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Supreme Court and Judicial Decisions
While not all of these cases
directly deal with the issue of religion in the military,
each has contributed to the cultural and legal concepts
under which the military must deal with religion, balancing
the sometimes contradictory precepts of military members'
free exercise without breaching establishment issues.
Katcoff v. Marsh,
1985, Second Circuit Court of Appeals
Held that the Army Chaplaincy did not violate the
Establishment Clause of the Constitution. It left open
the question about whether the Chaplaincy was necessary in
areas where military members had access to private sector
religious support.
Marsh v.
Chambers, 5 July 1983
6-3 vote permitted practice of beginning legislative session
with prayer given by a publicly funded chaplain.
Frequently cited in reference to military chaplains.
Engel v. Vitale,
25 June 1962
5-2 ruling struck down New York law requiring officials to
start school day with prayer. One of the early cases in
which government religious activities were restricted.
Abington v.
Schempp, 17 June 1963
8-1 ruling that eliminated government-mandated Bible reading
in public schools.
Notably, the decision also
stated "There are certain practices, conceivably violative
of the Establishment Clause, the striking down of which
might seriously interfere with certain religious liberties
also protected by the First Amendment. Provisions for
churches and chaplains at military establishments for those
in the armed services may afford one such example."
Even the dissenting opinion noted that a lack of a
chaplaincy could violate a soldier's right to free exercise.
Rigdon v. Perry,
7 April 1997, District Court
Chaplains were explicitly allowed to encourage their
congregants to contact Congress; such actions were not
considered political lobbying, which was prohibited for
uniformed officers.
United States v. Seeger,
8 March 1965
Conscientious objectors and the necessity of a sincere
"religious" belief.
Goldman v. Weinberger,
25 March 1986
5-4 decision stating that the
Air Force was not required to allow Jewish officers to wear
a
yarmulke. Congress addressed this by altering the law
allowing "neat and tidy" religious accoutrements (10
USC Sec 774).
Lynch v.
Donnelly, 5 March
1984
5-4 ruling allowing Nativity display. Listed many
examples of our "Government's acknowledgment of our
religious heritage," including Congress' addition of the
words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.
Wallace v.
Jaffree, 4 June 1985
6-3 decision invalidated Alabama moment of silence statute.
Allegheny
County v. ACLU, 3
July 1989
Unusually worded decision defined the "endorsement test,"
which says an Establishment Clause violation is determined
by whether non-adherents "feel like 'outsiders' by
government recognition or accommodation of religion."
Lee v. Weisman,
24 June 1992
5-4 decision against graduation prayer. Notably, the
state can also not dictate the content of a prayer.
Often cited in reference to the military attempting to
"restrict" the content of a military Chaplain's prayers.
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