...Constitutional Right or Religious Freedom How the Representation of God in the Pledge of Allegiance Affects the American People I. The phrase, “Under God” in the United States Pledge of Allegiance perpetuates the most significant form of discrimination in modern time. II. “Samantha you stand for the pledge right now!” Exclaimed Mrs. Cline. Samantha knew she was doing what was right in her eyes, and it didn’t matter what the consequence was going to be. “That’s it! I have had it with your disruptive behavior little girl! Yes, this is Mrs. Cline from room 319, yes, I have a little girl hear refusing to say the pledge, and I need her removed from my classroom immediately!” As the Sherriff snapped the handcuffs on tight, a trickle of tears began to stream down her face. The rude laughter and picking of the other children was nothing but a loud roar in the air. It was like a wait before a trial hearing, where you really didn’t know what to expect until the evidence was all laid out. When her mother appeared in Mr. Jones’s office, the air stood still and no one could seem to look away. The snickering and mutters of the adults in the office buzzed about as Mrs. Smith and Mr. Jones were at war with words. “Don’t you ever think you can just arrest my daughter for not standing and saying something she has no knowledge or belief in!! I swear you better have a damn good apology for my daughter!,” Yelled Mrs. Smith as she rushed her daughter from the building. 1.) The United...
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...First Amendment: Religion and Education Grand Canyon University: POS: 500 October 20, 2015 Religion and the First Amendment An examination of the First Amendment legal issues that arise when a student turns in an essay and the displaying of religious nature for an assignment will provide insight into how the First Amendment applies to classroom assignments. Each reason will provide important insight, information, and court cases to better help in giving a view of the first amendment in regards to religion and education. Legal Issues Regarding Grading of Assignment When grading a student essay, there are some legal issue that need to be considered. As a teacher, you cannot not accept a student’s work due to it containing anything related to religion. A school district has to abide by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. In my school district, all students have a right to express themselves whether it is on a religious topic or something related to religion. A teacher should not grade a student’s essay on any religious topic based on their own beliefs, penalized, nor rewarded, but grade it by using regular academic standards and the content of the work (Saccopoulos, 2008). A school should never give the impression that they endorse any religious belief over another belief (Teaching Tolerance, 2014). While looking into the legal issues related to this scenario, the next step is to determine the proper displaying of student’s work. Appropriateness of Displaying...
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...stated she did not know how long the boxes were stacked there. How long the boxes being stacked is not the issue, it’s more an issue of negligence on Pathmark’s part because the boxes should not be laying around where people are walking. The court, due to not enough grounds of evidence, should not grant Pathmark requesting a summary judgment. Case 4.1 – Supremacy Clause Does the Massachusetts anti-Myanmar statue violate the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution? Under the Supremacy Clause, this anti-Myanmar act does violate the U.S., because it is going against the “supreme law of the land.” When Massachusetts set forward this, it went against the federal statute, making the state preempted by the federal statute. The states of the US don’t have to right to regulate commerce, only the federal government does. Case 4.2 – Establishment Clause Does the display of the Ten Commandments in the countries’ courthouses violate the Establishment Clause? No, the county courthouses displaying the Ten Commandments does not violate the Establishment Clause because they are not affiliated with Congress, and the Establishment Clause is directed only toward...
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...various court cases and the issue of prayer from a personal perspective shows the correct argument towards prayers in public school prayers. The first court case on school prayer can be traced in the Engel V. Vitale case that happened way back in 1962, where there was the banning of praying in public school by the Federal Supreme Court. Weiler says that this happened after parents in a public school at New York protested that the voluntary prayer at the school was not in line with their religious belief (Weiler). To spice this up, other religious groups came forward to support the parents on the same issue, which they argued that it was against the amended constitution. After a long consultation with various concerned parties and religious group, a firm confirmation was made that this was unconstitutional. Therefore, the court issued an opinion stating that there were not supposed to be prayers written by the government for recitation in the public schools. To justify this, the court stated the existence of the separation between the state and the church, where it revisited the history of the matter. Besides this, the court argued that a school prayer is a religious activity since it has the nature of a prayer. Therefore, prescribing a prayer for children in schools would mean that the government was violating the establishment clause. The argument towards this was that the prayer was voluntary and that no one was asked to respect any established religion, but the court could...
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...non-denominational prayer (Bill of Rights Institute, 2010). The following information will show both sides of the argument of if prayer should be allowed in schools. Background information will be given on the history of prayer in school and prayer in congress, and my personal thoughts on this important position. Argument There are many different viewpoints on the argument of prayer in schools. We will begin with the argument of allowing prayer in schools. The United States Constitution protects religious freedom under the First Amendment. The First Amendment states that Congress should not make any law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise of religion (U.S. Constitution Online, 2010). The interpretation of the First Amendment has been the basis for many arguments of how to apply the information to laws on allowing or not allowing prayer in school. Being extremely general in their language, the first two clauses of the Amendment say nothing about how to apply their information. Advocates for including prayer in school have argued for a long time that banning the practice...
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...Council meetings with a prayer given by a volunteer pastor. The prayers given at the beginning of these Council meetings were a general invocation of “God’s” blessing to all. The Council meetings were conducted by a 5 member town board to discuss official business, and were attended by many people, including those of different organizations. Two women who are a part of the freedom from religion foundation, opposed these legislative prayers, and this created the Town of Greece v. Galloway case. The Establishment Clause is at the heart of this case, and it is battling a controversial topic, that has had a...
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...The case before the Court calls into question the use of the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance. The plaintiffs argue that the phrase is a clear violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, while the government argues that the term is more “traditional” than “religious”. According to the Constitution, the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. If any reasonable observer were to look at this phrase, they would immediately think that the government supports one god. They would be led to believe that a nation that includes this in their Flag Code specifically supports a monotheistic religion. This phrase fails the endorsement test because it leads people to believe the United States supports...
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...complaint which said that the Establishment Clause regarding the First Amendment was violated by requiring a prayer. This case eventually made its way to the Supreme Court. Engel v. Vitale: Chief Justice at the time: The Chief Justice at the time of Engel v. Vitale was Earl Warren. Overall, the court was mostly considered liberal compared to conservative. Engel v. Vitale: Major Question at the center of the case: The main question in Engel v. Vitale is whether school-sponsored nondenominational prayer in public schools violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment....
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...The establishment clause is the one dealing with the fact that the government is not allowed to push or force the people of the country to follow one specific religion. It also doesn't allow the U.S. Government to write any laws that are based on any religious laws. What the other things it deals with is prayer in school and religious monuments on government owned areas. The establishment clause is seen that any thing that helps push religion or directly inhibits religion is unconstitutional. But then came a case in 1962, engel v. vitale, where the Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional for a state to require a daily school prayer and encourage it to be recited. The school tried to protect itself by letting kids opt-out with their parents signature but engel, who was jewish, thought it violated the first amendment’s establishment clause. This case, and many others, gave rise to people questioning the states rights regarding religion. But none were as memorable as the Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971), were the government created a test to answer the question, “Did the government violate the establishment clause?” The test is called the lemon test, and applies a three prong approach to see if there was any...
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...Due Process Paper Cynthia Casillas CJA224 February 8, 2012 Carl Heintz Due Process Paper The establishment of the United States Constitution was a monumental time in countries history. Individual liberties and rights are the characteristics which identify America among the rest of the world. In addition, the rights and freedoms of the countries residents is equally if not more important. The legal system of the United States is based on an adversarial; meaning that event through legal prosecution, the individual rights of the defendant is still protected by the system. Due Process is a concept which applies to both the accused and the party which is against the accused. The adversarial system states that the battle throughout the case between the state and the defense, the truth will ultimately prevail and justice will be served. Although the result of the case will remain lawful, it’s important for the competition between the two parties to remain lawful as well. Furthermore, it’s very important for the constitutional rights of the defendant to remain intact throughout the entire criminal procedure process. Due Process and the Rights of the Accused: The Criminal Procedure Process There must be an individual who has sufficient evidence to present in court which establishes a crime was committed by the defendant, is in progress, or will take place before entering the criminal justice system. Without probable cause an arrest cannot be made, and crimes would go unsolved...
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...about a show of the Ten Commandments on a Monument given to the administration at the Texas state legislative hall in Austin abused the Establishment condition of the First Amendment Facts of case. Thomas Van Orden sued Texas in elected region court, contending a Ten Commandments landmark on the grounds of the state legislative hall building spoke to an unlawful government underwriting of religion. Orden contended this disregarded the First Amendment's foundation statement, which disallows the administration from passing laws regarding a foundation of religion. The territory court and the Fifth Circle Court of entreaty ruled against Orden and said the monument served a valid secular function...
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...Mishkin Facts The First Amendment of the United States Constitution states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of Grievances.” Numerous cases discuss whether corporations have First Amendment rights, however only few cases discuss whether the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment applies to corporations. In Central Hudson v. PSC (1980) and Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010) the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protects corporations’ commercial speech and political speech, respectively. In Santa Clara Company v. Southern Pacific Railroad (1886) the court ruled that the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies to corporations. The issue of whether the Affordable Care Act violates individuals’ rights to Free Exercise of Religion has also been a hotly debated topic. The Supreme Court Case Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye v. Hialeah (1993) discussed whether the government can give ordinances that violate an individual’s right to Free Exercise. The Supreme Court Case Shervert v. Verner (1963) showed that a company cannot not provide an employee with compensation benefits if it interferes with the employee’s right to Free Exercise. Issue Should corporations receive the same First Amendment Rights as individuals...
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...Case Title: Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Plaintiff: Homer Adolph Plessy (man of mixed race) Defendant: John Howard Ferguson (louisiana judge) The Law: This case involves racial segregation laws and was the first major case to look into the meaning of the Fourteenth Amendment’s (1868) equal-protection clause. The equal-protection clause prohibits the states from denying “equal protection of the laws” to any person within their jurisdictions. It also allowed for laws to be implemented that would achieve racial segregation by means of separate and supposedly equal facilities and services. The Facts of the Case: In 1891, 5 years before this case, a group in New Orleans created the Citizens’ Committee to Test the Constitutionality of the Separate Car Law. Homer Plessy purchased a railroad ticket for travel within Louisiana and decided to sit in a car reserved for white passengers only. Although Plessy appeared white he was one-eighth African American, meaning he should have been sitting...
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...were schools, libraries, or hospitals (Stratton, 2009). While many believed that the Prohibition movement was a noble effort, the 18th Amendment really did nothing to enforce the principles of a "dry" nation. In fact, much like President Nixon's War on Drugs, the Prohibition had quite the opposite of the desired effect and was nearly impossible to enforce. More than that, without the regulation of the ATF to oversee and enforce the standards in the alcohol creation and distillery process, not only illegal but physiologically toxic and contaminated substances like lead and anti-freeze were found in such products as "bath tub gin" and "moonshine" which was manufactured and distilled covertly through car radiators. Another fun fact, the first car engine designed to burn alcohol was created by a "moonshiner" (Shooter, 2011). Prohibition lasted from 1919 until 1933. All beer, wine, and liquor was outlawed and destroyed. Prohibitionists thought they would create a god-fearing nation of sober, hard-working individuals. Unfortunately, alcohol is so easy to make that prison inmates today can do it under constant watch using nothing but fresh fruit, water, and sugar packets. Prohibition didn't destroy the knowledge of home-brewing, and those that were willing to break the law saw a vast supply of willing buyers. They...
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...A crucial argument that related to the First Amendment was, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the Free Exercise thereof.” The Trinity Lutheran Church argued that there wasn’t a valid argument that excluded them from receiving the federal aid for school related purposes. Another argument that the Trinity Lutheran Church disputed was the prohibiting of the discrimination against religious affiliates due to the Free Exercise Clause. A previous case that was referenced was McDaniel v. Paty, which stated that churches can’t be disqualified from programs that promote public safety regardless of the church v. state laws. A direct quote of the opinion stated, “prohibiting the free exercise of religion means more than the direct coercion or criminal...
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