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Grand Rapids School District v. Ball - Significance, Separating Public And Religious Education, Taking The Lemon Test, The End Of A Symbolic Union

july petitioner court michigan

Petitioner

Grand Rapids School District, Michigan

Respondent

Six Grand Rapids, Michigan, taxpayers

Petitioner's Claim

That two local public-school programs, Shared Time and Community Education, violated the separation of church and state called for in the First Amendment by using public funds to support courses offered in religious schools.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

Kenneth F. Ripple, Special Assistant Attorney General of Michigan

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

A. E. Dick Howard

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr. (writing for the Court), Warren E. Burger, Thurgood Marshall, Sandra Day O'Connor, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., John Paul Stevens

Justices Dissenting

William H. Rehnquist, Byron R. White

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

1 July 1985

Decision

That the Grand Rapids programs did indeed violate the First Amendment.

Related Cases

  • Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971).
  • Aguilar v. Felton, 473 U.S. 402 (1985).
  • Agostini v. Felton, 117 S.Ct. 1997 (1997).

Further Readings

  • "Establishment of Religion." Harvard Law Review, November 1985, p. 173.
  • Fiske, Edward B. "Ruling Means Cities Must Work Out How to Get Help to Parochial Pupils." New York Times, 2 July 1985.
  • Gora, Joel M. "The Delicate Matter of Religion." ABA Journal, December 1985, p. 84.
  • Greenhouse, Linda. "High Court Bars Public Teachers in Church Schools." New York Times, 2 July 1985.

Additional Topics

Grand Rapids School District v. Ball - Significance

The Court's decision created a major barrier against using public funds for programs that take place within religious schools, making it more difficult to establish such programs and also damaging President Ronald Reagan's efforts to create a voucher system whereby parents could get tax credit or other public assistance for sending their children to private schools. When the Bill of Rights was fir…

Grand Rapids School District v. Ball - Separating Public And Religious Education

Over the years, the Supreme Court ruled on many different cases that involved the separation of church and state, particularly when it came to public education. For example, it allowed a public school system to loan secular (nonreligious) textbooks to religious school students. It also allowed public schools to provide medical diagnostic services to students in religious schools. On the other hand…

Grand Rapids School District v. Ball - Taking The Lemon Test

Local taxpayers decided to challenge the constitutionality of spending public funds on programs that were offered within religious schools. Both the district court and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that the programs violated the First Amendment. Grand Rapids School District decided to take the case to the Supreme Court. After what was apparently a bitter debate, the Court ruled 5-4 tha…

Grand Rapids School District v. Ball - The End Of A Symbolic Union

Justice Brennan also believed that the Grand Rapids programs failed the third part of the Lemon test: "excessive government entanglement with religion." He wrote that even the "state-paid instructors" might be "influenced" by the religious atmosphere of the schools in which they worked, so that they might "subtly or overtly indoctrinate the students in particular religious tenets at public expense…

Grusendorf v. City of Oklahoma City - Significance, Tenth Circuit Finds City's Policy Reasonable, Impact, Further Readings [next] [back] Goldman v. Weinberger - Significance, The Government's Interest In Defense, A Passionate Dissent, Impact

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