Research Guides: Student Project: Prayer in Public Schools: Secondary Sources

Law Review Articles

The School Prayer Decisions
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William P. Marshall, School Prayer Decisions, 16 Const. Comment. 535, 540 (1999)

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Marshall argues that the Engel and Schempp decisions, had they come out differently, would have impacted politics more than piety.
School Prayer and the Becker Amendment
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School Prayer and the Becker Amendment , 53 Geo. L. J. 192, 225 (1964)

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Article examining the legal precedents for Engel and post-Engel proposals to legalize school prayer.
Texas's ‘minute of silence’ did not violate Establishment Clause
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Texas's ‘minute of silence’ did not violate Establishment Clause, 11 No. 5 Quinlan, Student Discipline L. Bull. art. 3 (2009)

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Note regarding a 2009 case about whether a Texas statute mandating a "moment of silence" was unconstitutional.
School Prayer and the First Amendment
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Richard T. Foltin, School Prayer and the First Amendment, 15 Child. Legal Rts. J. 7, 10 (1994)

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An article considering the potential difficulties and problems should public school prayer be legalized.

American Jurisprudence, 2nd Edition

Corpus Juris Secundum

SCOTUSBlog

The Court after Scalia: "An establishment of religion"
An article on the desire for new Supreme Court justices to clarify the murky law regarding the Establishment Clause.
The Court after Scalia: The 2016 election and the fate of the wall separating church and state
An article concerning the potential ramifications of the selection of conservative justices for the future of the Establishment Clause.
Symposium: Dismantling the wall that should separate church and state
An article discussing the decisions of the Roberts Court and their effective erosion of the wall of separation between church and state.
Opinion analysis: Prayers get a new blessing
An article discussing the case of Town of Greece v. Galloway, and the opinion which upheld the constitutionality of local governments opening meetings with explicitly sectarian prayer.

American Law Reports

Constitutionality of regulation or policy governing prayer, meditation, or "moment of silence" in public schools
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110 A.L.R. Fed. 211
Giving of invocation with religious content at public–school–sponsored events to which public is invited or admitted as violation of Establishment Clause of First Amendment
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98 A.L.R. Fed. 206
Bible distribution or use in public schools—modern cases
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111 A.L.R. Fed. 121
Constitutionality of teaching or otherwise promoting secular humanism in public schools
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103 A.L.R. Fed. 538
Application of First Amendment in School Context—Supreme Court Cases
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57 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 1

Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective Subject Headings

For articles published prior to 1980, the Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective is an excellent resource for researchers. The following search terms are recommended:

School Prayer in Public School
School Prayer - Religion in the Schools
Establishment Clause and Public Schools
Separation of Church and State in Public Schools
Students - Religious Life

Books

The Bible, the School, and the Constitution by Steven K. Green
ISBN: 9780199827909
Publication Date: 2012-02-01
Ellery's Protest by Stephen D. Solomon
Call Number: KF228.A25 S65 2007
ISBN: 9780472108374
Publication Date: 2007-07-11
Liberty of Conscience by Martha C. Nussbaum
Call Number: BL640 .N87 2008
ISBN: 0465051642
Publication Date: 2008-02-05
That Godless Court? by Ronald B. Flowers
Call Number: KF4865 .F57 2005
ISBN: 0664228917
Publication Date: 2005-09-02
School Prayer and Discrimination by Frank S. Ravitch
Call Number: KF4162 .R38 1999
ISBN: 1555533922
Publication Date: 1999-05-27