1. Evaluate the Supreme Court’s Establishment Clause jurisprudence. What are the tests the Court has used to determine violations of the Establishment Clause? Which of the tests, if any, comes closest to what is required by the Establishment Clause?
The establishment clause in the first amendment of the U.S constitution forbids the government from establishing an official religion, but also prohibits the government from showing preference in favor one religion over another. Government must also remain neutral on advocating religion at all. Supreme Court judges rely on precedent, interpretation of the constitution to deliver a decision and in regards to establishment of religion there is still much disagreement over its original intent. Some,…show more content… Board of Education would be The first case after Brown v. Board of Education was Green v. New Kent County School Board (1968). The decision in this case was that school districts have an affirmative duty to desegregate, and school districts must be “unitary” before judicial supervision can end. The next case was Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg (1971). The court held in this case that racially imbalanced schools are presumptively guilty, judicial power to remedy segregation is undefined, and judges can require busing to create racial balance in school districts. The next case was Keyes v. Denver School District (1973). Their holding was all school districts with racially imbalanced schools are presumptively guilty of de facto segregation and judges must attempt to eliminate it. The next case was Milliken v. Bradley (1974). Their holding was judges cannot require suburban school districts be included in remedial orders unless they intentionally contributed to urban racial imbalance. The final case was San Antonio v. Rodriguez (1973). Their holding was that there is no constitutional right to education, and unequal funding for education is not unconstitutional. All of these cases express different school districts trying to comply with desegregation, but having vast amounts of difficulty, because of the courts involvement regarding this