The First Amendment And Establishment Clause In Public Schools

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The First Amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The First Amendment has been combined into the Fourteenth Amendment and relates to the states and their divisions. The first provision is called the Establishment Clause and the second is the Free Exercise Clause. This means that there is an assurance of religious freedom that has a double layer to it. Firstly, the Establishment Clause forbids laws demanding that anyone has to accept any belief or the practice of any form of worship. In the past courts have relied on the Establishment Clause to abolish numerous practices in public schools, like offering school-prescribed prayers in the classrooms and at commencement

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