Case Rulings First Amendment

Torcaso v Watkins 1961

Under the First Amendment, a state may not use a religious test as a qualification for a public position.

Reynolds v United States 1878

A law criminalizing bigamy does not violate a defendant’s constitutional right to the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment.

Obergefell v Hodges 2015

Under the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment, states must issue marriage licenses and recognize lawful out-of-state marriages for same-sex couples.

Cantwell V Connecticutt 1940

Minersville School District vs Gobitis 1940

Government can compel speech (saluting flag) as a means of promoting national unity

West Virginia state board of education v barnette 1943

Requiring the saluting of the flag in schools is unconstitutional and against the freedom of religion

Braunfield v Brown 1961

a law that indirectly burdens a religion is generally constitutional if the law is general in nature and advances the government’s secular goals, unless the government can advance its goals without imposing such a burden

Sherbert v Verner 1963

the free exercise clause prohibits a state from denying unemployment benefits if the worker’s declined job conflicted with their religious beliefs

Wisconsin v Yoder

The free exercise clause protects the right of amish parents to opt their children out of school after the 8th grade

Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v City of Hialeah

A city ordinance prohibiting ritualistic animal sacrifices violates the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion

Employment Division v Smith 1990

The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment protects the right of individuals to believe whatever they wish but does not necessarily protect the right to act on those beliefs.

Holt v Hobbs 2014

A state policy that substantially burdens an institutionalized person’s religious exercise is invalid unless enforcing the policy is the least restrictive means of advancing a compelling interest

Burwell v Hobby Lobby 2014

A regulation that requires a closely held corporation to provide health-insurance coverage for contraception violates the RFRA if the regulation impinges on the sincerely held religious beliefs of the corporation’s owners.

Elaine Photography v Willock 2013

Under the First Amendment, a state law that prohibits a business from discriminating based on sexual orientation is constitutional.

Masterpiece Cakeshop v Colorado Civil Rights Commission 2018

adjudicatory proceedings against a person for unlawful discrimination must give neutral and respectful consideration to the person's defense of sincere religious motivation.

303 Creative LLC v Elenis

The First Amendment protects not only an individual’s right to speak and associate freely, but also an individual’s right not to be compelled to speak the government’s preferred message.

Christian Legal Society v Martinez 2010

A public-university policy requiring registered student organizations to accept all comers is constitutionally reasonable and viewpoint neutral.

Everson v Board of Education 1947

The First Amendment Establishment Clause does not prohibit New Jersey from spending public funds to pay the bus fares of students attending parochial schools as part of a general program under which it pays the bus fares of children attending other schools.

Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v Comer 2017

Does excluding churches from a grant program that provides public funds to resurface playgrounds violate the Free Exercise Clause?

Lemon v Kurtzman 1971

direct public funding of religious schools violates the establishment clause

McCollum v Board of Education 1948

the Establishment Clause prohibits the government from allowing religious groups to teach their religion as part of the school day in a public school.

Zorach v Clauson 1952

A program authorizing the release of students from public schools to attend religious services or classes does not violate the Religion Clauses of the First Amendment.

Marsh v Chambers 1983

Unless a state sponsored prayer presents a threat to the establishment clause, it should be accomodated

Town of Greece v Galloway 2014

the Establishment Clause must be interpreted according to historical practices and understandings with respect to prayer at government gatherings.

Epperson v Arkansas 1968

A state law that prohibits teaching evolution in public schools violates the First Amendment.

Lynch v Donnelly 1984

a public display erected in conjunction with a religious holiday does not violate the First Amendment Establishment Clause if it only indirectly or incidentally advances religion

Edwards v Aguillard

The Louisiana state law that requires the teaching of “creation science” in addition to “evolution science” is motivated by an underlying religious purpose and thus violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment

Engel v Vitale 1962

By using its public-school system to encourage recitation of the Board of Regents’ prayer, the state of New York has adopted a practice wholly inconsistent with the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

Wallace v Jaffree 1985

A law authorizing a period of silence in public schools for mediation or voluntary prayer, which has no secular purpose, is unconstitutional under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

Lee v Weisman 1992

While the government may accommodate religion, it is ultimately confined by the limits of the Establishment Clause (clergy at graduation)

Allegheny v ACLU

a government entity may not display religious symbols if the display has the effect of endorsing religious beliefs

Stone v Graham 1980

A statute that requires public schools to post a copy of the Ten Commandments in each classroom violates the First Amendment Establishment Clause.

Santa Fe ISD v Doe

a public school district’s policy permitting student-led, student-initiated prayer at football games violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment

Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

government policies that burden sincere religious practices and are not neutral and generally applicable satisfy strict scrutiny (2) Do the Establishment Clause, Free Exercise Clause, and Free Speech Clause complement each other?

McCreary v ACLU

the government violates the Establishment Clause if it acts in a way that favors a religious purpose over a secular purpose