Zorach v. Clauson

Infobox SCOTUS case
Litigants=Zorach v. Clauson
ArgueDateA=January 31
ArgueDateB=February 1
ArgueYear=1952
DecideDate=April 28
DecideYear=1952
FullName=Zorach, et al. v. Clauson, et al., constituting the Board of Education of the City of New York, et al.
USVol=343
USPage=306
Citation=72 S. Ct. 679; 96 L. Ed. 954; 1952 U.S. LEXIS 2773
Prior=Appeal from the Court of Appeals of New York
Subsequent=
Holding=Released time programs are acceptable if the instruction takes place away from the school campus, for 1 hour per week, and with no public funding.
SCOTUS=1949-1953
Majority=Douglas
JoinMajority=Vinson, Reed, Burton, Clark, Minton
Dissent=Black
Dissent2=Frankfurter
Dissent3=Jackson
LawsApplied=

"Zorach v. Clauson", 343 U.S. 306 (1952), was a case at the Supreme Court of the United States.

Under 3210 of the New York Education Law and the regulations thereunder, New York City permits its public schools to release students during school hours, on written requests of their parents, so that they may leave the school buildings and grounds and go to religious centers for religious instruction or devotional exercises. The same section makes school attendance compulsory; students not released stay in the classrooms; and the churches report to the schools the names of children released from public schools who fail to report for religious instruction. The program involves neither religious instruction in public schools nor the expenditure of public funds. Held: This program does not violate the First Amendment, made applicable to the States by the Fourteenth Amendment. "McCollum v. Board of Education", distinguished. Pp. 308-315.

(a) By this system, New York has neither prohibited the "free exercise" of religion nor made a law "respecting an establishment of religion" within the meaning of the First Amendment. Pp. 310-315.

(b) There is no evidence in the record in this case to support a conclusion that the system involves the use of coercion to get public school students into religious classrooms. Pp. 311-312.

A widely quoted sentence from the decision is "We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being."caselaw source
case="Zorach v. Clauson", 343 U.S. 306 (1952)
enfacto=http://www.enfacto.com/case/U.S./343/306/
justia=http://supreme.justia.com/us/343/306/case.html ]

ee also

* List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 343

Further reading

*cite journal |last=Sorauf |first=Frank J. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1959 |month= |title="Zorach v. Clauson": The Impact of a Supreme Court Decision |journal=American Political Science Review |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=777–791 |doi=10.2307/1951943 |url= |accessdate= |quote=

References