Stone v. Graham

The 1990s witnessed a nationwide spiritual revival and a rise in conservative Christian activism, including organizations such as the Promise Keepers and Christian Coalition. Groups such as these expressed an increasing desire for greater religious expression in public schools as well as government buildings. The number of student religious clubs in public schools also grew significantly, including Jewish and Muslim as well as Christian clubs.

Some believed that, owing to glaring inconsistencies in Supreme Court decisions involving the Establishment Clause, the resulting confusion in society inappropriately kept religion largely out of public schools. Minimally, this avoidance had resulted in generations of students who lack knowledge concerning the impact of religion on the United States and the world. Worse yet, many believed Court decisions banning prayer and other religious expressions, such as the posting of the Ten Commandments, contributed in the 1990s to a perceived significant moral decline in younger generations. For example, violent crime in public schools increasingly became a concern. Republican legislators came into power in the 1994 elections and promised to introduce a "school prayer" amendment. By 1998 Congress debated a proposed constitutional amendment, titled the Religious Freedom Amendment. The new amendment sought to recognize a new right to practice religion in public schools and on government property, including the display of religious symbols, such as the Ten Commandments, and allowing the use of public funds to support private religious schools.

Many hold the Ten Commandments as a cornerstone of Western civilization and the basis for the U.S. legal system. Similarly, the Court repeatedly recognized the substantial contributions religion made to historical events and social trends in the United States. Even the majority in Abington, which prohibited the daily reading of Bible verses in a public school, asserted that a student not exposed to religious ideas and texts would receive a less than full education by leaving them ignorant of the importance of religion in U.S. history. Consequently, critics believed the Court had been overzealous in the application of the Establishment Clause in a number of cases, including Stone.

Display of the Ten Commandments in public buildings continued to be an issue through the 1990s. A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals prohibited a display in a Georgia courthouse in 1994. The American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama filed a lawsuit the following year to stop a state court judge from posting a wood carving of the Ten Commandments in his courtroom. By 1998 resolutions encouraging the display of the Ten Commandments in public buildings were introduced in both houses of Congress. Critics claimed that Christians and Jews were being accorded a privileged status in violation of the Establishment Clause.

In response to the growing public sentiment of the early 1990s, President Bill Clinton issued a Memorandum on Religious Expression in the Public Schools in July of 1995. The document recognized the role of religion and religious institutions in the history of the United States and asserted that "the First Amendment permits--and protects--a greater degree of religious expression in public schools than many Americans may now understand." The Clinton memorandum outlined several principles to guide public school districts in accommodating religious activity in schools. In support of curricula using religious material in the classroom, the 1995 Clinton memorandum stipulated that though "[p]ublic schools may not provide religious instruction, . . . they may teach about religion"(emphasis not added). Curriculum examples included history of religion, comparative religion, Bible-as-literature, and the role of religion in the history of the United States.

Curricula examining the Bible's influence in art and literature were taught in some public schools in the 1990s but were not free of contention. Organizations that actively pursued development and adoption of religious-oriented curricula in public schools included the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center of Vanderbilt University and the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools. Not all Christian organizations supported efforts to place religious materials in the classroom, choosing instead to emphasize respect and recognition of the increasing religious diversity in the nation.

Still, the 1990s witnessed a trend toward more leniency in introducing religious symbols in public places. The public supported efforts to bring moral values, as exemplified in the Ten Commandments, back into public activities as long as harmony and inclusiveness was promoted rather than division or exclusion. For instance, some Muslim groups did not oppose posting the Ten Commandments as long as it was not interpreted as excluding beliefs of other religions, but accepted as representative of the rich religious tradition in America. Toward the end of the 1990s, the place of religion in public schools continued to be the subject of substantial debate.

Aside from religion issues, the Stone decision also demonstrated an increased willingness of the Court to question the intent behind state legislation. The Court generally avoided passing judgement on the legitimacy of legislative actions in previous decisions. This new tendency led to more debate over the appropriateness of Stone and similar Supreme Court findings issued since.