No, it was brought to the US Supreme Court on Writ of Certiorari from the Court of Appeals of New York.
Case Citation:
Engel v. Vitale, 370 US 421 (1962)
For more information, see Related Questions, below.
Engel v. Vitale was first filed in the New York State Supreme Court that had jurisdiction over Hyde Park, NY. In New York (unlike other states) the Supreme Court is the trial court of the state court system; the New York State Court of Appeals is the highest appellate court.
The New York Supreme Court upheld the state law requiring recitation of the Reagent's prayer under the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause, but held that the school district had to create procedures to protect those who objected to reciting the prayer.
Case Citation:
Engel v. Vitale, 191 N.Y.S.2d 453 (Sup. Ct. 1959)
Engel v. Vitale began in the Union Free School District No. 9, in Hyde Park, New York, after parents of ten students objected to the New York Board of Regents' formal introduction of prayer into the schools and complained that directing the prayer to "Almighty God" was contradictory to their religious practices.
Case Citation:
Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962)
Engel petitioned the US Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari (made a request for the justices to review the appellate court decision on appeal) after the New York Court of Appeals (New York's equivalent to the US Supreme Court) affirmed the lower courts' decisions to uphold the New York State law that allowed organized prayer in public schools.
The New York Supreme Court (a trial court) stated the law was constitutional under the First Amendment Free Exercise Clause, but ordered the school district to create procedures protecting those who objected to reciting the prayer:
"This is not to say that the rights accorded petitioners and their children under the 'free exercise' clause do not mandate safeguards against such embarrassments and pressures. . . making clear that neither teachers nor any other school authority may comment on participation or non-participation in the exercise nor suggest or require that any posture or language be used or dress be worn or be not used or not worn. Non-participation may take the form either of remaining silent during the exercise, or if the parent or child so desires, of being excused entirely from the exercise. Such regulations must also make provision for those nonparticipants who are to be excused from the prayer exercise. The exact provision to be made is a matter for decision by the board, rather than the court, within the framework of constitutional requirements. Within that framework would fall a provision that prayer participants proceed to a common assembly while nonparticipants attend other rooms, or that nonparticipants be permitted to arrive at school a few minutes late or to attend separate opening exercises, or any other method which treats with equality both participants and nonparticipants."
First Amendment (see Free Exercise Clause)
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances"
Case Citation:
Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962)
Questions about prayer in public schools always involves interpretation of the First Amendment. In Engel v. Vitale, the Court invoked the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from promoting religion. Public schools are considered agents of the government because they are supported by tax dollars. The First Amendment was applied to the states via the Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause.
Amendment I
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
Case Citation:
Engel v. Vitale, 370 US 421 (1962)
Teaching religion in public schools was forbidden.
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Teaching religion in public schools was forbidden.
Engel v. Vitale, 191 N.Y.S.2d 453 (Sup. Ct. 1959) began in the Supreme Court at Special Term in Nassau County, New York. A decision favoring the New Hyde Park, NY, school district was rendered October 5, 1959, by Judge Bernard S. Meyer. The court held the Reagents' Prayer was constitutional.Engle was subsequently appealed to the Supreme Court Appellate Division, Second Department which affirmed the lower court decision in Engel v. Vitale, 206 N.Y.S.2d 183 (1960); and upheld again by the New York Court of Appeals in Engel v. Vitale, 176 N.E.2d 579 (N.Y. 1961).In the New York justice system, the Supreme Court is the court of original jurisdiction (trial court) for matters of general jurisdiction. The State's high court is the New York Court of Appeals.Case Citation:Engel v. Vitale, 370 US 421 (1962)For more information, see Related Questions, below.
The US Supreme Court vote was split 6-1; Justice Potter Stewart dissented from the majority. Justices Byron White and Felix Frankfurter took no part in the case.Case Citation:Engel v. Vitale, 370 US 421 (1962)
It took a little more than three years to move Engel v. Vitale through the court system. The case was first filed in a New York state court in 1959, and subsequently went through three rounds of appeals, culminating with the US Supreme Court's decision on June 25, 1962.Case Citation:Engel v. Vitale, 370 US 421 (1962)
Steven Engel filed a lawsuit against the State of New York over a mandatory school prayer composed by New York State Board of Regents member, Reverend Steven I. Engel. The case was ultimately heard by the US Supreme Court and ruled unconstitutional in Engel v. Vitale.
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The landmark court case that struck down prayer in public schools is Engel v. Vitale (1962). The Supreme Court ruled that state-sponsored prayer in public schools violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from establishing a national religion.
Constitutional lawCase Citation:Engel v. Vitale, 370 US 421 (1962)
New York StateCase Citation:Engel v. Vitale, 370 US 421 (1962)
Engel v. Vitale, (1962) began in the Union Free School District No. 9 in Hyde Park, New York, and was originally heard in the New York State court system.More InformationEngel v. Vitale, (1962) was the first major constitutional challenge to the exercise of religion, specifically prayer, in public schools. The US Supreme Court held the practice to be a violation of the First Amendment Establishment Clause.The case originated in the Union Free School District No. 9, in Hyde Park, New York, after parents of ten students objected to the New York Board of Regents' formal introduction of prayer into the schools and complained that directing the prayer to "Almighty God" was contradictory to their religious practices.Case Citation:Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962)For more information about Engel v. Vitale, and the Supreme Court's views about prayer in public schools, see Related Questions, below.