Reynolds v. United States (1879) - A free exercise case involving polygamy, it was the first time Jefferson's "wall of separation " metaphor was used.  It also differentiated between the constitutionally protected freedom of belief and freedom of action which does not necessarily enjoy protection. 

Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States (1892) - An immigration case in which Justice Brewer referred to the United States as a "Christian nation".

Gitlow v. New York (1925) - A free speech case which, using the Fourteenth Amendment, began the "incorporation" of the First Amendment as a limitation on the states.

Cochran v. Board of Education (1930) - Allowed the purchase of textbooks in secular subjects with public funds for the use of students in parochial schools.  Basis for the "child benefit" theory established in Everson v. Board of Education (1947).

Cantwell v. Connecticut (1940) - Applied the Free Exercise Clause to the states using the Fourteenth Amendment, continuing the incorporation that began with Gitlow v. New York (1925).  This was the first of the Jehovah's Witnesses cases.

Minersville School District v. Gobitis (1940) - The Court ruled that a public school could compel students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance without violating the First Amendment.  Three years later the Court reversed itself in West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (1943).  Both of these cases involved the Jehovah's Witnesses.

West Virginia Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) - Struck down a compulsory flag salute law as a violation of freedom of speech.

Everson v. Board of Education (1947) - The Court ruled that pubic funding provided to parochial school students for transportation did not violate the Establishment Clause because the aid benefited the child not the school, but Justice Black, writing for the majority, used the "wall of separation" metaphor and relied on Jefferson and Madison to interpret the meaning of the clause as providing a strict separation of church and state.  This case also applied the Establishment Clause to the states.

McCollum v. Board of Education (1948) - Struck down a state law that permitted religious groups to use public school classrooms during school hours for the purpose of religious instruction as a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Zorach v. Clauson (1952) - While reiterating the principle of strict separation, the Court found that a program allowing for "released time" from school to attend off campus religious instruction classes did not meet the test established in Everson v. Board of Education (1947) and McCollum v. Board of Education (1948).  Justice Douglas, for the majority, wrote, "We are a religious people whose institutions presuppose a Supreme Being," and concluded that to disallow the program in question would endorse a philosophy of hostility to religion.  The main difference between the programs in McCollum v. Board of Education (1948) and Zorach v. Clauson (1952) seems to have been the level of coercion involved rather than the location of the instruction.  Justices Black, Jackson, and Frankfurter, who had written opinions in favor of the result in McCollum v. Board of Education (1948), dissented strongly.

Braunfeld v. Brown (1961) - The Court rejected a claim by Orthodox Jewish businessmen that Sunday closing laws violated their free exercise rights.

Torcaso v. Watkins (1961) - Struck down a state law that mandated a declaration of a belief in God as a condition for public employment.

Engel v. Vitale (1962) - The first of the school prayer cases, the Court struck down daily recitation of a state authored prayer in public schools as a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Abington School District v. Schempp (1963) - Reasserting its holding in the Court struck down a state law that required daily Bible readings in public schools.  Established the "secular purpose" test for establishment.

Sherbert v. Verner (1963) - The Court ordered a state to pay unemployment benefits to a Seventh-Day Adventist even though she refused to make herself available on Saturday as required by law.  This case established the doctrine used in subsequent cases that in order to infringe upon free exercise, the state must show a compelling interest to do so and protect that interest by the least intrusive means possible.

Board of Education v. Allen (1968) - The Court found that a state program of lending approved textbooks free of charge to all students including those in private and parochial schools was constitutional.  

Epperson v. Arkansas (1968) - Struck down a state law that prohibited the teaching of evolution in schools as a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Lemon v. Kurtzman (1971) - Struck down laws allowing states to pay the salaries of teachers of secular subjects in parochial schools.  The Court also established the three part Lemon Test for establishment from rulings in previous cases beginning with Abington School District v. Schempp (1963).  In order to pass the test a statute must meet the three following conditions.

• It must have a secular legislative purpose.
• Its primary effect must neither advance nor inhibit religion.
• It must not foster an excessive government entanglement with religion.

Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) - Drawing from their ruling in Sherbert v. Verner (1963), the Court found that a compulsory school attendance law violated the free exercise rights of Amish parents who believed high school attendance to be contrary to their religion.

Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist (1973) - Struck down various types of state aid to private and parochial schools including a tuition reimbursement program for parents of children attending nonpublic schools on the grounds that it violated the second prong of the Lemon Test.

Meek v. Pittenger (1975) - Expanding on Committee for Public Education v. Nyquist (1973), the Court found that several state programs giving aid to parochial schools failed the Lemon Test and therefore violated the Establishment Clause.  Consistent with the "child benefit" theory put forth in Cochran v. Board of Education (1930), Everson v. Board of Education (1947), and Board of Education v. Allen (1968), aid for the purchase of textbooks was allowed.

Stone v. Graham (1980) - Struck down a state law requiring the posting of a copy of the Ten Commandments, purchased with private contributions, on the wall of each public school classroom in the State as having no secular legislative purpose, and therefore violating the Establishment Clause.

Widmar v. Vincent (1981) - The Court ruled that public universities which allowed political student-led groups to use campus buildings for their meetings could not deny equal privileges to a Christian student group on campus.

Marsh v. Chambers (1983) - The Court rejected a claim that a chaplain paid with state funds and conducting a prayer at the beginning of each session of the state legislature represented a violation of the Establishment Clause on the grounds that the U.S. Congress had been doing the same for over 200 years.

Mueller v. Allen (1983) - The Court ruled that a state program allowing parents to deduct educational expenses, including tuition at parochial schools, on their income taxes did not violate the Establishment Clause.  Their reasoning was based on the fact that this was one of many deductions offered to taxpayers and that it was available to parents of public and private school students.

Lynch v. Donnelly (1984) - Using American history as the basis for its decision, the Court ruled that a Christmas display, including among other things a nativity scene, erected by a city in a park located in the heart of the shopping district and owned by a nonprofit organization did not violate the Establishment Clause.  Combined with Marsh v. Chambers (1983) and Mueller v. Allen (1983), this seemed to represent a shift on the Court to a more "accommodationist" view of the Establishment Clause.  Justice O'Connor advocated an endorsement test in a concurring opinion.

Grand Rapids v. Ball (1985) - The Court ruled that two programs entitled Shared Time and Community Education gave aid to parochial schools that, while having a secular purpose had the effect of promoting religion and therefore violated the Establishment Clause.

Aguilar v. Felton (1985) - Decided on the same day as Grand Rapids v. Ball (1985), the Court found a similar aid program to be unconstitutional.

Wallace v. Jaffree (1985) - Struck down a state law authorizing a one minute period of silence in public schools for the purpose of "meditation or voluntary prayer" as a violation of the Establishment Clause.  Justice O'Connor, in a concurring opinion, held out the possibility that a differently worded moment of silence law might pass muster.  The minority saw the law as an example of "benevolent neutrality", and Justice Rehnquist attacked the doctrine of strict separation and the reliance on the "wall of separation" metaphor as "bad history".

Edwards v. Aguillard (1987) - Struck down a state law that prohibited the teaching of evolution in public schools unless accompanied by instruction in the theory of "creation science" as lacking a secular purpose and therefore a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Bowen v. Kendrick (1988) - Upheld the Adolescent Family Life Act, which authorizes federal grants to public or nonprofit private organizations or agencies for services and research in the area of premarital adolescent sexual relations and pregnancy.

Allegheny County v. ACLU (1989) - This case dealt with two recurring holiday displays on public property.  The Court found that while a Menorah displayed next to a Christmas tree outside of a county office building did not violate the Establishment Clause, a nativity scene displayed by itself in the county courthouse one block away did.  This can be seen as a refusal to extend the decision reached in Lynch v. Donnelly (1984).

West Side Community School v. Mergens (1990) - The Court found that the Equal Access Act, 1984 did not violate the Establishment Clause, allowing the formation of religiously based clubs in public schools.

Oregon v. Smith (1990) - The Court ruled that the denial of unemployment benefits to members of the Native American Church who were fired because of their sacramental use of peyote did not violate the Free Exercise Clause.  This case is most noteworthy because, in his majority opinion, Justice Scalia rejected the "compelling governmental interest" test as a basis for decisions in free exercise cases, which led to the passage of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993. 

Lee v. Weisman (1992) - The Court found an invitation by a public school to a local clergyman to have an invocation and benediction during the graduation ceremonies to be a violation of the Establishment Clause.

Zobrest v. Catalina (1993) - The Court ruled that a public school district supplying a sign language interpreter for a deaf child at a Roman Catholic high school did not violate the Establishment Clause.

Church of Babalu v. Hialeah (1993) - Struck down a law, passed in reaction to the practices of the Santeria religion, that outlawed animal sacrifice as a violation of the Free Exercise Clause.

Lambs Chapel v. Moriches Union Free School (1994) - 

Capitol Square Review v. Pinnette (1995) - The Court found that an unattended cross placed in a square used as a public forum and for public activities by the Ku Klux Klan during the Christmas season did not violate the Establishment Clause.

Michael A. Newdow v. US Congress, et al. (2002) - The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a 1954 act of Congress inserting the words "under God" into the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional.

Various Articles

The Ten Commandments in Court

Scalia Defends Public Expression of Faith

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