{
  "id": "98-65",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "98-65",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 105194,
      "date": "2002-08-15",
      "retrieved": "2016-05-24T20:06:00.755941",
      "title": "The Law of Church and State: Developments in the Supreme Court Since 1980",
      "summary": "The religion clauses of the First Amendment provide that \"Congress shall make no law\nrespecting\nan establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ....\" Prior to the past two\ndecades the Supreme Court frequently construed these clauses to create, in Thomas Jefferson's oft-\nquoted metaphor, a \"wall of separation between church and state.\" However, many of the Court's\ndecisions precipitated substantial public discontent and spawned organized efforts to overturn or\notherwise alter its decisions. Particularly since Ronald Reagan was elected to the Presidency in\n1980, those efforts have been increasingly successful. \n  That election has proven to be a critical turning point, because President Reagan and his\nsuccessor, President Bush, were able to replace more than half of the Justices on the Supreme Court\nduring their terms. President Reagan elevated Justice Rehnquist to Chief Justice and appointed\nJustices O'Connor, Scalia, and Kennedy, while President Bush appointed Justices Souter and\nThomas. Not all of these appointees have fulfilled the expectations of the Presidents who appointed\nthem, but they have led to vigorous debates on the Court about the meaning of the religion clauses\nand to a church-state jurisprudence that increasingly loosens the constitutional constraints on\ngovernment action that affects religion. \n  During the past two decades the Court has been a willing forum for the debate over the proper\nrelationship between government and religion. From the fall of 1980 to the present the Court has\nhanded down 59 decisions on issues of church and state -- more than in any previous comparable\nperiod. In many of its decisions the Court has been sharply split. But the changes in the Court's\ncomposition have had a demonstrable effect: The Court has substantially narrowed the scope of the\nfree exercise clause as a constraint on government action and it has begun to recast its establishment\nclause jurisprudence as well. On both clauses the Court's interpretations are now giving government\ngreater discretion than formerly to take actions that affect religious practices and institutions, both\npositively and negatively. Nonetheless, the Court remains sharply divided on the interpretation and\napplication of the religion clauses, and the outcome of particular cases is often unpredictable. \n  In sum, the period since 1980 has been a profoundly important time for the law of church and\nstate in the Supreme Court. The arguments both on and off the Court about the proper relationship\nof government and religion have been spirited and extensive, and the Court has issued dozens of\nrulings on specific issues. This report summarizes the doctrinal debates and shifts on the religion\nclauses that have occurred on the Court during this period. It summarizes and examines as well the\nlegal effect of all of the decisions the Court has handed down concerning church and state since\n1980. An Appendix lists these decisions and how each of the Justices voted. The report will be\nupdated as new decisions are rendered by the Court.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "American Law",
    "Constitutional Questions"
  ]
}