Freedom of Religion in schools 6/17/1963
On this day, by an 8-1 vote (Potter Stewart dissenting) the Supreme Court of the United States issued ABINGTON SCHOOL DIST. v. SCHEMPP, 374 U.S. 203. The opinion was written by Justice Tom Clark, who retired from the Court when his son Ramsey was appointed Attorney General of the United States by Lyndon Baines Johnson.
Pennsylvania law required the reading of 10 bible verses each morning, along with the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. In schools with a loudspeaker system all students heard the same verses. In those without the teacher picked the verses. They were read without commentary, and were from the Revised Standard, King James, or Doai Bibles. this was often followed immediately by recitiatio of the Lords' Prayer, which is a New Testament text, in lieu of other Bible verses. There was no restriction as to the part of the Bible from which the texts could be taken, although I seriously doubt one could find examples of citation from Song of Songs, with verses like "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine."
The law informed parents and students that those who did not want to participate could leave the room.
The school district in question, Abingdon, is in Montgomery County PA, just North of the City of Philadelphia. The Schempff family, one behalf of whose children the case was brought, attended a Unitarian Universalist Church in Philadelphia. They won their case in District Court, and in a unanimous 3-judge Panel in the 3rd Circuit before the School District appealed to the Supreme Court. The decision was issued on Monday June 16, exactly one week before I graduated from high school 50 years ago.
Pennsylvania law required the reading of 10 bible verses each morning, along with the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. In schools with a loudspeaker system all students heard the same verses. In those without the teacher picked the verses. They were read without commentary, and were from the Revised Standard, King James, or Doai Bibles. this was often followed immediately by recitiatio of the Lords' Prayer, which is a New Testament text, in lieu of other Bible verses. There was no restriction as to the part of the Bible from which the texts could be taken, although I seriously doubt one could find examples of citation from Song of Songs, with verses like "Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine."
The law informed parents and students that those who did not want to participate could leave the room.
The school district in question, Abingdon, is in Montgomery County PA, just North of the City of Philadelphia. The Schempff family, one behalf of whose children the case was brought, attended a Unitarian Universalist Church in Philadelphia. They won their case in District Court, and in a unanimous 3-judge Panel in the 3rd Circuit before the School District appealed to the Supreme Court. The decision was issued on Monday June 16, exactly one week before I graduated from high school 50 years ago.
