Abington School District v. Schempp

Abington School District v. Schempp
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued February 27–28, 1963 Decided June 17, 1963
Full case name	School District of Abington Township, Pennsylvania, et al. v. Edward Schempp, et al.; Murray, et al. v. Curlett, et al., Constituting the Board of School Commissioners of Baltimore City
Citations	374 U.S. 203 (more) 83 S. Ct. 1560; 10 L. Ed. 2d 844; 1963 U.S. LEXIS 2611
Case history
Prior	Schempp v. School District of Abington Township, 201 F. Supp. 815 (E.D. Pa. 1962); probable jurisdiction noted, 371 U.S. 807 (1962). Murray v. Curlett, 228 Md. 239, 179 A.2d 698 (1962); cert. granted, 371 U.S. 809 (1962).
Holding
Legally sanctioned or officially mandated Bible reading and prayer in public schools is unconstitutional.
Court membership
Chief Justice Earl Warren Associate Justices Hugo Black · William O. Douglas Tom C. Clark · John M. Harlan II William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Arthur Goldberg
Case opinions
Majority	Clark, joined by Warren, Black, Douglas, Harlan, Brennan, White, Goldberg
Concurrence	Douglas
Concurrence	Brennan
Concurrence	Goldberg, joined by Harlan
Dissent	Stewart
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. I, XIV

Abington School District v. Schempp, 374 U.S. 203 (1963),^[1] was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court decided 8–1 in favor of the respondent, Edward Schempp, on behalf of his son Ellery Schempp, and declared that school-sponsored Bible reading and the recitation of the Lord's Prayer in public schools in the United States was unconstitutional.^[2][3]