet the clear endorsement of the constitutionality of the pledge as sought by President Bush and leaders of Republican and Democratic Parties in Congress. Notably, the eight judges who participated in the case had voted to turn over a federal appeals court decision in 2003 that would have prohibited the use …show more content…
Newdow case, the United States Supreme Court faced two main issues. The first point in the issue was the determination of whether Michael A. Newdow, the atheist father, had the standing or legal right to challenge the constitutionality of a policy by the public school board that required willing students to be led in narrating the Pledge of Allegiance by teachers. The second point was to determine whether the Pledge of Allegiance, which had the phrase “under God”, was an infringement of the Establishment Clause of the country’s constitution. The determination on whether the phrase was a violation of the Establishment Clause is because this clause states that the Congress will not make any legislation that respects the establishment of religion. As a result, the clause has been interpreted as restricting governmental action to those that discriminate among religions and those that promote religion …show more content…
Even though the amended opinion reflected its initial decision in some way, it did not consist of a discussion regarding the legality of the Congressional act in 1954. The amended decision was restricted to the narrower claims regarding whether Newdow had the right to challenge the school district’s policy of daily recitation of the Pledge and whether it was constitutional. In this case, the court concluded that daily recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance while led by teachers was an infringement of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The court based its decision on the fact that such an act impermissibly forces a religious
They stated that the Parents of New York United's concern was based solely on a complaint about the books going against the group's subjective values, and not the objective value of providing quality education to the students of the Island Tree School District. The student's objection to the school board's ruling to remove the “anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Semitic, and just plain filthy” books garnered attention from free speech organizations and concerned libraries. When the case made it to the Supreme Court, the Justices that presided over the ruling were Justices Powell, Blackmun, Brennan, Stevens, Marshall, White, O'Connor, Rehnquist, and Chief Justice Burger.... ... middle of paper ...
This example of a Supreme Court case shows that the court is not above politics. Even though most Americans, including government officials, practiced some form of Christianity, the judges were not willing to compromise the information in the Constitution for the popular beliefs of individuals. I agree with the Supreme Court in its decision to ban the practice of prayer in public schools. Not only does it violate the Constitution, but it encroaches on our freedom of thought and action. Being excluded from a public classroom because of personal beliefs does not sound just.
In the 2008 the United States Census Bureau, Self-Described Religious Identification of Adult Population, The Christian faith proved to be the more dominating religion out of all religions. So it would seem the words “Under God” would be beneficial for the majority, the Pledge of Allegiance allures and supports the loyalty of the majority of citizens. The nonbelievers of religion have had the right to not recite the pledge since 1943 but have been asked to quietly stand while the believers recite the pledge in its entirety. Even though leaving out “Under God” is not a difficult task we can clearly see a division has now developed, opposite of bringing the people together. Another example that shows the pledge allures and supports a loyalty to the majority of citizens, the acceptance and encouragement to keep ...
Research on the Pledge of Allegiance. In the last thirty years, there has been surprisingly little study of this particular ritual in democratic participation. The majority of this work tends to focus on the legal issues concerning refusal to say the Pledge (Knowles, 1992; Urofsky, 1995). This work effectively summarizes the current legal understanding of the relationship between state law and local school governance, that while states have a compelling interest to encourage democratic education in schools, their ability to mandate such participation is effectively limited by the Constitutional obligation to protect freedom of religion (Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 1940; Urofsky, 1995).
Furthermore, despite having the words “under God” in the pledge, the phrase in no way enforces one specific religion upon any citizen. The phrase does not insinuate that the federal government is seeking to es...
The Pledge of Allegiance should be a pledge that represents anyone and people should be able to say it proudly. The Pledge of Allegiance was written in hope that citizens in any country would use it, but the Pledge of Allegiance was altered
Overall the Pledge must be revised in order to be a truly patriotic oath. I share Gwen’s sentiments and believe the pledge of allegiance should be a religiously neutral and all inclusive oath. One in which every single Americas from every walk of life can participate in; a Pledge to take pride in regardless of your religious beliefs or otherwise. We must remember our Nation was founded on the basis of unity. Even though religion was used to unite us in the past, in the future our diversity should be used to unite us instead. For America is a rich and diverse country yet in that diverseness we share common American traits. I challenge the notion that the Pledge is of trivial importance for the opposite is true. The Pledge of Allegiance needs to be the Oath that binds us, despite our religious beliefs.
In 1995, a lawsuit was filed against the Santa Fe Independent School District. Students had been leading Christian prayers before football games. The case made it’s way up to the Supreme Court, claiming these prayers were a violation of the First Amendment. The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;”. This means that US citizens are free to practice any religion they choose, as long as they respect public morals. The amendment also states that and that the government cannot endorse a particular religion, which was added to ensure that the government couldn’t have an established religion, like England had at a time, the Church of England. Another
In the Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow case, Michael Newdow is suing for his daughter being required to say the Pledge of Allegiance while in school. The Newdow family is an Atheist family who disagrees with the phrase, ‘under God‘ stated in the Pledge of Allegiance. Newdow disapproved forcing his daughters say the Pledge in class. He also states that this is an Establishment Clause violation in which he does not want the school to be able to control his daughters religion or beliefs.
It was irrational for these students to be suspended from the school. The high school students named John F. Tinker, who was fifteen-years-old, John’s younger sister Mary Beth Tinker, who was thirteen-years-old, and their friend Christopher Eckhardt, who was sixteen years old, should not have been suspended. They were under the protection of the First Amendment. The parents of those students sued the school district for violating the students’ right of expressions and sought an injunction to prevent the school from decupling the students. The Supreme Court of the United Sates stepped in and the question of law was if. They ruled in the favor of the Tinker’s because it was in a seven to two decision "Tinker V. Des Moines Independent Community School District."
Thomas Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom to explain that each man has the right to practice any religion they please as long as it does not harm others. In addition, government cannot show favoritism when it comes to religion. After having the definition of “separation of church and state” laid out in front of you, it is surprising to realize what may have seemed normal growing up for most children, is in fact unconstitutional. In this paper, we will discuss the issue of the pledge of allegiance in public schools.
Once again, this is a matter of morals. While the pledge may have little religious significance, it does have religious significance—something which should be heavily prohibited. For these reasons, the opposing side's argument is incorrect, and the use of "under God" in the pledge is truly unjust toward citizens of the United States.
In the early 1960s the Supreme Court of the United States of America ruled to outlaw prayer and Bible reading in the public schools of our great nation (M. E. Frankel, 1994). The results led to an infuriated outcry from those who opposed the ruling, and on that front, very little has changed after more than fifty years. One Senator went so far as to say that the decision "Made God Unconstitutional." Despite a vast majority of Americans stating that they want the ruling overturned in public opinion polls, the proposed constitutional amendments to reverse the Courts decision has never received the mandatory two-thirds votes need to reverse it. Even Newt Gringrich made a proposed constitutional amendment for the return of school prayer when he
Against School Prayer." Journal of Supreme Court History 32.1 (2007): 62-84. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Oct. 2013.
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in 1892 and “by the time of the Second World War, many states had made the daily recitation of the pledge mandatory for teachers and students” (“The Pledge of Allegiance,” par. 2). In 1954 congress passed a law inserting the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. Students in schools started to refuse to stand and recite the pledge along with their teacher and classmates and as a result they would be punished for not doing so. This was seen as a big controversy. Eventually the mandatory recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance was seen as a violation of constitutional rights. Despite this opinion by some, a lot can be learned from having students recite the Pledge in school. It is a way for students