Unit 2 and 1st Amendment cases [Freedom of religion and Freedom of expression]

Establishment Clause (Freedom of Religion)

Prohibits the government from promoting a state sponsored religion

Free Exercise Clause (Freedom of Religion)

Limits the ability of the gov to restrict or prohibit you from freely practicing a religion.

Engel v. Vitale (1962)

Supreme Court ruled that mandatory prayer in public schools, even if non-denominational and voluntary, is unconstitutional.

• New York State Board of Regents policy that mandated the recitation of a short, voluntary prayer at the start of each school day.

• The Court, in a 6-1 decision, held that this practice violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits government endorsement of religion.

Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971)

The court ruled that state funding for religious schools, even for secular subjects, violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

• established the "Lemon Test," evaluated whether government actions violate the Establishment Clause.

• The Lemon Test requires that laws have a secular purpose, their primary effect must neither advance nor inhibit religion, and they must not foster excessive government entanglement with religion.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972)

the Court ruled that Amish parents could not be forced to send their children to school past the eighth grade, due to the parents' religious objections under the First Amendment's Free Exercise Clause.

• found that the state's interest in compulsory education did not outweigh the parents' right to raise their children according to their religious beliefs

Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community school district

Ruled that students do not lose their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech while in school.

• The case involved students who wore black armbands to school to protest the Vietnam War, a form of symbolic speech that the school district banned.

• The Court sided with the students, stating that schools cannot restrict speech unless it substantially disrupts the educational environment

Near v. Minnesota (1931)

Established a key principle in First Amendment law: prior restraint on publication is unconstitutional.

• Minnesota law that allowed officials to shut down newspapers deemed "malicious, scandalous, and defamatory".

• The Court ruled that this law violated the freedom of the press, as guaranteed by the First Amendment and applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment.

New York Times v. United States

It affirmed the First Amendment's protection of freedom of the press against prior restraint by the government.

• Nixon administration attempted to prevent The New York Times and The Washington Post from publishing classified documents about the Vietnam War (the "Pentagon Papers").

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission

the Supreme Court ruled that corporations and unions have the same First Amendment rights as individuals, meaning they can spend unlimited amounts of money in support of or in opposition to political candidates.

• significantly changed campaign finance regulations by effectively removing restrictions on independent political expenditures by corporations and unions.