Supreme Court: State actors may not lead school prayer

In 1962, in Engel v. Vitale, the U.S. Supreme Court, in one of the most controversial decisions of the Warren Court era, held school-led prayer unconstitutional for violating the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause.

Engel was the first school prayer case heard by the court, but it was not starting from scratch in considering the issue of governmentally sponsored religious practices. The court h...