Establishment Clause
Coverage of Establishment Clause in the Nexus archive.
- On D-Day, did FDR violate the establishment clause?
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered a radio prayer to the nation following the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, which was released for newspaper publication to allow Americans to pray along. The prayer, written with help from his daughter Anna and her husband John Boettiger, addressed the uncertainty of the Allied invasion and called for divine assistance in liberating Europe from Nazi oppression.
- Texas can require public schools to display Ten Commandments in classrooms, US appeals court rules
A U.S. appeals court ruled Texas can require public schools to display the Ten Commandments, stating it does not violate the First Amendment. The decision, a 12-6 vote by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, allows the law to proceed despite criticism over separation of church and state. Similar laws in Louisiana face parallel legal challenges.
- Federal court upholds Texas law requiring Ten Commandments in public classrooms
A federal appeals court upheld a Texas law requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments, ruling it does not violate the Constitution's First Amendment. The 9-8 decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a prior injunction, citing the Supreme Court's 2022 abandonment of the Lemon test, which had previously invalidated similar laws like the 1980 Stone v. Graham case.