Supreme Court Okays “Released Time” for Religious Instruction
The Supreme Court, in Zorach v. Clauson, on this day held that a New York state law allowing public school students to be “released” from classroom activities for certain periods to attend private religious instruction elsewhere did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.
The Zorach case was one of several major church-state decisions between Everson v. Board of Education, decided on February 10, 1947, which defined the “wall of separation” between church and state, and Engel v. Vitale, decided on June 25, 1962, which declared prayer in public schools unconstitutional.
Learn more about the Establishment Clause: http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/category/religion
Read about the history of conflict over religion in American history: Steven Waldman, Sacred Liberty: America’s Long, Bloody, and Ongoing Struggle for Religious Freedom (2019)
Learn more about the fight for separation of church and state: https://www.aclu.org/religion-belief/aclu-history-maintaining-wall-freedom-and-religion
More about the Establishment Clause: Jeremy Gunn and John Witte, No Establishment of Religion: America’s Original Contribution to Religious Liberty (2012)
And learn more at Americans United for Separation of Church and State: https://www.au.org/