1950's Education | Doremus et al. v. Board of Education of Borough of Hawthorne et al.

Court case

By: Supreme Court of New Jersey

Date: October 16, 1950

Source: Doremus et al. v. Board of Education of Borough of Hawthorne et al. 5 N.J. 435, 75 A 2d 880 (1950).

Introduction

The framers of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights sought to secure religious freedom against encroachment by the state through the First Amendment to the Constitution. The First Amendment states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Put simply, this statement provides the basis for the separation of church and state.

In the early nineteenth century, those working toward a system of publicly funded and universally attended common schools had to address the issues of religious diversity and separation of church and state. For most people at the time, education meant moral and character training...