Engel v. Vitale

The Court held that official school-sponsored prayer violates the Establishment Clause.

Overview

New York's Board of Regents composed a brief nondenominational prayer for recitation in public schools. The Court held that it is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers, and that government-sponsored prayer, even voluntary and denominationally neutral, breaches the wall between church and state. Engel provoked enormous popular backlash, including congressional proposals for constitutional amendments, yet the decision stands. Together with Schempp the following year, it established that public schools may not sponsor religious exercises, a principle that remains contested in American politics and litigation.