Essay on the Supreme Court of the United States

In recent decades the Supreme Court of the United States of America has been going back and forth on a lot of controversial topics related to the violation of the rights of the first amendment.

One such case that occurred in 1962 involved the violation to the establishment clause of the First Amendment (Engel v. Vitale). In this case the parents of a student were upset that their child was forced to say a 22 word nondenominational prayer drafted by the New Hyde Park, New York, school board. In the end the court decided that since the prayer was drafted by the board of education in New York this was a violation between church and state and the individual's right to freedom of religion. In the case the court said that a prayer to start the day off in a school is unconstitutional even if the children are not required to recite it.

In another case that occurred in 1787 involved the free exercise clause of the first amendment (Reynolds v. United States). In this case the right to free religion had to be carefully observed. A man by the name of George Reynold was charged for bigamy, having two wives at the same time. When he was convicted of this crime he appealed for the Supreme Court. In the Supreme Court the justice had to think carefully about this case. In this case the court quoted a letter from Thomas Jefferson. He stated that there is a distinction between religious belief and the actions we perform from the beliefs, and therefore the court argued that if polygamy/bigamy were allowed in the states it would not be long until we also permit human sacrifices as part of a religion. In the end the Supreme Court decided to uphold the conviction because the case said that religious duty is not a suitable defense to a criminal conviction.