Board of Education v. Allen 1968

Constitutional issue  Constitution Amendment I, Article I  This is part of The Bill of Rights, which prohibits the making any law “respecting an establishment of religion”, impede the free exercise of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of press.

Litigant 1  Board of Education of Central School District No.1 sued that the Education Law violated both the First and Fourteenth Amendments against James Allen.  The Board requires an order preventing the use of state funds for the purchase of textbooks to be lent to parochial students

Litigant 2  James E. Allen Jr, Commissioner of Education of the state of New York.  Allen who didn’t comply with the order of the Board of Education.

Background of case  New York’s Education Law required local public high school authorities to lend textbooks free of charge to all students in grades 7-12, even those attending private and religious school.  Some local school boards challenged this regulation, arguing that it violated both State and Federal constitutions

Majority opinion  In Everson, the Court decided that "the Establishment Clause does not prevent a State from extending the benefits of state laws to all citizens without regard for religious affiliation.“  The New York law has the secular purpose of increasing the educational opportunities available to students. Books are only loaned to the students, so the parochial school never has ownership of them. Also, the law does not allow for the loaning of religious textbooks. Parochial schools offer religious and secular educations to students, this law only furthers their efforts in the latter area.

Other Court opinion  "Whatever may be said of the Everson decision, 330 U.S. 1, there is nothing ideological about a bus." Aid to religious schools may not violate the Establishment Clause when the aid does not promote an ideological end. However, textbooks are paramount to the teaching in a parochial school, and are the "chief instrumentality for propagating a particular religious creed or faith."

Significance  This decision interpreted parochial schools' missions as two-fold and separate. The secular and religious education aspects could be divided and one could be helped without the other also benefiting.

My respond  I agree with the decision of the Court that the public school should lend the private, and parochial schools. Because the education is for everybody, it’s not fair that the public borrow for free but not for the private students, and in America, we have the equal rights that we all have the same rights.

Sources of Information  Wesite 1:  URL:   Name: US Supreme Court Media OYEZ  Website 2:  URL:  html html html  Name: The Religious Freedom Page  Website 3:  URL:  EAllen.htm EAllen.htm EAllen.htm  Name: Agnosticism / Atheism