All Sources Annotated Bibliography

1

Prayer in Public Schools

Sara Lance

University of Arizona

Global Campus

GEN103: Information Literacy

Instructor Smoak

April 29, 2020

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number

should be at

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of each page.

Fill in the title that you’ve

chosen for your paper, your

name, your instructor’s

name and the date.

2

Prayer in Public Schools

Research Question: How have the courts weighed factors regarding the legality of prayer in

American public schools?

Thesis Statement: When considering prayer in public school cases, the courts have sought to

balance the Free Exercise and Establishment Clauses of the First Amendment in a way that

protects students’ right to pray individually and initiate religious activity but also protects

students from being pressured into participating in prayer or other religious activity in school.

Annotation 1: Scholarly Article 1:

Reference:

Lain, C. B. (2015). God, civic virtue, and the American way: Reconstructing

Engel. Stanford Law Review, 67(3), 479-555. https://doi-org.proxy-

library.ashford.edu/10.31228/osf.io/fzhwp

Annotation:

This scholarly article focuses on the Supreme Court case Engel v Vitale (decided in

1963), which set the precedent that state-sponsored prayer in school is unconstitutional.

The author argues that while the decision was originally seen as, and continues to be seen

as, protecting religious minorities from being forced to participate in the religious

practices of the religious majority, the Supreme Court Justices did not view it that way

during the decision making process. Rather, the Supreme Court Justices took into account

demographic changes (a significant increase in the Catholic population) as well as

cultural changes (a substantial decrease in anti-Semitism after the Holocaust) that had

created a more pluralistic society; they did not see themselves as protecting a religious

Remember to include your research question here.

Convert your research question into a thesis statement and type it here. For help, you

can refer to the Writing Center’s Thesis Statement Tutorial.

Your

annotation

belongs here.

Be sure to

include all of

the elements

outlined in

the

assignment

instructions.

The APA-formatted reference for your scholarly article goes here. If you need help

with formatting, visit the Writing Center.

3

minority but as recognizing that there was not a prayer, no matter now bland and generic,

that could avoid offending some parties. In addition, the Supreme Court Justices looked

at the plain text of the First Amendment and determined that requiring public school

students to recite a state-written prayer was clearly endorsing religion. There was little

disagreement on these points as indicated by the 6-1 decision, with one vacancy on the

court and one justice too ill to participate in deliberations. The author used a variety of

sources as evidence for this article, including the text of this and other Supreme Court

decisions, quotes from an interview with Justice Black, many newspaper and magazine

articles from the time period as well as historical and legal books and journal articles.

Many of the sources that I’ve read mentioned the Engel v. Vitale decision and indicated

its importance to this issue but this journal article provides detailed explanation of why

and how the case began as well as the reasoning behind the decision, backed up a variety

of historical and legal sources.

The author thoroughly supported her points throughout the article with extensive sources.

In addition to the text of the decision and an interview with Justice Black, the author also

used the personal papers of Justice Black to support her argument. This article provides

relatively current information, having been published in 2015. A significant portion of the

evidence supporting the thesis from the original court case in the early 1960s but the

author also used more contemporary legal, scholarly, and news sources, all the way up to

the year before this article was published. The author has significant authority on this

topic as a Professor of Law and Associate Dean at the University of Richmond School of

Law. In addition, this article was published by the Stanford Law Review, which is well-

known and well-respected as a scholarly law journal. The most obvious limitation of this

You will copy

and paste the

references and

annotations

for the two

scholarly

articles and

eBook from

your week 3

assignment

into this

assignment.

Be sure to

make any

revisions

recommended

by your

instructor

Your

annotations

should be

in your

own words;

there

should be

no quotes

at all.

In-text

citations

are not

needed

because

you will

not have

quotes and

it is

understood

that all

information

comes from

the source

referenced

above the

annotation.

4

article is that it focuses on the Engel v Vitale ruling; a number of other court rulings, both

by the Supreme Court and by lower courts, are relevant to my research question but are

not addressed in this article. This journal article answers my research question by

explaining the reasoning behind the Engel v Vitale ruling, which set the original

precedent by which other religion in school cases were decided. It provides specific

information from the ruling and the historical context in which the ruling was made as

well as information about the public and media reaction to the ruling.

Annotation 2: Scholarly Article 2:

Reference:

Warnick, B. R. (2012). Student rights to religious expression and the special

characteristics of schools. Educational Theory, 62(1), 59-74. https://doi-

org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/10.1111/j.1741-5446.2011.00435.x

Annotation:

In this scholarly peer-reviewed article, Warnick examines the difficulty in balancing two

different parts of the First Amendment of the Constitution, the Establishment Clause with

the Free Exercise Clause, to show why it is difficult to determine what religious activities

are permissible for students in the public school environment. The Establishment Clause

prevents any part of the government from establishing or endorsing religion while the

Free Exercise Clause guarantees individuals the right to freely engage in religious

activities. Within the public school environment, students have the right to engage in

student-initiated prayer or other religious activity. Student-initiated religious activity

must be accommodated by school officials and it is often accommodated by allowing the

use of school property and other resources, which may give the appearance of official

Only the first word of the title, the subtitle, and proper

nouns should be capitalized. Also, remember to italicize

the name of the journal.

5

endorsement of the religious activity. This can create difficulty in determining when

student-initiated religious activity has crossed the line into unconstitutional activity. The

author also argues that school are unique areas in American society because education is

compulsory, they serve a range of ages, and because students are expected to gain a wide

range of competencies, eventually becoming capable members of society who understand

how ideas (both religious and secular) function to produce political outcomes. These

three elements that make schools a special place in American society contribute to the

difficulty with balancing the Free Exercise Clause with the Establishment Clause and

make the issue particularly controversial. Warnick used many scholarly sources as

references. He cited numerous education, legal, and philosophy journal articles and

books to support his points as well as relevant Supreme Court cases. This article is

different from many of the sources I’ve read because it explains why the issue of

religious expression in schools is complicated, both from the viewpoint of allowing

students the freedom of expression in a constitutional way and from the viewpoint of

ensuring that students receive a complete educational experience.

In this article, the author argues that the issue of prayer and religious activity in public

school is nuanced and complex; he supports that thesis well by citing many educational,

legal and philosophical sources that validated each element of his argument. The article

was published in 2012, so it is relatively current. The author, Bryan R. Warnick, has

authority on this issue as professor of Philosophy of Education at Ohio State University.

The journal, Educational Theory, was founded in 1951 and is a peer-reviewed journal so

this article is credible. The article is interesting but limited in usefulness to me because

the factors that courts consider is not the main focus. Instead, the author discussed

Provide

enough

detail in

your

annotations

to fully

describe

your

sources and

explain

how they fit

into your

research

project.

Be sure to

discuss the

sources

(evidence)

that the

author

used to

support

his/her

points.

6

balancing the Free Exercise Clause and the Free Establishment Clause as part of a larger

discussion of the complexities of prayer and religious activities in public school. This

article answers my research question by explaining how the two clauses of the First

Amendment that are relevant to the issue of religious activity in public school, the Free

Exercise Clause and the Establishment Clause, apply in a school setting and how they can

be difficult to reconcile.

Annotation 3: eBook:

Reference:

Haiman, F. S. (2003). Religious Expression and the American Constitution. Michigan State

University Press.

Annotation:

This eBook examines many different facets of the First Amendment of the Constitution,

generally focusing on how it has been applied in court cases related to religion in

American society and the evolution of First Amendment cases throughout American

history. Of particular relevance to my research question is chapter four, “Religious

Expression in Public Schools.” This chapter is broken into six parts, covering prayer in

school and school-sponsored events, the Pledge of Allegiance, use of school resources for

religious meetings outside of school hours, evolution curriculum, school officials’

religious expression, and censorship of library and curricular resources. The author

discusses many Supreme Court and lower court cases, arguing that schools, because they

are viewed as shaping young minds, are a particular focus of conflict over the proper

church-state balance. The courts have endeavored to both protect the rights of students

The title of the eBook should be italicized.

Because this eBook came from the UAGC Library database, no URL is included in the reference.

For the

eBook, you

may choose

to focus on a

specific

chapter that

is of

particular

importance

to your

topic. Be

sure to

clearly

explain that

chapter’s

relevance

and discuss

the author’s

arguments

and

evidence in

that chapter.

7

and faculty to freely exercise their chosen religion while also protect against state

coercion to engage in a specific religion (or any religion) or state endorsement of

religion. In general, the goal of the courts has been for the state to be neutral in regard to

religion and neither favor or disfavor either a specific religious sect or religious practice

over nonpractice. The author supported his points in this book by citing and referencing

Supreme Court and lower court cases, media reports, and scholarly legal articles. This

article is similar to other sources that I read on this topic in that it discusses some of the

same cases and made some similar points. However, it also discussed many lower court

cases that were not mentioned in other sources and it addressed issues beyond prayer and

student religious activities in school, like religious expression of school officials,

censorship of library and curriculum materials, and the teaching of evolution.

The thesis of the relevant chapter of this eBook is best summarized by saying that the

courts have worked to balance the rights enumerated in the First Amendment on various

religious issues that find their way into public schools. The author supported that thesis

well by exploring those various topics and explaining how court rulings have evolved

over time, building on precedent. Although the author cited some scholarly secondary

sources, the majority of sources cited and referenced are court cases, illustrating the focus

of the author on discussing court rulings. This eBook is less current than other sources

chosen for this project, having been published in 2003. However, it is still current enough

for this topic and contains significant useful information. The author, Franklyn S.

Haiman, was Emeritus Professor of Communication Studies at Northwestern University.

He wrote additional scholarly works on the First Amendment and a national award for

freedom of expression was named in his honor. It would appear that he was an authority

No source

can cover

all aspects

of a topic so

they all

have some

limitations.

Think

carefully

about where

the source

might be

lacking.

8

on this issue. The eBook was published by the Michigan State University Press, which

indicates that this is a scholarly book and that it is a credible source. The limitation of

this source is primarily that it is older and so does not include any cases or scholarship

written since 2003. In addition, the author largely used court cases as sources; while

there are some scholarly secondary sources cited and referenced, there are clearly fewer

scholarly secondary sources used in this source than in other scholarly sources used for

this project. While this source provides a thorough history of the evolution of the history

of religion in public school cases, it does not place them in the context of the scholarly

discussion as well as other sources in the project. This eBook addresses my research

question by looking at issues beyond just prayer in public school. By examining other

issues that fall under the First Amendment legal umbrella, it is easier to see how the

courts have worked to find a balance between the Free Expression and Establishment

Clauses. In addition, because this eBook also discusses lower court cases, it was easier to

understand how the precedent set by the Supreme Court cases affected subsequent cases

that came before these courts.

Annotation 4: Non-Scholarly Source 1:

Reference:

Linder, D. (n.d.). Exploring constitutional conflicts: Prayer in public schools. Exploring

Constitutional Law.

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/PROJECTS/FTRIALS/conlaw/schoolprayer.html

Annotation:

This website was created by Doug Linder, a Professor of aw at the University of

Missouri-Kansas City Law School and it is designed to be an educational resource on

Be sure to

provide

the

specific

URL (web

address)

for the

non-

scholarly

sources

that you

use.

9

constitutional issues. This web page specifically addresses the issue of prayer in public

schools and it discusses four important Supreme Court cases: Engel v Vitale (1962),

Wallace v Jaffree (1985), Lee v Weisman (1992), and Santa Fe Independent School

District v Doe (2000). For each of the four cases, there is a paragraph describing the

specifics of each case and how the court ruled. The Engel v Vitale (1962) case concerned

student recitation of a state-written prayer, which the court ruled 6-1 was unconstitutional

regardless of whether students were given the option of opting out. In Wallace v Jaffree

(1985), the practice of providing a daily moment of silence along with the instruction that

students should use it for meditation or silent prayer was challenged and the justices

found it to be unconstitutional, 5 to 4. Of particular importance to this decision were

statements by legislators that their goal was to encourage students to pray. In the Lee v

Weisman (1992) case, the Supreme Court considered the practice of inviting clergy to

perform invocations and benedictions at public school graduations. The justices ruled 5-

4 that this was an unconstitutional practice. The Santa Fe Independent School District v

Doe (2000) case looked at student speech delivered at football games in one Texas school

district. Although the school policy did not specify that the speeches should be religious,

in practice the speeches were religious and students often prayed. In addition, because

the student speakers were selected by popular vote and the student body was majority

fundamentalist Christian, the speech reflected only that religious view. A majority of the

justices (6-3) decided that an observer was likely to conclude that the school officials

endorsed religious speech because it was delivered using school resources at a school

sponsored event and with the apparent approval of school officials. The author provided

links to the Supreme Court rulings for each of the cases that he discussed but did not

Discuss the

authority

and

currency in

your

annotations

as you

explain the

credibility

of your

sources.

10

offer other supporting sources as evidence. However, as a Professor of Law, the author

has significant authority on this topic and his writing is credible. Although this web page

offers less detail on the specific cases than other sources that I’ve read, it provides a

useful and concise legal summary for four of the major prayer in public school cases and

shows how they are connected. Although the author provided only short summaries of

the cases, he also refrained from injecting personal opinion into his writing on the topic,

which was not the case for many other sources.

This web page highlights the limitations that the Establishment Clause puts on prayer in

public schools and, after explaining the basic facts of four Supreme Court cases on this

issue, asks the reader a series of questions meant to stimulate further thought on the issue.

There is not an argument presented by the author himself, only the decisions of the

Supreme Court in those four cases. The author provides a short summary of the cases

and links to the full cases, so he provides support for the arguments on the web page.

The author is a Law Professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School, so

he has authority on this topic. The web page is published by the University of Missouri-

Kansas City, so it is credible. The obvious limitation of this source is that it is very basic

and other sources provide more in-depth information. In addition, it is not clear when it

was published, nor is it clear when any of the linked sources were published so it is

impossible to determine currency. However, none of the information provided on the

web page will change as they get older. The web page answers my research question by

highlighting four major prayer in public school cases and explaining the legal basis on

which they were decided. While it does not provide all of the information that I need, it

Note the

limitations of

the source

and explain

how they

impact your

research

project.

Explain why

they are or

are not an

issue for

your project.

11

does provide a summary of the four cases and an explanation of the basic framework that

the courts have used to decide these cases.

Annotation 5: Non-Scholarly Source 2:

Reference:

Rogers, M. (2009, May 19). Justice Souter and the Supreme Court’s church-state

balance. The Brookings Institution. https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/justice-

souter-and-the-supreme-courts-church-state-balance/

Annotation:

This is an article on a think tank website that was written just after Supreme Court David

Souter stepped down from the Supreme Court and before President Obama named his

replacement. It discusses the positions that Justice Souter took on cases related to the

church-state balance with an eye toward how his replacement might change the future

Supreme Court rulings in this area. By looking at his writings in Supreme Court rulings

in cases specifically related to religion in public schools and in American society more

generally, the author argues that, while only one of nine justices, Justice Souter was a

strong voice on these matters and overall argued for more broad interpretations of both

the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. He was

concerned with protecting the rights of all Americans to practice their chosen religions,

even, and perhaps especially, if they practiced religions that departed from the norm. In

arguing for a strong interpretation of the Establishment Clause, he again was concerned

with the rights of believers of minority religions and of nonbelievers, but he also argued

that state endorsement of the majority religion would weaken its integrity. Essentially,

Justice Souter argued that the most effective way to protect Americans’ right to freely

Be sure to

discuss the

evidence

that the

author used

to support

his/her

points.

12

engage in the religious activities of their choice was to prevent the government from any

promotion of religion while also guarding against state burdens on religious practice. To

support her points, the author cited and referenced numerous Supreme Court cases that

addressed the issue of church-state balance. The organization that published this article,

the Brookings Institution, is sometimes viewed as a left-leaning organization. However,

all of the author’s points were supported by citations and references to primary source

documentation (the Supreme Court rulings). This article is different from other sources

that I’ve read because it looks at the arguments made by only one Supreme Court Justice

during his time on the court, rather looking at individual cases.

As mentioned above, the author supported her thesis throughout the article by citing

relevant Supreme Court rulings. The article was written in 2009, which seems a bit old,

but it was written immediately after Justice Souter stepped down and when his impact on

the Supreme Court was of interest to the public. However, it could be the case that a more

considered view of his record would be possible after more year go by. The article was

published by a think tank that is considered to be of a left-leaning political persuasion.

However, the author, Melissa Rogers, has served as the executive director of the White

House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships, the director of the Center

for Religion and Public Affairs at Wake Forest University Divinity School, the executive

director of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life and the general counsel of the

Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. She has also written a book, Religious

Freedom and the Supreme Court. She clearly has authority on this topic, the article is

well-cited, and her writing is credible. A significant limitation of this source is that it is

quite brief. Another limitation is that, while the author cited Supreme Court cases, she

Discuss

any

potential

bias in the

source

and

explain

why that

is or is

not a

concern

with the

source

that you

chose.

13

did not cite any scholarly secondary sources, so she did not place the information into the

relevant scholarly discussion on this topic. This article answers my research question by

providing an explanation of how one Supreme Court Justice has applied the

Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment to cases that involve

questions of church-state balance. Because this article explained Justice Souter’s

arguments in a number of cases that looked at different questions, it is easier to see a

more holistic theory of how these two clauses fit together.