Establishment Clause of the First Amendment

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution states that:

Related Topics:
First Amendment - United States Constitution

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: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof"

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Frequently, the "Establishment Clause" is used to refer to the entire clause referring to religion, but the term is more accurately used to refer to the first part of the clause. The second part of the clause is commonly referred to as the "Free Exercise" clause.

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Traditionally, this has been interpreted as the prohibition of the establishment of a national religion by Congress or the preference of one religion over another. Prior to the enactment of the Fourteenth Amendment in 1868, the Supreme Court generally took the position that the substantive protections of the Bill of Rights did not apply to actions by state governments. Subsequently, under the Incorporation doctrine the Bill of Rights have been broadly applied to limit state and local government as well. For example, in the Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet, Justice David Souter concluded that "government should not prefer one religion to another, or religion to irreligion." Critics of this interpretation argue that it effectively changes the Constitution in a way never contemplated by the founders. However, this is a controversial and evolving area of jurisprudence.

Related Topics:
Fourteenth Amendment - Incorporation doctrine - Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet - David Souter - Founders

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