Final Assignment

Running head: PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 1

Prayer in Public Schools

Sara Lance

GEN103: Information Literacy

Instructor Smoak

April 29, 2018

Be sure that you put the title of your paper in

the header. Notice that the header on the first

page includes the words “Running head:”.

The page

number

should be at

the top right

of each page.

Fill in the title that you’ve

chosen for your paper, your

name, your instructor’s

name and the date.

PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 2

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. doi: 10.31228/osf.io/fzhwp

Annotation: This scholarly article focuses on the Supreme Court case Engel v Vitale

(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

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

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-formattted reference for your scholarly article goes here. If you need help

with formatting, visit the Writing Center.

PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 3

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 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

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

PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 4

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. doi: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 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

Please notice that the header should be

changed to match your title.

The title of your article should be written like sentence

with only the first word and proper nouns capitalized.

Also remember to italicize the name of the journal.

PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 5

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 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

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.

PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 6

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. East

Lansing: Michigan State University Press. Retrieved from Ashford Library eBook

Collection.

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 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

The title of the eBook should be italicized

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.

PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 7

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 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

No source

can cover

all aspects

of a topic so

they all

have some

limitations.

Think

carefully

about where

the source

might be

lacking.

PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 8

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 3: Non-Scholarly Source 1:

Reference: Linder, D. (n.d.). Exploring constitutional conflicts: prayer in public

schools. Retrieved from

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

Annotation: This website was created by Doug Linder, a Professor of Law at the

University of Missouri-Kansas City Law School and it is designed to be an educational

resource on 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 import to this

Be sure to

provide

the

specific

URL (web

address)

for the

non-

scholarly

sources

that you

use.

PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 9

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 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

Discuss the

authority

and

currency in

your

annotations

as you

explain the

credibility

of your

sources.

PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 10

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

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 4: Non-Scholarly Source 2:

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

state balance. The Brookings Institution. Retrieved from

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

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.

PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 11

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 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.

Be sure

to

discuss

the

evidence

that the

author

used to

support

his/her

points.

PRAYER IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS 12

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 were of interest to the public. Because this article is only

concerned with the rulings that included Justice Souter, none will be left out by using this

article. 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 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.

Discuss

any

potential

bias in the

source

and

explain

why that

is or is

not a

concern

with the

source

that you

chose.