Verified Document

Government Though Many Citizens Of Essay

First Amendment Cases

There are several provisions in the First Amendment to the United States' constitution, all of which have been implemented in various court cases. In Engels v. Vitale, which centered around the legality of a mandated school prayer in New York state, many would perceive the issue as one of a "freedom of religion." More specifically, however, this case involved the First Amendment's clause that, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," which was applied to state governments by the Fourteenth Amendment. This is known as the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, and is quite distinct from the provision allowing the free exercise of religion.

In Oregon v Smith, it was determined that a state employee could indeed be terminated and denied unemployment benefits for the use of an illegal substance (in this case peyote) even when its use was part of a religious ceremony. This case does not involve the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, but rather involves the right to freely exercise one's religion. This right to freely exercise one's religion has been asserted in other cases to allow otherwise illegal activity to take place in certain circumstances and situations.

The ruling in Engels v. Vitale, though hugely important in its effects, was relatively straightforward. Essentially, the Court determined that prayer was essentially and inherently religious by the very nature of its being a prayer, and that thus no state (due to the Fourteenth Amendment's extension of federal restrictions to state governments) could establish any mandatory prayer. This would constitute the establishment...

The law requiring the prayer to be said in public schools in New York state was struck down, setting a major precedent for future cases.
The decision in Oregon v. Smith also set a large precedent with many future ramifications, though the decision was more fine-tuned and complex. Essentially, in determining that the termination and denial of unemployment benefits did not contradict the First Amendment's protection of the free exercise of religion, the Supreme Court was clarifying what could and could not be considered a constitutional matter under this provision. While the right to freely exercise religion and religious activities could be used by states to allow for the select legality of activities that would otherwise remain illegal, there is nothing in the constitution that requires states to do this, and suggesting that there was could set a dangerous precedent rendering many unwanted and currently illegal practices (such as polygamy, child molestation in a variety of forms, and others) legal as long as they were part of a religious observance. The Court's decision was thus highly technical and pragmatic.

The decision in Oregon v. Smith suggests one way in which the impacts of the decisions of the Supreme Court could be limited by other public institutions. The redefinition of certain practices and/or perspectives could be used to remove certain laws from the Court's judicial review, though ultimately this review is up to the Court itself (to a degree). Executive interpretation of judicial decisions can also limit the impact of the Court's decisions, though such actions are (as our last President demonstrated) highly controversial.

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Citizen Trust in Local Government Performance in
Words: 1091 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Citizen trust in Local government performance in Botswana_ Meaning and content of trust has kept changing because of the changing points of reference. Trust in government used to refer to the belief that the government will not become autocratic (Bouckaert & de Walle, 2003). It currently refers to down to earth matters such as reliability of service delivery or the expectation that policy will correspond to an individual's wishes (Hofstede, 1980).

Government and Its Role and
Words: 1157 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

In this case, individuals are entitled to produce goods and services to meet their human need instead of private profit (Wolff, 2012). Prevention for Power and Privileges under Social Contract: While social contract provides power and privileges to all members of the society, ordinary people are usually prevented from executing the power and privilege that they are entitled to through various ways. Some of these ways include the state's legitimacy claims

Government & Policy the Joyan
Words: 1138 Length: 4 Document Type: Creative Writing

Also, a very liberal strategy like the one that Mexico took after the NAFTA agreements is dangerous to a newly independent state. Extreme liberalization worked well for Mexico because a large and confident Mexico felt like it could benefit greatly from increased trade and labor transfer with the United States, without being pushed around in the agreement, and Canada helped to maintain neutrality. The Joyan Islands, on the other

Government Why Did the Framers
Words: 5873 Length: 18 Document Type: Essay

Republicans construed Obama as suggesting government bailouts for new industries, or at the slightest a more lively federal government function in generating or supporting jobs -- concepts abominations to a lot of conservatives. The Obama campaign countered the idea as political spin that does not replicate the president's feeling or meaning, pointing to full circumstances of the quotation as confirmation (Koch, 2011). Discuss the process of how a Bill becomes a

Citizen of the World With
Words: 765 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

World citizenship will also foster political consciousness across the globe. There are regions that are more advanced politically than others, this means that as the global values will be enhanced, there will be influence propagation across the regions and the other areas will as well earn and adopt the political standpoints and styles of the other advanced regions. Disadvantages of world citizenship There are various disadvantages that come with being a citizen

Citizens and Politics Many Citizens
Words: 785 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

, 2011). Instead, they just avoid voting altogether, because they feel as though their vote will not matter. To increase the national level of participation and interest when it comes up to politics and public policy, changes will have to be made to the existing system that will get people excited about politics again. If they do not feel they can really make a difference and help changes things for

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now