540 U.S. 712 (2004). One-Sentence Takeaway: The Free Exercise Clause does not require states to fund religious instruction even when they fund comparable secular studies. Summary: In Locke, the Supreme Court rejected a free exercise challenge to a Washington state law that barred state scholarship aid from being used for a devotional theology degree. Although the […]
Articles Tagged: constitutional law
Witters v. Washington Department of Services for the Blind
474 U.S. 481 (1986). One-Sentence Takeaway: Providing a state vocational rehabilitation grant to a blind student studying for the ministry did not violate the Establishment Clause, as the aid was neutral and directed by individual choice rather than government endorsement of religion. Summary: A 1986 U.S. Supreme Court opinion in which the Court unanimously held […]
Batson v. Kentucky
476 U.S. 79 (1986) A 1986 United States Supreme Court opinion in which the Court held that the Equal Protection Clause forbids a prosecutor from using preemptory challenges against potential jurors solely on account of said potential jurors’ race, or on the assumption that African American jurors as a group will be unable impartially to […]
Austin v. United States
509 U.S. 602 (1993). A United States Supreme Court opinion in which the Court reviewed for the first time the issue of whether the constitutional limitations of the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment should be applied to in rem civil forfeitures — specifically, drug-related forfeitures of property authorized under 21 U.S.C. §§ 881(a)(4) and (a)(7). The majority, guided by […]
American Legion v. American Humanist Association
588 U.S. ___ (2019). A 2019 United States Supreme Court opinion in which the Court held that, since the Peace Cross (a World War I memorial shaped after a Latin cross) had stood for decades without any controversy, it did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. REFERENCE DESK Perrier-Bilbo v. United States, […]