Engel v. Vitale, 1962
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
After World War II, the United States experienced another period of intense concern
about the spread of communism abroad and fear of subversion at home. The Federal
Government enacted a program requiring all employees to take loyalty oaths, while U.S.
Senator Joseph McCarthy conducted witch hunts for communist agents in government. Alleged
"communist spies" were called forth to give testimony before a Senate committee chaired by
McCarthy. These hearings had the impact of sensational court dramas that filled the media,
while the deployment of U.S. soldiers to fight communist aggression in Korea made the threat
of communism at home all the more palpable. The existence of a vast, communist conspiracy to
sabotage the American system of government-and indeed, our very way of life,-was accepted
by many as a matter of fact. To guard against the threat from within, and to provide students
with the strong moral and spiritual stamina they needed to defend the American way of life,
States enacted a variety of programs to encourage patriotism, moral character, and other
values of good citizenship.
In this case, the Warren Court once again was to take up a controversial issue. Justices
Felix Frankfurter and Charles E. Whittaker retired during the term and neither took part in the
decision. Byron White, nominated by President John F. Kennedy to replace Whittaker, also took
no part in the case.
CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CASE (THE GIST)
In 1951 the New York State Board of Regents (State Board of Education) approved a
22-word "nondenominational prayer" for recitation each morning in the public schools of New
York. It read: "Almighty God, we acknowledge our dependence upon Thee, and we beg Thy
blessings upon Us, our parents, our teachers and our Country." The Regents believed that the
prayer could be a useful tool for the development of character and good citizenship among the
students of the State of New York. The prayer was offered to the school boards in the St