Santa Fe Independent School District Vs. Doe Case Study

Constitution's First Amendment requirement that the District neither establish religion in the schools nor prohibit students’ free exercise of religion according to pertinent interpretation and application of those constitutional provisions by the courts. Any religious characters need to conform to policy 8800” (Markesan District School, 2013). “Decisions of the United States Supreme Court have made it clear that it is not the province of a public school to advance or inhibit religious beliefs or practices” (Markesan District School, 2015). Under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, this remains the “inviolate province of the individual and the church of his/her choice. The rights of any minority, no matter how small, must be protected. District staff members shall not use prayer, religious readings, or religious symbols as a devotional exercise or in an act of worship or celebration” (20 U.S.C. 4071 et seq.) (Markesan District School, 2015). Having examined the Markesan District School First Amendment related to this topic the next step is to conclude my research on this topic.

In 1995, Doe v. Duncanville Independent School District centered around a female student-athlete and her unwillingness to participate in prayer activity. She claimed her refusal to engage in team sponsored worship subjected her to ridicule from teammates, peers, and spectators. The Supreme Court ruled that the school district had failed the Lemon Test by endorsing religion through employee-led prayer, which is a direct violation of the Establishment Clause (Lee, 2005). As a result, “school officials, administrators, and employees were prohibited from initiating, leading, sponsoring, or promoting prayer at athletic events, or using the public address system for similar purposes” (Willett, 2014). This may not have been the popular decision, but

Town of Greece, New York v. Susan Galloway was a Supreme Court case that posed the question of whether or not the town of Greece should be allowed to open their board meetings with voluntary prayer that was almost always Christian prayer. The defendant in this case was the town of Greece, which is located in the state of New York and has a population of 94,000 people (opinion p.1). In 1999, under new leadership, the town of Greece made the transition from opening each town board meeting with a moment of silence to opening with a prayer (opinion p.1). The opinion states that the prayer was supposed to, “place town members in a solemn and deliberative state of mind, invoke divine guidance in town affairs, and follow a tradition practiced by Congress and dozens of other state legislatures (opinion p.2).” The prayer was given each month by an unpaid volunteer clergyman. After this person gave the prayer they were then named the “chaplain for the month” (opinion p.2). Anyone could volunteer to be a chaplain no matter what religion they practiced or even if they practiced no religion at all (opinion p.2). However, almost every single chaplain was Christian (opinion p.2). One very important fact about the case is that the town of Greece did not provide any guidelines or suggestions about what the prayers should include. In fact, they didn’t even read the prayers beforehand because they believed that would be impeding the chaplains’ first amendment right (opinion p.2). This meant

Prosper, Texas is one of the last additions to Collin County and has a current population of over 12,000 residents (Minor, 2010). Prosper’s establishment came about from the merging of two farming settlements in 1902, however the city’s name was not incorporated until 1914 (“History”, n.d.; Minor, 2010). According to the city’s webpage, Prosper is committed to being family-oriented and providing every resident an opportunity to experience quality living while maintaining small town ideals (“About Prosper”, n.d.). The Prosper Independent School District’s (PISD) vision to “reach everyone, everyday” (“REACH Philosophy / REACH”, 2002) mirrors the town’s belief in including everyone. Despite the exceptional growth within the city over the past few years, the school district is determined to meet the needs of its student population. One way in which PISD plans to ensure all of its students receive an equitable education, is through its adoption and implementation of the Response to Intervention (RtI) program.

In 1995, there was a dispute between the Santa Fe Independent School District, and the families of the students who went there. Two different religious families filed a lawsuit against the Santa Fe Independent school district because religious prayers were being said over the public address system by the student council chaplain. The Santa Fe’s Independent School District violated the Lemon test law by allowing student-led prayers to be recited on the public address system, which was not furthering the student's education, they were not acting neutrally toward religion, which is a distinct part of the Lemon Test rule, and they violated the rule against government and religion being mixed.

The case of Galloway v. Town of Greece started in the United States District Court in the Western District of New York. The District Court held that the town’s procedure for selecting local clergy to offer prayers did not violate the Establishment Clause; and the town’s practice of opening board meetings with prayer did not violate the Establishment Clause (732 F.Supp.2d.195). The case was appealed to the United States Circuit Court of Appeals, Second Circuit. The Court of Appeals held that the town of Greece’s legislative prayer practice, under totality of circumstances, had to be viewed as endorsement of particular religious viewpoints in violation of the Establishment Clause (681 F.3d 20). Therefore, the Court of Appeals reversed the

In the state of Pennsylvania, all children that attended a public school were required at the beginning of each school day to read at least ten verses from the Holy Bible. After the readings, school authorities required all students to recite the Lord’s Prayer. However, with a note from a parent to the school, students could be excluded from this. Having said that, even though there was a way out of participating, it did not matter because the school still violated the Establishment Clause, which is in the First Amendment that states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…”

The case that I have been researching is the Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe, case number 530 US 290. This case was argued in the year 2000, the final decision was made on June 19, 2000. In this research paper you will read about what happened before, during and after this case. The question that was brought forth to the court and what the Court's final acknowledgement was. Did you know that the Establishment Clause is to prohibit the establishment of a national religion by Congress and the preference by the U.S government of one religion over another.

In 1992, a student of Santa Fe High School in Texas said a prayer before a football game. This student was elected by other students of the school to speak before the game which was regularly allowed by the Texas school district. The school’s policy specifically stated that any speeches given were to be non-religious, but the court ruled that the policy violated the Establishment Clause. The court argued that since the football game is a school sponsored event that the speeches would also be received by the public as school sponsored. The final decision in the Santa Fe Indep. School Dist. v Doe court case was that the school was only allowed to “promote good sportsmanship and student safety, along with establishing the appropriate environment

I have choose the fact of Manheim Central School District is thinking on suing Doe Run School. The reason I have chosen this is because I used to go to Manheim Central High School and they didn’t have A/C in the classrooms without computers but the district wouldn’t do anything about it. Plus I was in school when Doe Run had to evacuate their building for CONSTRUCTION mishaps. So the buildings construction that Manheim Central School District paid to build was falling apart. So this issue is unnecessary to me for those reasons and many other reason but those are the main reasons.

Bauer, Christopher A. (1998) "School Prayer and the Establishment of Religion: A Look at Engel v. Vitale," Brigham Young University Prelaw Review: Vol. 12, Article 4.

In the United States, freedom of religious practice is protected by the First Amendment of the constitution, and it is often a heavily fortified right. In Matt Calkins' article indited for the Seattle Times,a football coach by the name of Joe Kennedy is struggling to stand up for his personal notions in the face of ascendancy. If personal beliefs are not imposing on others and are non-deleterious and non-disruptive, an individual should have the possibility to practice their beliefs. By an outside observer, Kennedy’s actions seem like an imposition on his players, which caused the District Superintendent Aaron Leavell to tell Kennedy that his prayers on the 50 yard line must cease immediately, saying that they were “...in violation of district

The case I chose was one that took place in Houston, TX, in the Houston Independent School District. I chose it because Houston is where I was born and grew up, and I wanted to use a case that felt close to home for me. This case was about a student who, throughout the course of about two years, displayed several signs of aggression, defiance, and general misbehavior both in class and at home. The misbehaviors ranged from “pestering and irritating” his/her siblings at home, throwing tantrums, and becoming easily upset or angered. The student also led a lonely life, both in class and school, expressing dislike and resentment towards siblings and other family members, as well as stating that student “feels student has no friends.” In class, the

Issues regarding the separation of church and state frequently resurface. The first time this issue was made know to American citizens was when the Supreme Court removed prayer from the public school system. Last year, the Supreme Court made another decision in regards to this same concern, but with a slight twist. In June 2000 the hot topic case of the nation was the Supreme Court’s decision to rule that, “public schools cannot let students lead stadium crowds in prayer before high school football games.” (Alpert 1)

The extent of freedom of religion granted by the U.S. Constitution is an item of controversy; even now more than ever. This is especially true for the case of Joe Kennedy, a high school football coach who has been praising God at the 50-yard line after every game. Matt Calkins of The Seattle Times believes that Kennedy’s actions are benevolent and should continue. In reality, Kennedy’s actions do not seem appropriate to exhibit at school. He should discontinue his tradition because it poses a danger to his job and religion should not be involved in sports. First of all, his job is constantly in danger now due to his yard-line worship. For example, this is evident in, “But the understanding is that Kennedy is putting his job at risk as a matter