Engel v. Vitale

Engel v. Vitale
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued April 3, 1962 Decided June 25, 1962
Full case name	Steven I. Engel, et al. v. William J. Vitale, Jr., et al.
Citations	370 U.S. 421 (more) 82 S. Ct. 1261; 8 L. Ed. 2d 601; 1962 U.S. LEXIS 847; 20 Ohio Op. 2d 328; 86 A.L.R.2d 1285
Related cases	Abington School District v. Schempp
Argument	Oral argument
Case history
Prior	191 N.Y.S.2d 453 (Sup. Ct. 1959), aff'd, 206 N.Y.S.2d 183 (App. Div. 1960), aff'd, 176 N.E.2d 579 (N.Y. 1961); cert. granted, 368 U.S. 924 (1961).
Subsequent	186 N.E.2d 124 (N.Y. 1962)
Holding
Recitation of a government-written prayer in public schools violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, even if the prayer is denominationally neutral and students may remain silent or be excused from the classroom during its recitation.
Court membership
Chief Justice Earl Warren Associate Justices Hugo Black · Felix Frankfurter William O. Douglas · Tom C. Clark John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan Jr. Potter Stewart · Byron White
Case opinions
Majority	Black, joined by Warren, Douglas, Clark, Harlan, Brennan
Concurrence	Douglas
Dissent	Stewart
Frankfurter and White took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amend. I

Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962), was a landmark United States Supreme Court case in which the Court ruled that it is unconstitutional for state officials to compose an official school prayer and encourage its recitation in public schools, due to violation of the First Amendment.^[1] The ruling has been the subject of intense debate.^[2][3][4]