Key Rulings Concerning Public School and Religion

1962: In a 6-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court rules public school prayer unconstitutional (Engel vs. Vitale).

1963: The Supreme Court prohibits reading Bible verses and reciting the Lord's Prayer in public schools (District of Abington Township vs. Schempp).

1967: The Supreme Court strikes down a law barring teaching the theory of evolution (Epperson vs. Arkansas).

1980: Posting the ten commandments on public school walls is prohibited by the United States Supreme Court (Stone vs. Graham).

1984: Congress passes the Equal Access Act requiring public secondary schools to allow student-run religious clubs to meet on campus as long as the school permits other nonacademic clubs to meet.

1985: The Supreme Court strikes down an Alabama statute requiring a moment of silence for ''prayer and meditation'' in public school (Wallace vs. Jaffree).

1987: Schools teaching evolution do not have to give equal time to creationism, the Supreme Court rules (Edwards vs. Aguillard).

1990: The Supreme Court upholds the Federal Equal Access Act of 1984 (Board of Education vs. Mergens).

1991: The California Supreme Court upholds a ban on graduation prayers (Sands vs. Morango).

1992: The Supreme Court bars religious invocations at secondary school graduation ceremonies (Lee vs. Weisman).

1994: Public high schools in California and several other Western states may not include graduation prayers, even if they are planned by students, according to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (Harris vs. Joint School District). Although another federal appeals court ruled in 1992 that such prayers are legal, that decision applies only to Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi.

1996: The Supreme Court let stand an appeals court ruling that struck down a Mississippi law allowing student-led prayer at school events, including those with mandatory attendance  (Moore vs. Ingebretsen).