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Supreme Court Decision
Everson v. Board of Education of Ewing Twp.
In the first ever case involving the constitutional issues swirling around public schools and religion, the Supreme Court was asked to decide whether or not it was permissible for individual localities to spend tax dollars on services to private parochial schools.
At issue was the Ewing Township (NJ) decision to reimburse parents -- including those whose children attended Catholic schools -- for bus transportation to and from school. The suit was brought by one Arch Everson, a resident who objected to his tax dollars being spent on what, in his view, was the unconstitutional support of religion. The initial thoughts of the justices flowed uniformly in one direction, using as precedence the writings of Jefferson and Madison, specifically Madison's attempts to overturn a Virginia tax destined for the support of the then-established state church. Madison's well-regarded "Memorial and Remonstrance" stated, in part, that a true religion needed no support of law, and that no person -- believer or nonbeliever -- should be taxed to support a religious institution of any kind. Along this line of thought, the tax in question might well be found unconstitutional. But that having been said, the Court promptly upheld the New Jersey law, simply because it was applied uniformly to all parents having children in school and having a need for bus transportation to and from. In writing for the majority, Justice Hugo Black pointed out that the First Amendment requires the state to be neutral in its stance on religion; it does not require it to be adversarial. In this case, since the tax money in question is not contributed to or used in direct support of a specific religious school but, rather in a general program of support for parents of all religions, the statute does not violate the Establishment Clause. Besides having begun to define the "wall" between church and state in the education sphere, Everson was also the first opportunity for the Court to establish that the Fourteenth Amendment required the religion clauses of the Bill of Rights to be applied to the states -- one of the last pieces of the Bill of Rights not yet addressed with regard to the Fourteenth. Comment on this Decision Read Comments On this decision specifically, ... or on subject Religion ... or on subject 1st Amendment ... or on subject Education Write your Congressmen on this issue. Other decisions pertaining to Religion: Abingdon School District v. Schempp [374 U.S. 203 (1963)] Warren Court Allegheny County v. ACLU [492 U.S. 573 (1989)] Rehnquist Court Cantwell v. Connecticut [310 U.S. 296 (1940)] Hughes Court Engel v. Vitale [370 U.S. 421 (1962)] Warren Court Estate of Thornton v. Caldor, Inc. [105 S.Ct. 2914 (1985) (1905)] Burger Court Illinois ex rel McCollum v. Board of Education [333 U.S. 203 (1948)] Vinson Court Lemon v. Kurzman [403 U.S. 602 (1971)] Burger Court Lynch v. Donnelly [465 U.S. 668 (1984)] Burger Court Marsh v. Chambers [463 U.S. 783 (1905)] Burger Court Mueller v. Allen [463 U.S. 388 (1905)] Burger Court Palko v. Connecticut [302 U.S. 319 (1937)] Hughes Court Pierce v. Society of Sisters [268 U.S. 510 (1925)] Taft Court Reynolds v. United States [98 U.S. 145 (1879)] Waite Court Selective Draft Law Cases [245 U.S. 366 (1918)] White Court TWA v. Hardison [432 U.S. 63 (1905)] Burger Court United States v. Lee [455 U.S. 252 (1905)] Burger Court United States v. Seeger [380 U.S. 164 (1905)] Warren Court Wallace v. Jaffree [472 U.S. 38 (1985)] Burger Court Walz v. Tax Commission [397 U.S. 664 (1970)] Burger Court West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette [319 U.S. 624 (1943)] Stone Court Widmar v. Vincent [454 U.S. 263 (1905)] Burger Court Wisconsin v. Yoder [406 U.S. 205 (1972)] Burger Court
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