CRS Recommendation: The Law of Church and State
A Stitch in Haste recommends the following report from the Congressional Research Service:
General Principles and Current Interpretations
From the summary:
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from establishing a religion and guarantees citizens the right to freely exercise their religion. The U.S. Supreme Court has clarified the scope of these broad guarantees. This report provides an overview of the governing principles of the law of church and state. It explains the legal requirements for challenges under the Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause and the standards used to evaluate such challenges.
The six-page report includes, inter alia, a review of the standing requirement, the “excessive entanglement” test of Lemon v. Kurtzman*, prayer in public schools, Decalogue displays on public property (cf., my recent post), and the statutory provisions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. An excellent primer for non-lawyers.
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*403 U.S. 602 (1971)
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Previous CRS Recommendations:
Constitutional Limits on Hate Crime Legislation
Same-Sex Marriage — Legal Issues
Saudi Arabia
The National Debt
Restricting Video Game Sales to Minors
Warrantless Wiretapping
Foreign Holdings of Public Debt
China’s Internet Censorship
Summary of Rumsfeld v. FAIR
Similar Posts:
- CRS Recommendation: Same-Sex Marriage — Legal Issues
- Is Specter’s “Church and Stadium” Bill Unconstitutional?
- CRS Recommendation: The National Debt
- Separation of Ice Cream Parlor and State?
- Using a Church as a Polling Place Not an “Excessive Entanglement”?
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